Justine: 'A Matter of Innocence' (1980) User Reviews (6)

Another Solid Effort from Findlay and Sear

[russbgrant · 7/10 · 1 February 2020]

Another solid hardcore effort from Findlay and Sear following the title Justine, a naive girl who returned from her French school to live with relatives after her father dies. They do a good job of holding a lighter tone without diving into corny comedy, and it plays pretty straight as she navigates numerous sexual pitfalls without getting too dark or problematic like these typically do. If there's any knock it would be a lack of star-power, but the performances and pacing make up for it.

Cry Uncle !

[Nodriesrespect · 8/10 · 25 August 2007]

Late carnal critic and "acclaimed adult filmmaker" Jim Holliday was fond of describing JUSTINE as "a poor man's SCENT OF HEATHER" and, as usually, he was not altogether wrong in his assessment. Released hot on the heels of Bill Milling's relatively lavish period epic, the similarities between the two are a bit too obvious as to be considered entirely coincidental. This variation from the reliable Roberta Findlay (who ground them out hard 'n' fast yet still maintained an impressive amount of quality, as evidenced by genre classics such as ANGEL #9 and THE TIFFANY MINX) may be set in the present day but still operates on a Mills & Boon level of convent-bred virgins and star-crossed lovers.

Naive Justine (surprisingly well-played by underrated Hillary Summers, one of very few adult actresses able to project innocence without coming across like a retard) bids her goodbye to the nuns to go and live with her recently deceased dad's estranged brother Steven, a convincing performance by habitual second banana Ashley Moore in what probably constitutes his finest work next to his memorable turn in Findlay's PLAYGIRL. Disillusioned since his faithless wife (the always interesting Linda Vale) left him, Uncle Steven moves from one female honey pot to the next with only equally cynical mistress Vanessa Del Rio (looking absolutely resplendent by the way) for semi-constant companionship. A lengthy sexual episode finds him picking up a pair of inebriated stewardesses (lookalikes Merle Michaels and Christie Ford) and taking them to a live sex show featuring the likes of Beth Anna and Christine DeShaffer. The man's emotional aloofness is hard on his son (one shot Andy Hayes) who seeks solace with the "wrong kind" of friends, pioneering punkette Robin Sane (Carter Stevens' saucy secretary in Howard Winters' exceptional PLATINUM PARADISE) and handsome Rick Iverson (star of THE LOVE-IN ARRANGEMENT), who definitely provide the right kind of sex with a sizzling double penetration of the rarest kind, i.e. two poles in a single hole ! There's also a slow-witted if perpetually randy gardener (Dave Ruby, the Al Bundy of porn) who's usually kept out of trouble by the household's scheming maid Marlene Monroe, the wicked stepmother from Fred Lincoln's SERENA, and they share one of the hottest scenes in the movie. Fending off the advances of all available men, Justine naturally longs for the one who seems least interested, Uncle Steven.

Pulling out all the stops production-wise, as befitting a movie from the Golden Age mid-section, JUSTINE rises above occasional narrative sluggishness with glowing cinematography by Findlay herself, assuming the capacity under her "Anna Riva" name from the sexploitation days, splicing in footage from Paris landmarks like the Arch of Triumph from stock for additional gloss. Equally befitting, there also happens to be a syrupy title song, of course. The acting, when called for, is generally competent though the delectable Del Rio is rather unceremoniously discarded after her scalding bathroom bit with Moore. No matter how hard she tries, simpering Summers – the fault lies with the writing, not her acting – can't make up for the untimely departure of this magnificent lady from progressively pathetic proceedings.

Words Cannot Express How Much I Love This Film!

[justrich · 10/10 · 27 August 2008]

I first saw the trailer of this movie in the mid 80's. When I finally saw the movie it's self I was awe-struck! I don't like to be mean, but anyone who doesn't like this movie is brain dead. All the sex is supreme, and the acting completely believable! Hillary Summer gives what would have been an academy award winning performance...Vanessa Del Rio's best scene is found here, and Ashley Moore's pall-mall office meeting proves his acting capabilities. There is wall to wall sex in this one, and none of the ladies could have been more gorgeous. I only hope the DVD quality (if it's available on DVD) is as brilliant in color as the VHS release was!

Great Movie Series

[Cass-6 · 20 September 1998]

The Justine Movie series, is a brilliant series based on Justine a boarding school student who falls in love with her History/Archaeology teacher, Professor Robeson & keeps going on Archaeological trips with him. Turning this into a cross between Romance & Adventure (Indiana Jones)

Another golden age classic

[mmcgee282 · 9/10 · 25 April 2020]

I wasn't aware tha this wasn't aware ,until now, that Cecil Howard and co directed this,under a different name for obvious reason, to circumvent state by sate federal obscenity laws at the time.It was mainly directed by Roberta Findlay,which is unusual team. I remember seeing this back in 1983 at the college art theater .This was my first time at a hard top adult theater.The movie is east coast adult business with classic Pornsters like like Linda Vale and Robins Sane,who appeared in another Cecil Howard Production ,Platinum Paradise. Dave Ruby who was noted in playing weird and Gritty Characters. Only Hillary Summer was more West coast adult actress,she played the ditsy blond secretary in Dixie ray Hollywood Star.In this film she plays an innocents ,probably 17 year old girl who liver half her life in privates school,until her wealthy father died and now she has to go live with her Uncles and her cousin.Her family is depraved as the virgin confronts her Cousin ,played by Andy Hayes , and his best friend,played by Rick Iverson and Robin in a hot threesome. it' nice to see new face than only the same porn actors.The uncle ,played by east coast adult actor Ashley Moore,is recently divorce form Linda vale , and now he gets together with a lot of women.Vanessa Del Rio,both east and west coast adult actress ,plays his mistress.The panty licking scene in the sunken bath tube leads to Vanessa being dominant for the moment,until Ashley want to do have her do his way.It ends in a climax of mans a groans that were dubbed into the scenes by Ashley and Vanessa,tha made it sound like it was coming for another scenes.Hillary as Justine starts to fall in love with her clues as in another scene where she is masturbating imaging tha he is kissing her and caressing her breast.Ruby ,who plays the Gardner, dupes her getting her wet with the water hose to try to take advantage of her in the shed ,but , Christine De Shaffer ,as the maid, comes to the rescue and finishes him off.After that experienced Hillary starts liking what has happens to her .The drive in movie sequence,in which Andy Hayes takes advantage of her ,getting her to blow him.In the real world of drive in Movie theaters in79 ,they were dying .Many drive in theater were offering FM sound from ones radio.In this film it was being portrayed as still having separate speaker for cars.Then there's guest appearance Christie Ford and Merle Michael's as airline stewardess that Ashley picks up which turns into a how three way,in which one of the stewardess dress up in drag with a dildo strap on screwing the other girl. Hillery Justine decides she want to loos her virginity ends in a night mare of pain with Rick Iverson,since she lied to him tha she wasn't longer a virgin.Finally her dream comes true and she finally get her way with her uncle,but all of a sudden the film ends abruptly .I did not like that.Linda Vale portrayal as the hypocrites bisexual decrepit aunt was excellent.Near then of the film in the outdoor sequences it look like it could have been shot in December.Good acting, good script by Cecil Howard. Great cinema photography and good performance by Vanessa Del Rio ,Hillary Summer and the rest make this worth the watch,in spite of the ending.They don't make adult films like this any more 04/24/20

One of the Best Adult Movies Out There

[Michael_Elliott · 8 July 2020]

Justine: 'A Matter of Innocence' (1980)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

After the death of her father, Justine (Hillary Summers) travels from France to the United States to live with her uncle. The virgin Justine soon realizes the various kinky things going on inside the house and before long her beauty becomes a fixation for several men.

Roberta Findlay's JUSTINE: A MATTER OF INNOCENCE is without question the crown jewel in the director's career but I'd take it a step further and say that this here is one of the greatest adult movies ever made. It's really a shame that so many people look down on the adult genre because it features hardcore sex because there are a handful of movies that really deserve much more credit and this here is one of them.

I was really blown away by how entertaining this movie was as it tackles incest in a very serious way and the drama that the film carries is very impressive. I'm going to avoid spoilers so I won't go into the details of the hardships this Justine character goes through but it was perfectly handled by Findlay and it leads up to a wonderful and very satisfying ending.

What's even better is that we get some terrific performances scattered throughout the cast. You've got Summers who is terrific in the title role and she really does make you believe she's this naive virgin. So many films go for the "young girl" route but more times than not the actresses are bland or not believable but that's not the case here. Summers really sells the role and makes you believe everything you're watching. Vanessa del Rio is terrific in her part as is Ashley Moore in the role of the uncle who has his own desires.

The sex scenes are also extremely good. Not only is the cinematography terrific but all of the sex scenes are quite erotic and especially the bathtub sequence between Moore and del Rio. I think I can honestly say that there wasn't a single sex scene here that didn't have some fire behind it and once again Findlay deserves the credit for really delivering the goods. Through in the wonderful set design and you've really got a memorable film that deserves to be better known than it is.