The Movie:

The first of four films in the series, 1984's Suzie Superstar, from director Robert McCallum (a pseudonym for cult film/drive-in director and cinematographer Gary Graver), the same auteur who brought us legitimate classics like Private Teacher and Amanda By Night, follows in the tradition of other XXX rock 'n roll movies like the amazing Joe Cock Superstar and Gladys And Her All Girl Band. Just as mainstream cinema has long held a fascination with the rock 'n roll lifestyle, so too has the adult film industry, which makes sense, given the 'better to burn out than fade away' mentality that affects both the music industry and the porno movie industry - youth and vitality are key, and once age creeps in, it's a safe bet that more often than not your career is going to slide.

But I digress.

This film is a fun one. It follows a stereotypical early eighties 'rocker chick' named Suzie Mitchell (Sharon Grant) who is right on the edge of legitimate fame. Her backing band, made up of Joey Silver (who has some of the raddest bad guitar moves ever filmed!) and Jon Martin, are along for the ride but what none of the band members realize is that their manager, Z.A. McCain (John Leslie) is more interested in taking care of a popular country singer named Opal Kincaid (Sharon Mitchell). This is complicated further by the fact that McCain is kinda-sorta Suzie's main squeeze!

After a fight with McCain, Suzie heads over to her guitar player's house where Silvera tries out a new tune he's been working on - a ballad that he dedicates to her. While this might seem like one of the oldest tricks in the book, it works and before you know it they're going at it like a couple of rabbits. Sadly for them, McCain's right hand man, a tough named Raoul (Ron Jeremy), and once he reports back to the boss man about what he saw McCain decides to make them pay. While this is going on, the band are trying to figure out a way they can get ride of McCain once and for all to get one with their lives and their career.

If you're like me and you always wondered why Sharon Mitchell didn't break out into a country music career, well, this movie will answer that question for you. It'll also explain why Joey Silvera never made it as a guitar player and why Sharon Grant never made it as a pop chanteuse! The music in the film is just as bad as the acting and the film is a hokey and unintentionally hilarious as they come. This makes for a definite 'so bad it's good' experience that fans of vintage smut will appreciate more for its early eighties aesthetic and its skewed take on the music industry than for its sex scenes. That said, the sex in the film is well shot and steamy enough to matter.

Here's a quick run down of the film's bump 'n grind action...

Scene 1 - Gail Sterling, Laurie Smith and Ron Jeremy: In the back of a taxi cab late at night these three find themselves in the mood for love. Ron uses his tongue and his fingers on the girls and then starts to fuck Gail. After that, Laurie sucks him off before he mounts her only to pull out and let her jerk him to a finish onto her twat.

Scene 2 - Gail Sterling, Laurie Smith and Jon Martin: The girls are on stage with Jon and not wearing any shirts. They start to go down on him and then he fucks Gail while Laurie sits on his face and wiggles. He fucks Laurie next and then pulls out and jerks off onto her face.

Scene 3 - Shauna Grant and John Leslie: These two are in a hotel room together. Shauna takes off her shirt (she's wearing nice white lingerie) and they start making out. He mounts her and he fucks her missionary, cowgirl and reverse cowgirl and eventually pulls out and shoots his load onto her pelvis.

Scene 4 - Shauna Grant and Joey Silvera: Shauna can't resist Joey's musical charms! She gets naked, they make out and he starts to suck on her tits. From there they bump uglies from a few different positions - missionary, doggy, cowgirl - and then he pulls out and blows his load onto her stomach.

Scene 5 - Laura Lazare and John Leslie: These two strip down and waste no time getting down to business. Leslie fucks her missionary style for a while and she rubs herself while he bones her. He pulls out and she gives him head while she masturbates and he shoots all over her face.

Scene 6 - Shauna Grant and Ron Jeremy: Shauna takes off her top and drops to her knees to give Ron head. She sucks him off for a while and he strokes off onto her ample and lovely cleavage.

Scene 7 - Sharon Mitchell and John Leslie: These two get naked and hop in the shower together for a little action. She blows him and then he fucks her from behind and once he's good and ready he pulls out and comes on top of her ass.

The Video:

Suzie Superstar is presented fullframe in what looks to be its original aspect and while it looks better than the recent VCX/Calvista 're-master' (and I use that word only because it's on the cover art), it still leaves a lot to be desired. There are compression artifacts everywhere, there are moderately noticeable macro-blocking issues, and the colors are off in tint and hue. Detail is washed out and two or three times during playback a 'VCX' bug appears on the bottom of the screen. This transfer is weak.

The Audio:

The English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack does fair a little bit better than the video on this release, though it too leaves plenty of room for improvement. There's background hiss throughout the film and the levels are a bit wacky (the menu is deafeningly loud compared to the movie so be prepared to reach for that remote as soon as the movie starts up!) but once the movie starts you won't have any problem following it. Make no mistake, this mix doesn't sound good, but at least you can understand the performers. Faint praise, mind you.

The Extras:

VCX/Cal Vista have supplied a few minor supplements on this release starting with a brief still gallery, a second gallery of pressbook and poster art material, and a copy of the original script presented in slideshow format in case you want to reenact the movie with your friends and family at home. Bonus scenes are included from Eruption, Nothing To Hide, and the Legendary Hardcore and Legendary Softcore compilations, and trailers are included for Eruption, Easy, Nothing To Hide and the John Holmes Extreme Facials compilation. Ridiculously loud animated menus and chapter selection submenus are also included.

Overall:

The presentation leaves more than a little to be desired but at least it's watchable (not high praise, mind you). The movie itself is a real treat, however. It's campy in all the right ways and a lot of fun from start to finish. It's shame that more effort wasn't put into cleaning up the picture but the film is good enough to warrant a recommendation for fans of early eighties sex sagas.