WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU, SPACEMAN! (1975)
Director: William A. Levey
Something Weird/Image Entertainment

Here's a sexy science fiction spoof produced by Harry Novak and directed by William Levey (he also did BLACKENSTEIN, the worst blaxploitation/horror film ever). Two very blue, giant-headed aliens named Sergeant Jackoff and Private Asshole land on earth in search of females to procreate their species. Our visitors beam up naked ladies aboard their ship and mate with them via a snake-like tongue (penis?) that protrudes from their mouths. They also have blue balloons for ears, and they blow up when the get aroused.

Jackoff and Asshole roam around Hollywood looking for eligible babes. This shifts the film into different scenarios such as an oversexed hooker, two lesbians on a porno movie set, a husband who suddenly finds his wife more enticing than a game of golf, and some mate swapping involving a rich couple and a duo of French servants. Loaded with four-letter words and crude toilet humor, the aliens constantly scrutinize the female anatomy ("Look at that pimple on her ass!") and the inadequate size of the male human unit in comparison with their own ("Look at that funny cock"). They also stroll down a very 70s Hollywood Boulevard and ogle at a theater marquee showing DEEP THROAT.

Made during the height of FLESH GORDON's popularity, WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU, SPACEMAN! is a silly but stimulating softcore offering, made several years before the space movie craze (it was later re-released as EROTIC ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND). "Ilsa" herself, Dyanne Thorne (using the pseudonym Rosalee Stein) plays the hooker (yes, she does nudity!) and appears on screen with husband Norman Maurer. Porn queen Sandy Carey is a sexy maid, and bleach-blond Valda Hansen (star of Ed Wood's NIGHT OF THE GHOULS) is a horny housewife. Valda also does nudity, but looks about 15 years past her prime. Russ Meyer fans will spot a quick bit by Haji (FASTER PUSSYCAT!... KILL! KILL!) as a harem girl.

This is a really cheap sexploiter, but it looks fantastic on DVD. The colors are dazzling and the source print is in near-perfect shape. The transfer is full frame, and the mono sound is fine. Of course, you can expect the usual bevy of extras since this is Something Weird release. Included is a bulge-inducing assortment of trailers (including the one for SPACEMAN) for some rarely-seen flicks--BELOW THE BELT, THE GODSON, THE DIRTY MIND OF YOUNG SALLY, A SCREAM IN THE STREETS, SEXCAPADE IN MEXICO, and THE TOY BOX--all starring the likes of Uschi Digard, Rene Bond and Sharon Kelly (need I say more?).

There are two short subjects on the disc, both from the 70s. One is called THE PEEPER, and it involves a dumb-ass voyeur looking at three lesbians getting it on (things get pretty graphic here!), as well as a straight couple. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (no relation to the Belgian vampire classic) has a young writer boarding at the home of a female Satan-worshiper who's a little too intimate with her pussy (cat that is). The jumpy, incoherent short is accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith's score for PLANET OF THE APES! There's also a Harry Novak exploitation image gallery, featuring pressbook covers for dozens of his exploitation films. (George R. Reis)

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