Plot: What’s it about?
In Unholy Matrimony, the world of swingers is explored to uncover the truth about a blackmail scheme. Al and Janice are newspaper reporters who want to find out who is behind the scam, which blackmails the free minded couples. Once the couples engage in the swapping sessions, the blackmailers use the sexual escapes against the husbands and wives. Al and Janice are not an actual married couple, they’re friends who agree to this strange union. Janice is more interested in a generous bonus if they succeed, while Al is more into the perks, but can they find the truth? In My Third Wife George, we meet a man named Ralph, a sheltered forty year old virgin. He finds himself in all kinds of outlandish situations, from being attacked by hippies to having two wives, to well, you’ll have to watch to find out. As he goes through all these strange experiences, will he ever find true love and if so, will it come from an unexpected place?
If you like some drama mixed in with your sexploitation, then this is the double feature for you. Unholy Matrimony promises a lot more naked women than it delivers, in order to tell a half assed blackmail tale. I don’t mind the story to hang the nudity on, but too much time is burned on the flimsy plot here. The movie runs just under eighty minutes, which means a lot of exposition and not enough breasts. This is sexploitation after all, so I doubt fans tune in for a riveting blackmail story, let alone a thin one. The film’s grace is that has a decent sense of humor, which adds at least some fun back in. My Third Wife George is much more entertaining, with the same kind of humor, plus an increased quotient of nude females. The movie does have a dark side, so things get rough at times, but hey, this is the original Forty Year Old Virgin. This double feature doesn’t rank with my favorites from Something Weird, but genre fans will still want to give this disc a look.
Video: How does it look?
Both movies are presented in full frame, as intended. These are low budget films from the ’60s and as such don’t look perfect, but they do look very good in these new transfers. I found some debris and marks on both prints from time to time, but nothing extreme or too distracting. I also detected minimal compression flaws, with some minor edge enhancement being the only culprit to be seen. The black & white transfers looks sharp and well detailed, with no real problems I could discern. The balance is dead on and I noticed no detail loss, even in the darkest of sequences.
Audio: How does it sound?
I found no serious problems with the included mono tracks and though the audio might not be memorable, these tracks get the job done in the end. No distortion or hiss is present, which is always a good sign with an older track like this one. I did notice a few age related issues, but no pose much of a concern. The music sounds good and meshes well with the films, and like I mentioned above, no distortion can be found at all. The sound effects aren’t the type that explode or overpower the speakers, but they sound clear and distinct in this mix. The dialogue is the main element and it comes through well enough, no volume or clarity issues in the least.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In addition to theatrical trailers for both films, this disc includes not one, not two, but five bonus shorts. The ones found here are Engagement: Romance and Reality, Are You Ready For Marriage?, Marriage and Divorce, and Florida’s Film Factory, all considered Americana shorts, while Nudist Wedding is filed under Nekkid Home Movie short. Not a bad selection and for genre fans, all welcome inclusions.
