Skin-Flicks (1978) User Reviews (4)

Interesting and heartfelt.

[sarabay1978 · 10/10 · 15 March 2006]

Gerard Damiano is most famous for his films Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones, but he also produced no less than 10 additional, and very original, hardcore efforts. Skin Flicks is amongst the rarest and best of Damiano's directorial efforts. The film concerns a young enterprising filmmaker trying to produce a hardcore feature. We are given insight into the making of his film, as well as a very, seemingly personal look at New York's mafia controlled hardcore film industry in the late 70s.

Damiano paints a devastating portrait of what it was like to produce a GOOD hardcore film, or more precisely, trying to be a good filmmaker in an industry whose main concern is sex.

Tony Hudson gives an excellent performance as the struggling director, and Beth Anna, although given only a very small role as an actress involved in the industry, displays true acting ability. Her main scene might be one of the most memorable in this entire film as she, quite realistically, portrays how one would suppose an actress in the industry would conduct herself. She also delivers the films most memorable line (one which must have undoubtedly sent the films producers into a frenzy) "some men like it when I shaved my p---y, it makes 'em think they're f-----g a little girl!"

Hudson's character almost resembles Damiano himself (who, by the way plays a mobster) in that he, like Damiano, is a real filmmaker having to put up with the constraints of the industry and the mob.

Damiano's character though is certainly one of the oddest characters ever to grace the set of a hardcore film: he plays a mafia man, concerned only with profit, never art, strange considering that this film was in fact mafia financed. The pictures and technical aspects are just as good as any Hollywood production, and the main fault is the all-too-frequent sex scenes which disrupt the narrative flow of the story, which is well written and developed.

Another wonderful aspect of this film is the wonderful musical score which fills every scene. Probably composed by Damiano regular Alden Shuman, it is filled with cool jazz themes, 70s exploitation tunes, and great disco numbers, and most certainly warrants its very own vinyl release.

Historians note: The poster for Shaun Costello's Waterpower can be spotted on the wall of Savage's office.

Superior 70's adult feature that paints a plausible warts'n'all picture of the business

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 13 May 2019]

Ambitious young director Harry (a fine and likeable performance by Tony Hudson) toils away making quickie sex flicks, but desperately yearns to add some artistic merit to the movies that he cranks out on a regular basis. Complications ensue after Harry falls behind schedule on his latest film and gets involved in a turbulent relationship with fragile neurotic starlet Susan (well played with achingly vulnerability by Sharon Mitchell).

Writer/director Gerard Damiano relates the compelling story at a snappy pace, maintains a dark serious tone throughout, astutely captures the filmmaker's basic dilemma concerning art versus commerce, and further offers a frank, realistic, and decidedly unglamorous depiction of the 70's adult cinema industry, with a specific startling emphasis on the heavy emotional and psychological toll that being in porn takes on people. Moreover, the ace acting from the tip-top cast rates as another significant asset: Beth Anna as a jaded veteran of the skin trade, Jamie Gillis as creepy sleazebag stalker Norman, Colleen Anderson as nervous newbie Anna, Beerbohn Tree as Harry's fed-up agent Max, Robert Kerman as pathetic sniveling worm Sammy, and Damiano himself as fearsome mobster Al. Ron Dorfman's sharp cinematography makes lively frequent use of a hand-held camera. The eclectic score runs the gamut from groovy-grinding funk to a haunting melancholy piano-driven orchestral piece. Best of all, this film has a hard seamy edge to it that gives off the bitter stench of harsh truth.

One of the best

[mmcgee282 · 10/10 · 22 August 2019]

This was the east coast side of the Adult business that this film was shot all over Manhattan back in 1977,released in 1978 way before New York became slightly more conservative against the sexual freedom up there,with the aid of sex negative Ruth Ginsberg ,when she was a member of new York city council and helped promote that irrational Republicrat zoning law against sex store and businesses and sex clubs in Manhattan.Gerard Damiano, who produced this movie,is a fine adult filmmaker.This is one of his excellent production. Unlike porn feature today ,shot on 30 frames a second digital,usually no film look neither,this production was shot in 3 weeks on 35mm film. It's about the adult film business of the time ,in New York city.The actor ,who played the adult filmmaker who get filmmakers block against completing the production,Harry, is played by Tony Hudson,never did any other films after this ,family or adult,but, his acting and sexual performance is good in this picture.Gerard as always shows up in his films and plays the financial backer of the film Tony is directing and is becoming impatient when Tony stalls the production cause of his block.As Tony complains that Gerard is profit and loss.Then Gerard slings back stating that he is profit and questions tony about he ,the director is attempting to make an epic and demand,Gerard, that all he wants is sex.Gina Harlow plays a erotic dances ,which shows the kind of erotic dancing that existed back then.Full nudity,focusing on erotic moves,which is no longer don't these days much less full nudity .She even puts Gerard's match out with her genital .One of the characters,who is new to the business,is played by a fresh looking Colleen Anderson.She plays one who gets into the acting side of the business for revenge against her boyfriend dumping her. A very Young Sharon Mitchell,before she quit the business and started her clinic for adult actors for HIV test, plays a confused actress who has done loops and this is the first time she doing features.She is nervous.She also confuses sex with love.She wants love ,but ,sees it as exclusive sexual activity with some one.She even becomes involved with Tony,who cannot be involved with any one cause he is devoted to film making,but, she confuses it with sex still. A young Hershel Savage show up as helping adult actress Anderson in her first sex scene in front the camera,or is that that Hershel ? his genitals were small.He is in the film .Beth Ann ,east cast adult actress,plays one who also auditions to getting into the picture by sexual performance on a rope with another male performer,whom I thought was Tony in the beginning ,but, realize it was another actor.Then Jamie Gillis ,whom I wasn't aware that he died recently,2010,plays a sleaze bucket advertiser,who is a fan of Sharon in loops and doesn't understand why she got into the adult business.He offer her money for none sex adverting job .She turns him down on that and sexually too.Jamie Gets revenge at her by kidnapping her and raping her causing her not to show up on the set to finish the movie.Joey Silvera,originally Massivera, shows up at the party and performs with Anderson as well.The ending is strange and does not make any sense.The original ratio was one by sixty six by one ,but it was stretch out to One by eighty five by one for some reason.This edition includes a DVD version as much as Blu- ray.It's also contains a audio interview of Sharon Mitchell,who tells her story and experience in adult business.She should write a book about her life cause what she stated was so interesting.For one thing she stated that she and Gloria Leonard and Hershel Savage would do some mainstream acting on stage, t.v. and summer stock,when they weren't doing any adult movies.Many adult actor are trained actors who do adult movies.They don't make adult movies like this anymore. 08/21/19

Interesting Film About an Unhappy Director

[Michael_Elliott · 14 July 2019]

Skin-Flicks (1978)

*** (out of 4)

Tony Hudson plays adult film director Harry, a man who is ten days behind schedule on his current film and his bosses (the Mob) want a finished product. Harry is struggling with life because he wants to do something other than just a sex picture and this is starting to have an impact on his actress/girlfriend (Susan (Sharon Mitchell).

While watching SKIN-FLICKS you can't help but notice the various things that director Gerard Damiano was trying to say and get across. There's a lot of interesting things dealing with the behind-the-scenes making of an adult picture but this film mainly works because of its story, which is basically a director not being happy because they're unable to expand and do something that they really want.

The film benefits from two very strong performances in the lead. In fact, both Hudson and Mitchell are so strong that you really could see their performances in a mainstream Hollywood picture. Both of them were perfect for their roles and certainly very believable as well. You've also got Jamie Gillis showing up in a brief part playing a creep.

The film also benefits from some nice cinematography and one would argue that the director has perfect control over the material and really manages to make a rather deep and interesting film.