BABYFACE 2 (1986) Blu-ray/DVD combo
Director: Alex de Renzy
Vinegar Syndrome

Alex de Renzy crashes the bachelorette party with BABYFACE 2, on Blu-ray/DVD combo from Vinegar Syndrome.

Careena (Careena Collins, CAR WASH ANGELS) is getting married and her friends Lois (Lois Ayres, SINFUL SISTERS), Lynn (Lynn Francis, IRRESISTABLE), Stacey (Stacey Donovan, PASSION PIT), and Taija (Taija Rae, STAR ANGEL) are throwing her a party. Lois' boyfriend Kevin (Kevin James, TABOO II) believes it is just going to be a wedding shower, so he is content to hang out with best buddies Mark (Marc Wallice, TRASHY LADY) and Tommy (Tom Byron, but the girls are actually having a bachelorette party with novelties provided by Kristara Barrington (CHINA & SILK). While the girls much on edible panties, juggle anal beads, test out vibrators, and watch porn (big box cassettes of de Renzy films like BALLBUSTERS), Kevin and Tommy hook up with Melissa (Melissa Melendez, REVENGE OF THE BABES) and Candie (IN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS). Under the pretense of studying, Mark spies on the party as Kristara unveils the highlight of the evening: a slovenly, drunk, cigar-chomping "stripper" played by Jamie Gillis (THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN). Although the girls make fun of his clumsy routine, he warns them that his erection will cast a spell over them that will make them insatiable sex slaves. When they challenge him, Jamie prays to Aphrodite and a wind and light show sends clothes and sex toys flying and legs up into the air. When Mark is discovered, he barely survives the encounter and escapes in search of help from his buddies, along with Francois Papillon (ALL THE WAY IN!), Dick Rambone (BACK DOOR BRIDES), and Careena's fuming fiancé Jerry (Jerry Butler, TABOO III).

Seemingly an in-name-only sequel to de Renzy's 1977 film, BABYFACE 2 – or BABY FACE 2 as the title card reads – largely lacks the edgier aspects of original which included the deflowering of a teenage girl, the attempted revenge of her murderous mother, and an extremely sticky gangbang (although even that film paled next to the likes of FEMMES DE SADE); not unlike his pair of eighties follow-ups to PRETTY PEACHES. The film indeed feels incredibly run-of-the-mill from the sex to the slick photography and lush production values. It is not until the thirty-five minute mark when Gillis appears with comic relief that has an undercurrent of something sinister. The frenzied sexual activity of the climax does not really generate much heat, seemingly played more for comedy than arousal, and even Gillis' use of toys on his partners never really crosses the line into kinky. The real connection to the first film comes with a climactic appearance by Molly Seagrim (DEEP TANGO) and her roll of saran wrap. Just as BABYFACE's male brothel was decorated with posters from other de Renzy films, Careena's proper family home bewilderingly showcases a poster for BABYFACE. The uncredited music score is primarily a cheeky instrumental "variation" on The Cars' song "Magic".

Restored from a 2K scan of a spotless (apart from reel changes) 35mm original camera negative, the image is bright, sharp, and colorful throughout with a range of tanned skintones, nice textures in the outdoor settings as well as various styles of gelled and permed hair in close-ups. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track is clean, and the optional English SDH subtitles more than adequately convey what seems like mostly adlibbed dialogue. There are no credits other than the opening title card, although that appears to have always been the case since the title card is a filmed optical rather than the poster art close-up used to tag Vinegar Syndrome's negative transfer of the finished-on-video effort PRETTY PEACHES 3 (which originally had video-generated titles on video). The sole extra is a theatrical trailer (3:18) but the Blu-ray/DVD combo comes with a reversible cover. (Eric Cotenas)

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