Plot: What’s it about?
In Rent-A-Girl, a young woman named Karen seeks to become a model, but instead she discovers the darker side of the trade. She signs with a brother and sister team, who promise her fame, fortune, and a life in the fast lane. But in truth, the siblings don’t run a modeling agency, instead they work to secure young women for rich clients. So Karen endures some nude photo shoots, then she is brought into the world of live entertainment. She is taken to a twisted party, in which she is whipped, humiliated, and even branded. Can Karen somehow regain control of her life, or is she doomed to remain a girl for hire? In Aroused, a killer is out on the streets and he stalks prostitutes, then he brutally murders the women. The latest victim turns out to be the lesbian lover of a hooker, which sparks a wave of rage. The prostitute decides to go vigilante, so she gets a posse together and they begin a manhunt. The prime suspect’s home is soon stormed, but will the women find a killer, or find that they’ve made a serious mistake? In Help Wanted Female, a hooker finds herself in bed with a murderer and in deep trouble. A man on large doses of LSD tells the hooker his tale of carnage, but she thinks it is the drugs talking. But when she discovers the bloody remains, can she manage to escape with her life?
This release offers three times the sex, three times the breasts, and three times the twisted tales of women on the edge. As a fan of odd, low rent cinema, Something Weird has been a goldmine of cinematic trash. The numerous double features are a terrific value, but this triple feature of total fulfillment tops even those releases. The extras this time around are slim, but with three feature films included, I can’t complain. All three films were wise choices for this collection, as the theme and tone is consistent throughout the lot. I liken them to sleaze cinema noir, dirty little tales of human failings that often have less than pleasant conclusions. Of course, these movies are by no means classics, but for genre fans, all three are worth a look. I’d rank Rent-A-Girl as the best of the trio, as it has the best premise and seems to pack the most sleaze. The performances are wooden and you can tell the production had a ten dollar budget, but in this case, the thin production values enhance the experience, without question. Aroused is a women on the warpath revenge picture that is decent, while Help Wanted Female is off the charts on the weird scale. So with two solid movies and one outrageous flick, this is a value loaded release. So if you’re a fan of sex laced roughies, then this triple feature is more than worth a purchase.
Video: How does it look?
All three motion pictures are presented in full frame. As these films are from the 60s and were shot on threadbare budgets, we can’t expect visual perfection. Rent-A-Girl fares the worst of the three, with a print that is covered in debris and scratches. The image is decent outside of the print damage however, which is good news. Aroused also has signs of wear & tear, but has a cleaner print than the previous picture. The image is also a little clearer, so more of the visual impact remains intact here. Help Wanted Female is the shining star of this trio, with a very clean print that yields a terrific overall image. So its a rather mixed bag of transfers here, but given the material involved, we should be glad the flicks look this passable.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio in these films is mono and decent enough, but don’t expect much in terms of dynamic presence. The tracks seem pretty clean and show little age related wear, so there’s not much to complain about. I heard minimal hiss and harshness in either flick, which is good, as some of these older exploitation movies often sound poor. The music, sound effects, and dialogue all seem in order, though limited because of the mono format involved. The basic elements come through well however, which is what counts in the end.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes a selection of 60s sex cinema stills & audio snippets, a short film titled Lesson of the Strap, as well as Aroused’s theatrical trailer.
