Black Emanuelle’s Box 2 (Part 2) 
1976-1978, Italy

To some, Italy represents the pinnacle of fine dining. To others, it’s the land of love. To people with blood fetishes and clinical perversions , it’s the home of pure exploitation filmmaking. There’s something about the way they craft a dirty movie that’s so openly and warmly sleazy, like heated olive oil, that one can’t help but fall in love. Or at least fall in lust, because ‘love’ is to exploitation film what tarot cards are to mathematicians and people with university educations; a silly mystery best left to housewives and 70s rock groupies. In Black Emanuelle’s Box 2, Severin Films has given us three more glorious examples of Italian exploitation from the legendarily crass Black Emanuelle series. The DVDs are unrated, and feature behind the scenes footage, interviews, and deleted scenes, as well as a soundtrack CD featuring scores from several Emanuelle classics. Read the review of Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade here.

Black Emanuelle 2
1976, Italy

For those unfamiliar with the history of the franchise, the Black Emanuelle series follows photo-journalist Emanuelle in her erotic journeys through exotic locations and Planned Parenthood clinics. Except in Black Emanuelle 2, in which Emanuelle is a supermodel and a different person. She has larger breasts in this film, which I suppose must have been at least some effect in motivating the change, but other than that I’m somewhat baffled. In any case, Black Emanuelle 2 has our heroine confined to a mental institution, suffering from amnesia after a modelling accident, in which she presumably fell off a runway after a failed left turn or accidentally snorted a hole through her sinus straight through to her brain. Paul, the clinic’s doctor, does his best to bring her memories back by taking her clothes off as much as possible.

As an exploitation film, Black Emanuelle 2 comes up a little short. Essentially, these movies work best when they alternate between sex and violence, using depravity as a pivot point. Black Emanuelle 2 has a lot of caressing and topless women running, but it’s disappointingly tame in most scenes. However, while Shulamith Lasri’s Emanuelle lacks the edge of predecessor Laura Gemser, she gives an earnest performance that conveys a genuine befuddlement. Director Albertini crafts the sex scenes with less clunky obviousness than some of the other filmmakers in the series, perhaps overcompensating for the lack of explicit content. In any case, Lasri and Albertini’s contributions make the film watchable, if not a highlight of the series. There’s a lot to like here, but not enough to lust.

Rating (film): 5 on 10
Rating (box set): 9 on 10