Diversions

As others reviewers said the uncut, "export" version of this movie "Diversions" would NEVER have been passed by the 70's British censors. Nor would it probably do too well today even outside of Britain. It has been taboo in America since the early 80's days of the "Meese Commission" for hardcore porn films to contain violence (or for that matter actual drama). And even "sexually liberated" European countries like Sweden would probably ban a film like this today, not for the sex but for the violence. What I find highly ironic though is that the combination of real hardcore sex and fictional violence does not generally make for a more potent and disturbing film, as many hysterics claim, but actually a far LESS potent and disturbing film. This is because the long hardcore sex scenes tend to take away from the suspension of disbelief that makes many non-hardcore "grindhouse" films like "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Last House on the Left" so disturbing and compelling. And violence, whether fake or real, is simply NOT very sexy if you're not ALREADY a serial killer of extreme sexual deviant.

This movie, for instance, contains a disturbing "fantasy" sequence that supposedly takes place in a Nazi prison camp. While this scene starts out as pretty disturbing, it soon turns into typical three-way porno scene and the effect is lost.(I also think the swinging hedonists of the world should protest the way Nazis are always being portrayed as swinging hedonists when the real-life Nazis, if anything, were repressed puritans much closer in spirit to the right-wing censors. Some historians believe, for instance, that despite his last-minute marriage to Eva Braun, Adolph Hitler actually died a middle-age virgin). There's also another "fantasy" sequence where the heroine, supposedly a victim of war-time rape (even though the twenty-five-year-old lead actress Heather Dealey wouldn't have even been BORN during the World War II), decides to get even with the male sex by picking up random men and murdering and castrating them. But while the sight of a blood-covered woman masturbating may be a disturbing image at first, when it goes on for five minutes it basically turns into typical porno starlet doing her solo "thing" while covered in red-dyed Karo syrup. This then is followed by a rather unusual fellatio scene (without the guy attached) and then an absolutely ridiculous scene involving vampires inspired by a Forry J. Ackerman's "Vampirella" comic book (which amazing did not result in a lawsuit).

On the plus side, Heather Deeley is a much more attractive than your average porn actress. In fact, she is much TOO attractive to be in a sleazy, ineptly made British excuse-for-a-porn-film like this. Instead of watching this, I'd suggest you get the British sex comedy "Intimate Games" where Deeley has a smoking hot lesbian sex scene with Suzi Mandel (albeit a softcore one) or "Erotic Inferno" where she gets together for an equally memorable scene with Mary Millington. Then afterward you can follow it up with "Cannibal Holcaust" or "Last House on the Left". That way you'll definitely get turned on AND profoundly disturbed. You'll be very lucky to manage EITHER one of those with this lame-brain movie though.