GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING (1973)
Director: Don Schain
Monterey Video

Sexy blond starlet Cheri Caffaro had a brief stint as a drive-in exploitation queen, and her films were well-publicized and somewhat successful. 1973's GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING is the last of Caffaro's "Ginger" trilogy (all directed be Caffaro's then-husband Don Schain), which also included GINGER (1971) and THE ABDUCTORS. Monterey Video had released the other two titles on DVD some time ago, but the third installment has only recently been unleashed.

Once again, Caffaro is Ginger MacAllister a stripper/singer/sex machine/karate expert employed by the CIA as sort of a low-rent female James Bond (Ginger likes to hump as many dudes as Bond does babes). The plot involves the signing of a trade treaty with an Asian country that is intervened by kidnapping, murder and other shenanigans. Ginger's main nemesis this time is a she-devil named Ronnie St. Clair (Jocelyne Peters), a ruthless bitch with brutish henchmen, who likes to undress and screw as much as Ginger does. For the third and final time, Ginger takes her orders from Jason Varone (William Grannel), but his character is just a minor one this time out.

A mix of stagnant dialog scenes and sloppy fighting sequences, GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING is not really an improvement over its equally-shoddy predecessors, except for some more exotic locations and a lot more nudity. Caffaro goes full frontal more here than in the previous entries together, and also looks great running in the street in a pink halter top. She also does a night club act (with a singing voice that would get her laughed off "American Idol") that ends in a to-the-point striptease. Lot's of bondage fetishes are explored, as ginger is tied up, tickled with a feather, molested, etc. Jocelyne Peters is also sultry and shreds her threads quite often, but her performance is uninspired and lackluster, much like the entire cast. Blaxploitation star and ex-pro ball player Timothy Brown (BLACK HEAT, THE DYNAMITE BROTHERS) is Ginger's CIA love interest and always proves to be an underrated, capable performer.

The "Ginger" films on a whole are semi-entertaining time capsules that once meant something to the 42nd Street cinema crowd. Caffaro went on to do the ensemble Philippines-shot AIP actioner SAVAGE SISTERS (1974), as well as the very "Ginger"-like TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1976), then drifted into obscurity.

Like with GINGER and THE ABDUCTORS, Monterey Video has issued GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING on DVD in a transfer that appears to be culled from their old 80s VHS master. The results are passable at best. Presented full screen, the film was shot open matte and meant to be presented at 1.85:1. Even though there is ample dead space on the top of the bottom of the screen, the sides appear too tight in place. Colors are murky, and most of the show is very dark, and detail gets lost often. Sound too is passable but shows its limitations with consistent background hiss.

There are at least some OK extras. There are two still galleries (one with just nude pics of Caffaro), a filmography, as well as 2004 cheesecake calendar of the actress, downloadable to your computer on a DVD-ROM drive. (George R. Reis)

BACK TO REVIEWS

HOME