Directed by Joe D’Amato
Starring Mark Shannon, George Eastman, Dirce Funari
Release Date: February 9, 1981
113 Minutes/Color

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In Joe D’Amato’s dizzingly-prolific film career, he was never afraid to take a chance at trying new things. When the bump-grind-and-gut-munching EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS took off, Uncle Joe obviously thought “why not take things a step further?” That brings us to his numbingly strange hardcore porn/zombie horror exercise, PORNO HOLOCAUST.

A group of well-endowed scientists (and a assortment of attractive, horny women) set sail for a deserted island to explore the effects of radiation. When they arrive, they are horrified to find the island inhabited by a grotesquely-mutated monster with a murderous streak, an enormous penis and an insatiable appetite for female flesh.

Hmmm, mixing explicit sex with zombie mayhem sounds like a wonderful idea and it probably would have been if either aspect was properly executed. D’Amato was new to hardcore at the time and obviously hadn’t learned the rules. In the half-dozen (or so) sex scenes in this film, no one seems to be all that interested in what they are doing (with the exception, strangely, of the softcore lesbian scenes.) Also, there is absolutely no variety. Only two of the female cast partake in the bonking and most of the time with frequent D’Amato star, the Italian Harry Reems himself, Mark Shannon.

One particularly painful coupling (well, tripling) features the completely unenthusiastic Annj Goren paying for sex with two men at a bordello. Not only does Goren seem to want to be somewhere else, the men show little interest in her as well. One has trouble getting an erection while the other fondles her everywhere other than her naughty bits. The scene goes on far too long and is just cringey to watch. When Goren finally gets her turn with our super stud Mark Shannon the results are no better. Shannon obviously doesn’t want his willy anywhere near her, constantly looking off into the distance as if he’s watching the clock.

Shannon has stated in interviews that he wanted nothing to do with Annj Goren due to her propensity for having unprotected sex with any random person Joe D’Amato would drag off the street for her, as well as for being a junkie. One can hardly blame him. She’s as cold as ice, with a haughty air at odds her role as a zombified cinemattress.

Cult siren Dirce Funari is on hand as window dressing, never heading over into hardcore, so the slack has to be picked up by an uncredited Lucia Ramirez. Ramirez appeared in a smattering of Joe D’Amato gropefests (including the demented ORGASMO NERO, opposite Richard Harrison!) and to call her performance “one-note” would be far too generous. She’s just kind of there. Even when she is kidnapped by the hideous mutant man her expression is unalterably blank. This could be forgiven, I suppose, if she didn’t do the same in her sex scenes.

The only reasonably legit performer in the piece is the freakishly tall George Eastman (EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD.) His role, despite being the lead, seems superfluous. Eastman spends most of the film standing around looking on disapprovingly while his co-stars bonk each other silly. Soon after he joins the body count. That’s it, really.

Mark Shannon is, of course, our hero, and he really gives his role a lot of oomph. He’s obviously an enthusiastic actor…unless he’s shagging Annj Goren, of course.

So, we’ve established that the sex doesn’t work all that well. How about the horror? Things are a little better in that regard. While there are no real chills here, the makeup and costume effects used to create the well-endowed mutant are impressive, and the whole idea of a monster that shags people to death is pretty interesting. Since there’s no real fright or tension on display, the film has to rest on its gore effects. These I found to be oddly effective, despite being wholly unrealistic. Go figure.

A few random cast members get bludgeoned in the face by the mutant with their resulting injuries seemingly realized by pouring vast amounts of chunky Ragu over their heads. Still, it works somehow.

If it seems I’m being overly negative – after all, this ain’t GONE WITH THE WIND – I really don’t mean to be. For all its shortcomings, PORNO HOLOCAUST has a certain charm to it. The acting is dreadful but D’Amato’s camera work is superb and there are quite a few creative shots. Even if the film is rotten to the core, I would still rate this as essential viewing. While not nearly as coherent as it’s sister film EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD (which, if you’ve seen it, you know calling it coherent is a stretch) PORNO HOLOCAUST is goofy fun. Just don’t expect to be titillated or glutted with gore.