Carmen (1996 Video) User Reviews

Horrible!

[ramonribas-51803 · 1/10 · 29 July 2023]

Why did Aristide Massaccesi (1936-1999) decide to use his most famous pseudonym in the various porn videos he directed in the 1990s? The name Joe D'Amato was marked in the 70's and 80's by a series of erotic and horror films which were very financially successful and which, over time, became cult objects among fans of "exploitation" (such as Buio Omega, Antropophagus, Absurd aka Rosso Sangue, the "Black Emanuelle" series, Voglia di Guardare and many other films from that period). In the early 1980s, Massaccesi directed several cheap porn films, but using the pseudonym Alexandre Borsky. Why, then, did he use the name Joe D'Amato in countless irrelevant adult videos, such as this "Carmen" (1996)? Career contempt? I don't know.

Carmen - La Zoccola Spagnola is a horrible porn video. First of all, this video has nothing to do with the famous Carmen by Prosper Mérimée and Georges Bizet. By the way, neither story or plot this video has. Why did D'Amato waste time on productions without plot or narrative? In Carmen there is only a succession of sex scenes staged without enthusiasm and inspiration and which basically boil down to fellatio and vaginal penetration. In the entire video there is only a brief moment of double penetration, which makes this video a nightmare for all female sodomy lovers.

As was customary in Italian productions of that period, in Carmen there are no Italian actresses (the cast is formed by Hungarian and Slavic actresses, for the most part). Only Maria de Sanchez is Spanish and she is wasted here as she was very beautiful and talented. In short, Carmen is one of the worst porn videos of the 90s.

D'Amato clunker

[lor_ · 31 August 2018]

Filmed back to back in Spain with the excellent "Flamenco Ecstasy", "Carmen" wastes the considerable talent and beauty of Maria De Sanchez in the title role. The two feature films were reissued in 2004 by Adam & Eve on a two-fer DVD (now a collector's item), and watching the two makes clear "Carmen"'s faults.

While director Joe D'Amato was fully committed to the other film, directing stylishly and creatively in the erotic department, "Carmen" is distant and aloof, with many scenes shot and shown merely in an extended master shot from a distant placement. One can infer that this was made quickly and haphazardly to amortize the cost of the project by yielding two features for the price (almost) of one.

A nominal story is recited in terrible exposition scenes featuring Olivier Sanchez, later to become a stalwart of Brit Porn for Harmony Films, playing a police captain who calls in Interpol agent Lt. Steve Gaumont (D'Amato regular Hakan Serbes) to handle the case of a currency smuggling/money laundering mob in Spain. Maria De Sanchez plays Carmen, working in the gang.

Imported from Chatsworth porn land in America, Steven St. Croix is slightly embarrassing as a mob guy involved in the exchange of dirty money for diamonds. This plot line is entirely peripheral to the action of the film, strictly extraneous XXX scenes.

Other than some brief scenery and a thrown-in bullfighting scene, both of which are much better used in "Flamenco Ecstasy", "Carmen" has little to offer beyond its listless, generic sex scenes. Mike Foster is billed near the end of the list, but has much of the sex action, hiding behind the pseudonym Mike De Vinci. The film and story have little to do with the famous "Carmen" other than the name of Maria's character.

Yet another movie with much of the same cast was shot at this time, titled "New Revelations" for Adam & Eve release, and Maria De Sanchez's character in that one is also named Carmen.