BY LEE PFEIFFER
Impulse Pictures, which specializes in salvaging erotic feature films from the dustbins of our memories, has resuscitated "The Little Blue Box", a 1979 production that feature's a "Who's Who" of adult film stars from the era. Jennifer Welles, one of the most popular actresses of the genre during the 1970s and 1980s, has a dual role that actually requires an attempt at displaying some acting chops. She acquits herself fairly well but it becomes immediately apparent that she wasn't cast because someone felt she was the heiress to Katharine Hepburn. The story opens in the apartment of a young couple, John (John Leslie) and his wife Jen (Jennifer Welles). There is already some tension between them. Seems that the spark has gone out of their love life. John is consistently pre-occupied with his profession as a writer and spends all day pounding typewriter keys (although it's never made clear what, exactly, he is writing and for whom.) Jen, on the other hand, has been radicalized by her obsession with a "Women's Lib" group she participates in. She's become a humorless nag who views everything John does from the context of how it indicates he is insensitive to women. One day while Jen is at work, the doorbell rings and John finds himself face-to-face with Miss Azure (Welles in her dual screen role). She's vivacious and seductive so John immediately let's her in. Seems Miss Azure is peddling a remarkable blue electronics box that allows you to watch porn on your television. (This remarkable invention of the future is better known now as on demand streaming.) Nevertheless in an era when few households had VCRS, the idea of watching erotic movies at home was a welcome development for many people. However, before things can really get started, Jen returns home and tosses Miss Azure out of the apartment. Nevertheless, John invites her back the next day and Miss Azure shows him why the blue box is actually worth the $3,000 price tag: you don't just view standard porn films through it: you create your own. The box has ability to transport the owner into the TV set where he or she can live out their wildest fantasies. It doesn't take John long to write out a check and -Presto!- he and Miss Azure are now involved in a full-out orgy that includes Jen's girlfriend from upstairs (Leslie Bovee). Jen returns home at a seemingly inopportune time only to find the image of her hubby engaging in some down and dirty activities on the TV set. He fails to heed her warnings to stop and before she knows it, she is included in the orgy. As these things usually go, she finds the experience liberating and everyone gets into the groove.
"The Little Blue Box", unlike similar productions of the era, doesn't try to capitalize on location shooting. The entire film is set in the claustrophobic confines of an apartment. However, the movie does include some familiar names from the era in addition to John Leslie and Jennifer Welles. There are appearances by ubiquitous performers such as Leslie Bovee, Jamie Gillis, Sharon Mitchell and one of the first genuine "cougars", Gloria Leonard. Asian actress Ming Toy, who only made four adult feature films, makes a few memorable appearances. "The Little Blue Box" is one of the better efforts from the era largely because the "Twilight Zone"-like premise provides some genuinely amusing scenarios in addition to the erotic elements that are, indeed, erotic.
The Impulse release has been tidied up to a degree but still boasts enough of a rough look to bring back memories for anyone who indulged in these films during their original showings. There are no bonus features.
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