Vanessa DVD (All Regions NTSC) Olivia Pascal [1977]

This is a German take on the classic Emmanuelle. An Austrian convent schoolgirl inherits her uncle's string of brothels in the Far East. She flies off to Hong Kong to experience the naughty Orient. She is introduced to sex (what else) in all its forms, straight, lesbian, and forced - She finds a particular attraction in the latter - probably all those bare-bottomed spankings at the convent. Sex scenes here are of the very softcore variety (The whipping scenes are limp, lame and some of the least convincing around - good for a laugh though). Olivia Pascal is absolutely lovely as are two of the other ladies but the rest of the cast far less so. The Chinese women in particular were sadly wholly unattractive. Hong Kong is full of pretty Chinese girls so it's a wonder how they ended up with this sorry lot. Director Hubert Frank himself admits that they were "ugly" - his reminiscence about how he found them at the local strip-club is funny - they looked good when he hired them in the dark, but he got the shock of his life when he saw them again in the clear light of day. Acting quality is par for course in a softcore flick - fairly mediocre. As mildly amusing erotica, it's a pleasant enough way to spend the evening. Just sample the corny scene featuring the opening notes of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (the famous music from 2001) as Jackie the blonde woman slowly opens her thighs to the entranced Prince Bandar. Couldn't stop laughing. Or witness Bandar's skills in psychic sex - and especially his ability to induce telepathic orgasms. Plus it's nice to see pretty women with natural body hair for a change - this film was made before the hairless barbie-doll revolution swept the world.The transfer from Severin is rather disappointing. It's presented in 1.78:1 widescreen (anamorphic). It's acceptable but a full notch below Severin at its best. The print shows its age. Although it's been cleaned up, there are quite a few instances of print damage which are left uncorrected, some glaringly obvious. The print overall is dark and lacking in definition. It is soft, sometimes, blurry, although that is partly due to the photography. It is grainy. The colours are dull and quite lifeless - flat. Hong Kong never looked duller than here. But the picture in and of itself is quite watchable. What I did not like was the removal of the original German soundtrack. We are instead given a very badly dubbed English audio track with everybody sounding faintly American. I get very irritated by dubbing, especially when it's badly done. I would have loved to hear Olivia speaking in her own voice but alas no. The credits are all in German. The main Extra is a half-hour interview with Director and DP; all in German with obligatory English subtitles (burnt in). There is a 15-minute long wordless "Making of" featurette plus the original theatrical trailer. Worth a rental. Buy only if you're a die-hard fan of the lovely Olivia Pascal.

Good soft porn from the early 70's (I think). Olivia Pascal has an incredible body and everyone in the movie wants to grab it! This may sound strange, but I really like the beautiful scenes of old British controlled Hong Kong, which give the movie a nice respectability. The plot: Vanessa is living in a Catholic all girls convent when her uncle dies and leaves her a sting of whore houses in Hong Kong. So, she gets an education quickly on how life revolves around sex, which is new to her.

Those two reasons are Olivia Pascal. A beautiful woman with a remarkable build. The plot itself is rather silly and only provides reasons for scenes of naked intimacy and some S & M (could have done without that, thank you very much), but Ms. Pascal is a true treat for the eyes.....almost as beautiful as my wife (eat your heart out, fellas).

Yes, I did a mistake and had read rave reviews and spent money. Reality didn't support my hopes. Yes, all chicks not bad looking and show some skin often but key word here--some as you never see anything considered private.The movie don't have real plot also and somehow all men showed as bad and all chicks as victims and as a result chicks don't have choice but serve each other--yeah, whatever. Avoid.

Like movie

Hm, I went into this expecting an Emanuelle-type film. This film is not very impressive as an Emanuelle clone. The titular character, Vanessa, is a bit of a prude and doesn't even have sex once in the entire film, except telepathically(!). What the film does have going for it, is some really quite bizarre scenes toward the end. Its like the director knew he was making a crappy bad Emanuelle clone and so decided to spice it up with amazing and bizarre elements such as the voodoo subplot that gets forgotten pretty quick, a taxi driver/prince (the film isn't sure which?) who has telepathic 'out of body' sex with women, including Vanessa at the dinner table (nobody notices),a man who tries to chat Vanessa up by telling her how a 'monkey brain table' works, then smokes Opium with her, only its obvious there's nothing in the pipe and theres no smoke coming out of their mouths. Its a bit of a mess of a film, but memorable for these bizare elements which have no business being in a film of this type. One can only wonder what the heck the director was smoking while making it!

Films of this type became quite popular after Emmanuelle hit the screens. Emmanuelle though, was about a worldly-wise woman exercising her sexual free will, but Vanessa follows the other route, that of the innocent girl on the cusp of womanhood being plucked from her sheltered life and thrust into the seedy world of sex and underhand goings on, mostly in exotic locations.Olivia Pascal plays the titular convent-educated heroine who inherits a plantation in Hong Kong. Once there she encounters her uncle and his household who are less than savoury, to say the least. Treading a very careful path, Vanessa must negotiate her way around the pitfalls and perils (there are lots) of those who wish to take advantage of her and deprive her of her inheritance. There's the uncle who likes a bit of S&M; his adulterous wife; the lecherous plantation manager; and the lure of the seedier delights of Hong Kong.If you dislike nudity and depravity then this film is not for you. Apart from the aforementioned, there is rape, (attempted) whipping and some black magic thrown in for good measure. On the plus side there are some fine views of old colonial Hong Kong.This is probably Hubert Franks's best film although that isn't really saying much. Much of it was improvised as they went along and some subplots do not amount to much but this was the way Hubert Frank did it. It is better than most of the genre and it is a pity that they do not make them like this any more.

Excellent movie, remember it well from my teen years, and such good quality.

Excellent buyer!! A+++++

Vanessa,tells the story of a girl from a convent upbringing,and her Journey into the sensual and shocking extremes of pleasure even pain and black magic perversion in a world of greed and lust it is an Infamous tail ofan innocent girl turned sexual plaything but can she escape her family`s ultimate legacy of depravity well you will have to see the film yourself and then make your own comments, the film runs for 92 mins and it stars the very beauiful Olivia Pascal I liked it