PEEKARAMA BIG 2 UNIT SHOW!: FAST CARS FAST WOMEN (1981)/STARSHIP EROS (1980)
Director: Scott McHaley
Vinegar Syndrome

Vinegar Syndrome's latest Peekarama double bill bring us the complete pornographic output of former stuntman turned director Scott McHaley with FAST CARS FAST WOMEN and STARSHIP EROS.

In FAST CARS FAST WOMEN, Kristy (Sylvia Benedict, NASTY HABITS) joins the Davis Racing Team alongside former roommate Casey (Carolyn Jackson, ANYTIME ANYPLACE), much to the resentment of pit boss Doug (Rocky Balboa) whose sister was killed in an track accident that he believes was sabotage committed by rival racing company owner Orson (Al Chiurrizzi) and his henchman Dutch (Ron Jeremy, THE BUDDING OF BRIE). While voluptuous team owner Molly Davis (Kay Parker, DRACULA SUCKS) smoothes things over with Doug, Casey and Kristy do what roommates who haven't seen each other in over a year do (i.e. lesbian sex). After Molly refuses to let Orson buy her out, she shows him just how little she needs him with some self-stimulation. After Doug is badly beaten by Orson's men – cue: sexual healing from Molly – Kristy starts to suspect that the alleged sabotage that caused his sister's death is related to a series of other similar accidents at other races. Orson's driver John (Kevin James, DIXIE RAY: HOLLYWOOD STAR) quits his team in disgust and takes over Doug's position as pit mechanic; but the girls do not seem to care if he is sincere or not since they boink him in a group pre-race celebration. Orson sends Dutch to teach Kristy a lesson when she refuses to race for him, which makes Molly's gang driven more than ever to beat Orson's team and expose him.

A not particularly thrilling hardcore take on the racing circuit, FAST CARS FAST WOMEN has some fatally bad lead performances apart from Parker and Jeremy (who is deprived of a money shot in what is pretty much a scene of sexual assault). Director McHaley has little affinity for shooting sex scenes, but all the angles are covered (repeatedly). The race track scenes might be second unit or stock footage, but the inserts featuring Jackson and Benedict racing are well-shot (the film cites a racing coordinator). William Margold (MARILYN AND THE SENATOR) has a bit part as the track supervisor Kristy "bribes" for a new pit.

Made the year before and looking technically slicker, STARSHIP EROS is set in futuristic 1995 where Commander Venus (Lori Rodgers, INDECENT EXPOSURE) of the Feminist Regime is called from her hot tub to a space mission (but not before a quickie with her attendant [Mike Ranger, THE RIBALD TALES OF CANTERBURY]). With a crew composed of new executive officer Christine Moon (Becky Savage, CATHOUSE FEVER), communications officer Bev (Holly Joy, WINE ME, DINE ME, 69 ME), and robot Quasar (Mike Ranger again, according to IMDb) who is all male from the waist down. In between sex scenes featuring the crew in various combinations, Starship Eros hunts down an enemy ship piloted by the lesbian Amazoids. After a not-so-thriller battle between the two ships, Commander Venus and Christine capture an Amazoid (Tara Flynn, HOT DALLAS NIGHTS) and convert her to their cause with the help of Quasar's equipment.

The miniature effects compare poorly to New World's low budget sci-fi from the time and even the Italian space operas in the wake of STAR WARS (although the electronic score sounds very much like Marcello Giombini's Casio noodlings for the latter rip-offs), but STARSHIP EROS seems nevertheless quite ambitious in design for a film that spends much of its hour plus running time on bumping and grinding. Some video special effects scenes – including a beaming transport effect that could have been achieved in-camera – appear to have been filmed off of a monitor Kinescope-style but also seem ambitious for a pre-video porn film. Christine's punishment for "abusing company equipment" (i.e. Quasar's nether regions) require her to put on a skimpy "punishment uniform" which she is then immediately ordered to take off in order to be strapped down and tormented and pleasured by Venus' fingers and a toy ray gun that is either supposed to be stimulating or painful. The end credits promise further adventures that, alas, were not meant to be.

Restored in 2K from their original 35mm camera negatives, FAST CARS FAST WOMEN and STARSHIP EROS are both presented in progressive, anamorphic 1.78:1 encodes. Both transfers are clean, but FAST CARS FAST WOMEN has some grainier parts like the race track scenes shot with long lenses (and possibly some stock footage). as well as some insufficiently lit location interiors (including Parker's and Jackson’s steamy and foggy shower scene). STARSHIP EROS sports crisper detail and bolder colors apart from the aforementioned video special effects scenes. The Dolby Digital 1.0 tracks are fairly clean with a bit of hiss at the high ends.

FAST CAR, FAST WOMEN is accompanied by the film's trailer (4:03) as well as a lengthy series of soft outtakes (16:41). The outtakes seemingly were never assembled into a softcore version and seem to just be less explicit angles of the same scenes rather than alternate takes (with some full on frontal nude shots and a couple hardcore glimpses of oral sex) and perhaps give an indication of what the rest of the finished film looks like before the color grading. STARSHIP EROS is accompanied solely an optional introduction by producer Wesley Emerson (2:16) who reveals that the film was financed by McHaley's stuntman friends, and that he shot the effects himself in his garage while Emerson directed the hardcore scenes. (Eric Cotenas)

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