The Film (3/5)

Joseph Sarno as many of his fans know, was a pioneer of sexploitation films, both softcore and hardcore. He directed over 70 sexploitation films in his illustrious career. In 1974, under an alias “Karl Andersson”, director Sarno adds a touch of humor to his X rated film classic A Touch of Genie.  The main character of this sex comedy is Melvin (Douglas Stone) who lives with his annoying mother and runs an antique store. To give life some ‘fulfillment’, he goes to 42^nd street to watch some porno. One fine day, while rubbing an urn, he unleashes a genie (Chris Jordan) and grants him five wishes. As one would expect in an adult film, his wishes are all for exotic erotic moments. And he is granted them although his mother catches poor Melvin during his fantasies. One fantasy has him wishing he was Harry Reems with three women, which comes true!

A Touch of Genie will most certainly appeal to those who love adult, X-rated movies, as there is plenty of nudity hardcore sex scenes throughout. And you will get a few laughs as well, as they did try the tongue in cheek approach. The acting, for those that care about that in these films is decent, but it’s hard to get past the New York accents. However, these movies aren’t really made with good acting as a priority. 

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

This release from Vinegar Syndrome is a Blu-ray / DVD combo, so you can get the best of both worlds with this offering. That being said, the review on both the audio /video quality will be about the Blu-ray. A Touch of Genie is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, given a new 2k scan from the original 35mm negative, in 1080p with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. To say the least, A Touch of Genie looks terrific. The colors look extremely strong and vivid. Daylight scenes look dazzling. Details look really good here, with strong textures. Film grain is present, black levels are strong. There are some blurry scenes, due to the cinematography but otherwise this is one gorgeous release.

As for the audio, English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 is what’s used and it’s perfectly fine but nothing spectacular. Dialog, sexual sounds, and music come in loud and clear without pops or drop-offs.

Extras (3/5)

We get two Interviews, the first iswith actor Eric Edwards, who talks about his career including his role in A Touch of Genie. The other interview is with Michael Bowen who also discusses his career. Rounding out the extras is a theatrical trailer

Overall (3.5/5)

Vinegar Syndrome has done a great job with this Joseph Sarno fan favorite. Watching this movie on Blu-ray will be a revelation to those who pick this one up. Easily recommended!