Beneath The Valley Of The Ultra Vixens

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Ultra Vixen" )

directed by Russ Meyer
USA 1979

In a 1996 interview with the UK magazine Flesh & Blood, Meyer stated that Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens was his favorite of his own films....

A recitation of the plot would give the impression that Beneath was little different from the standard Meyer fare, yet bear in mind that - as is often the case with his work - the true merits of the film are more readily seen in the execution. Gorgeous Lavonia Shedd is sexually unsatisfied by her husband Lamar, who is only interested in anal sex. The film's narrator, The Man From Small Town USA, politely refers him to as "a rear window man." Lamar's "problem" lands him in two unfortunate situations: firstly, it causes him to lose his job at the junkyard when his boss Sal finds out he is a "prevert [sic]." More importantly however, it causes Lavonia to seek satisfaction with other men. She has trysts with garbage man Mr. Peterbuilt, the teenage stud Rhett, and most notably with door-to-door lingerie salesman Semper Fidelis. Fidelis provides Lavonia with a sexy dress and a wig that allow her to perform at a local strip club under the guise of Lola Langusta, a Mexican stripper. Lamar's inability to recognize his own wife under a wig (The Man From Small Town USA informs us that Lamar's IQ is a paltry 37) motivates Lavonia/Lola to drug him in an attempt to acclimatize him to vaginal sex. This gambit fails, as does a visit to dentist/marriage counselor/homosexual Asa Lavender. Lamar finally turns to local radio faith healer Eufaula Roop to cure his problem once and for all and to hopefully save his marriage.

Excerpt of review from David Carter located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 1979 (USA)

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DVD Review: Arrow Films (The Russ Meyer Collection) - Region 0 - PAL

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Distribution

Arrow Films

Region 0 - PAL

Also available in the Russ Meyer Collection which includes 18 films!

Runtime

1:32:45

Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.30 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio

English (Dolby Digital 2.0)

Subtitles

None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Arrow Films

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Russ Meyer Commentary
• Trailer Reel
• Brand New Featurette with Kitten Natividad (15:17)

DVD Release Date: March 28th, 2005
Keep Case

Chapters 12

Comments

Russ Meyer's "Beyond the Vally of the Ultra Vixens", his last film before coming back for 2001's "Pandora Peaks" and his final collaboration with Roger Ebert, was often cited by him as his favorite film. As he reveals on the commentary track, this is due in no small part to the fact that he was constantly having sex with Kitten Natividad between takes. Otherwise, its distinctively a Russ Meyer film, filled very naked and very endowed women and men that, as Meyer describes them, are "dumb as hell". Like most of his films, this is a lot of fun in a very, very politically incorrect way.

Unfortunately the image on this disc, and indeed all of the films included in Arrow's Russ Meyer Collection, can only be described as a disappointment. The image is incredibly soft and carries low levels of contrast and clarity. The image also contains very distracting ghosting that occurs during almost any movement, no matter how fast it is. Finally, the image is also interlaced. Even when my computer ran interlacing correcting programs, the combing was readily apparent. When they were turned off, horizontal movements looked like they do in the seventh capture.

The sound on this release was just fine, with the Dolby Digital 2.0 sounding clear and about as good as the tracks come. Unfortunately there are no subtitles on the release.

The commentary by Meyer on this film is probably the most overtly sexual, which really isn't that much of a surprise given that the film is full of wall-to-wall nudity and sex. It also touches on a number of amusing subjects including his relationship with Ebert and his desire to defenestrate the great Gene Siskel for comments made about Ebert. The disc comes with an interview with Natividad in which she discusses her time with Meyer, as well as her experiences in other cult classics, and hardcore porn. Also included is a trailer reel that is found on a number of the releases in this collection.

While the release is far from ideal, I'll give the disc a slight recommendation. What you see is what you get with the poor image, but the film is a hoot and the extras very revealing. Hopefully there'll be a better release in the future that preserves the extras from this one.

- The Immoral Mr. Teas

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