"Sherlick Holmes"

The Film  (3/5)

The great detective Sherlick Holmes, a private dick whose very public with the ladies, and his faithful, dimwitted partner, Dr. Watson accidentally travel to the 20th century - 1970's to be exact - via a small time traveling device while have their way with their maid Maud.  When they arrive in present day New York City with no money or no clue, Sheriick Holmes and Watson run into a cocky-hapless Pimp and a plethora of New York's finest pieces of ass.  When they become swindled by the pimp and a pair of lovely hookers after a night of romping and lose their minuscule time machine, Sherlick uses his investigating skills, and his ability to plow through women, to unearth who might behind stealing their way back home.

An all-star roster have donned the checkered Milford coat, an Inverness cape, and smoking a large pipe from cult legends like Christopher Lee,to a knighted Ian McKellen and from a British star Benedict Cumberbatch to even an Iron Man Robert Downey Jr., but nobody plays Sherlick Holmes better than the legendary Harry Reems in Victor Milt's zany titular X-rated comedy.  In what's purely elementary, the 1975 "Sherlick Holmes" is a lavish lust jamboree with a pair of unselfconscious studs at the helm, closely examining every nook, cranny, and fleshy hole in a marginally-thin time traveling plot of haphazards, shamelessness, and carnal filth of the most upbeat kind. 

Alongside "Deep Throat's" Harry Reems is Zebedy Colt as Dr. Watson ("The Farmer's Daughter"), who become vague narrator at the bookends of the story, and "Dracula Exotica's" Bobby Astyr, as a foul-mouthed, street pimp hot on Sherlick Holmes and Dr. Watson's tale and picking up the duo's sloppy seconds.  Astyr's over-the-top, outlandish pimp impersonation has a weasel personality that's hard to not like, but at the same time, you would wish he could shut his trap for more than five seconds.  The starlets take a back seat to Reems, Colt, and Astyr, crushed underneath the amount of their dialogue and slapstick.  If there was a leading lady, Cheryl White was it as a the hooker whose heart was captured by Sherlick Holmes.  Then there's Maureen Anderson, as Maud, wonderfully contributing to the interracial copulating with all performers.  Rounding out the female cast are Bree Anthony ("Alice in Wonderland:  An X-Rated Musical Fantasy), Candy Love, Annie Sprinkle, and Elvira - no, not the horror television personality, but if only.

As over exaggerated as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters are supposed to displayed, there's a bit of repulsiveness to the crazy, if not certifiable, faces Harry Reems' construes during that 'ah-ha' moment of forensic orgasm.  I much preferred Zebedy Colt's more acute portrayal of John Watson, even if Harry Reems tireless goes through the female cast in every other scene with an endless amount of sperm.  Victor Milt's surely brings Bear Wilson's Sherlick Holmes to life, and here's a little trivia:  Bear Wilson also penned "The American Andventures of Surelick Holmes," a gay adult film that parallels "Sherlick Holmes."  Though very piffling and awkward, Milt creates an effective, fun, and, at times, erotic film that's well-suited for a Vinegar Syndrome upgrade and that redefines Sherlock Holmes' alias, the Hound (Dog) of Baskervilles! 

"Reunion"

The Film (3.5/5)

Six high school friends are mysterious invited to a remote island getaway with the only way on and off the island is by way of ferry boat.  Upon their arrival at the estate, Betty, old house keeper, greets them at the door, exclaiming that their host will not be joining them.  Aside from being angry and confused, they agree to try and enjoy themselves while waiting for their host to arrive only to discover that their generous entertainer is unveiled as Arthur Sassy, a former classmate who was bullied by the group, and seeks to exact sexual revenge on each one of them.

"Reunion" is Leonard Kirtman's (as Jay West) written and directorial take on the Agatha Christy novel entitled And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Niggers) that's looser than many of the female cast as some bits and pieces are similarly parallel to the novel, like the island, the mysterious invite, the bodiless speaker announcement, but from that point after, "Reunion" laps in sexual perversion that strays way off course from the Christy bestseller.  Whereas the "Sherlick Holmes" on this Vinegar Syndrome double feature was goofier than football bat, "Reunion" aims to be serious, with serious revenge, with serious acts of humping.

Usually, Vinegar Syndrome will connect the two films via a director or a well-known, standout adult actor.  This time around, the only person who connects the "Sherlick Holmes" and "Reunion" is New Yorker Bree Anthony who, in fact, is quite smoking in this film alongside her male co-star Tony Richards as Jim the Tennis Pro.  Bree and Tony portray two of the six friends which also include "The Farmer's Daughter's" Nancy Dare and Marlene Willoughby, Taylor Young, and the one and only Vanessa del Rio.  Del Rio just gets thicker and thicker every film I see of her and not in a good way, but compared to Bree Anthony, none of the other women really get the juices going.  Even when their under the powerful hypnotic influence of Arthur Sassy, Alan Marlow, Dare, Willoughby, Young and del Rio can't mount against a Bree Anthony hot erotic offensive. 

With that being stated, the sex scenes don't necessarily fail altogether, but the scenes are rather short, cut off even, just when the friction starts to produce a bit of steamy and sweaty body entanglement.  Kirtman isn't going for filthy with body fluids being flung in all directions.  Kirtman goes more of the romantic, soft touch route; yes, money shots are still prevalent, but that's porn for you.  Performances from the cast will past muster and Kirtman, for the first five minutes of the story, makes you believe their sitting down to a Hollywood feature with an upscaled opening.  I'm sure Agatha Christy didn't imagine her work would be rendered perverse by the adult film industry, but then again, no pop culture media is safe from the octo-pussy arms of porn. 

Audio / Video (3/5)

Vinegar Symdrome's Peekarama Big 2 Unit Show of "Sherlick Holmes" and "Reunion" have been scanned and restored in 2k from the 35mm negatives and presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen format.  The 1975 and 1976 films have some age of them with "Sherlick Holmes" displaying faded coloring and "Reunion" with some very minor print damage in the first half, but the overall composition is legible and is the best presentation upgrade to date and, perhaps, ever. 

The Dolby Digital mono track fairs honestly for it's single channel emission with both films slightly under a hiss, crackle, and "Sherlick Holmes" has one big audible pop while Harry Reems pops one into one of the starlets.  With unfortunate mic placement, "Sherlick Holmes" can't regulate the dialogue levels whereas Reunion is very clear and coherent. 

Extras (0/5)

There are no extras included

Overall

I'm happy to see these two mid-70's stag films receive more exposure and an enhancement that cultures our level of cinematic value, despite both films being X-rated features.  This particular Vinegar Syndrome double bill has a little something for every porn fanboy (or fangirl) - comedy, revenge, interracial, anal - and with a total runtime of 144 minutes, "Sherlick Holmes" and "Reunion" will come quick in just over two hours of carnal fun.  Recommended.