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The Booby Hatch (1976)
In 1976, the creative team that changed the face of horror with "Night of the Living Dead" reunited to once again alter cinematic history with "The Booby Hatch". Well, not that tall guy with the vest and the glasses, but the other guys. And in all honesty, the film did not seem to have much of a lasting effect, and has been all but forgotten by the vast majority of film viewers. Unfortunately, that legacy is definitely not deserved, as "The Booby Hatch" is a raunchy comedy that's good for a few laughs if nothing more.
While there is something of a narrative structure, the film is really more a series of amusing and interrelated vignettes. It revolves around two workers at Joyful Novelties, a scientifically advanced sex toy manufacturer. In order to ensure that their line of dildos, vibrators, fake breasts and other devices are not only safe for use but also sexually effective, the company employs numerous test subjects in a setting that is as much a factory as it is a laboratory. First up is Cherry Jankowski, a young blonde to whom you would give your house key (this will make much more sense once you've heard the film's wonderfully infectious theme song). Cherry loves her job, but wishes that her home life would follow suit a little more closely. Her live-in poet boyfriend is completely uninterested in her sexually, citing their unmarried status as the reason. Cherry's male counterpart, Marcello Fettucini suffers something of a contrasting problem, in that he has a droopy weenie (again, theme song). How these two solve their problems is only not completely obvious due to the disjointed nature of the film. But again, sometimes getting there is all the fun, right?
"The Booby Hatch" is one of those odd comedies that is entertaining even though it's not particularly funny. You probably won't laugh out loud while watching it, but it does have such a permeating sense of perverse fun to it that it's difficult not to get sucked into it (no pun intended). The movie goes out of it's way to spotlight numerous fetishes and bizarre sex practices, from public voyeurism and cross-dressing to a running gag where a character is repeatedly raped(!). In fact, there are an inordinately high number of jokes premised on rape in this one, not to mention that it features more dildos than you could shake a handful of dildos at. Throw in a few cameos by the makers and some "Night of the Living Dead" alumni, and what's not to love about this flick? Hell, it even features the first screen appearance of David "Flyboy" Emgee in a small role as a wanna-be mafia wiseguy.
Synapse Films have done a bang up job on their upcoming DVD release one by including not only "The Booby Hatch" version of the flick, but also a complete alternate version under the title "The Liberation of Cherry Jankowski" together with an audio commentary by Russo, Ricci and Streiner and a 10 minute featurette on David Emgee. This one's not gonna split your sides, but if you're looking for something off the beaten path that's fun while still being a little dirty, you could do worse than "The Booby Hatch".
Rating - **1/2
-Mr. Monster
