Degradation of Emanuelle
Italy 1977. Director: Joe D'Amato
Cast: Laura Gemser, Ivan Rassimov, George Eastman, Karin Schubert
Aka: Emanuelle: Perché Violenza alle Donne?

One of the most peculiar departments in the world of exploitation movies consists of films that, often within a revenge plot, critizices the sort of thing exploitation directors in general and Joe D'Amato in particular always have been accused for, i.e their violence against women. This kind of contradiction shouldn't come as any surprise though and the film Degradation of Emanuelle is, more than any other entry in the Black Emanuelle-series, a typical example of this behaviour. Interestingly enough the film is written by a woman, Maria Pia Fusco.

Our hard-hitting journalist Emanuelle (who else but Laura Gemser) befriends a girl named Mary who tells Emanuelle an ugly story of how she has been gang-raped by people from some kind of organisation that kidnaps girls for the Middle East. Emanuelle, always in search for a sleazy scoop, is touched by the story and together with two other victims of the organisation she plans the revenge. Although the subject of revenge isn't the main plot here it becomes the main motive for Emanuelle's eagerness to uncover the story and thus giving the girls (among them Karin Schubert) their revenge. I don't think that D'Amato and his writers had any further purpose with this strange choice of subject - exploitation of women - but it's an interesting one nevertheless. As for the film otherwise... eh, if you have seen any of the other entries in this series, it doesn't offer much to make it stand out. It is slightly more entertaining than the tedious Emanuelle Goes East and the overrated Emanuelle in America but it rarely reaches the high fun-level of Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals. And as usual Nico Fidenco delivers something weird and beautiful on the soundtrack.

© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.