A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 8, 2020

1982’s “A Thousand and One Erotic Nights” makes a valiant attempt to be a respectable, borderline epic adult movie, and one that tries to treat its source material with some degree of respect. Writer/director Edwin Brown sets out to do something saucy with “One Thousand and One Nights,” a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales that doesn’t immediately translate to sexual interplay, but the production puts in the effort to create something entertaining, varied, and, whenever possible, technically proficient, with Brown hoping to elevate his endeavor with cinematic emphasis wherever he can get away with it.

“One Thousand and One Erotic Nights” concerns the fate of Scheherazade (Annette Haven), a lowly member of The Sultan’s (John Leslie) harem who’s been selected to pleasure the ruler, knowing that she’ll be executed in the morning. Instead of accepting such a terrible fate, Scheherazade chooses to beguile The Sultan with strange tales of erotic escalation, keeping him interested in prolonging her life as she figures out her next move. Brown uses the storytelling framework to deliver numerous scenes of sexual interaction, with the feature more about gratification than providing any moral lessons. Dramatics aren’t the star of the show here, with the cast securing invested performances (Leslie and Haven do especially well), and Brown clearly relishes his chance to manufacture a miniature epic, playing with period picture authority while the production tries to turn Malibu beaches and studio apartments into Cecil B. DeMille-style screen grandeur.

Brown elected to return to the brand name in 1988’s “A Thousand and One Erotic Nights Part II: The Forbidden Tales,” which doesn’t continue the momentum of the first picture. Instead, Brown trashes any seriousness and moviemaking ambition to craft a quickie comedy, going sillier with the story of The Sultan (Francois Papillon) and his efforts to find a proper mate though an audition process run by The Judge (Jamie Gillis), a local pervert and amateur magician. Long gone is any sense of regality or concentration, with the follow-up moving forward as a grab bag viewing experience of adult film stars and their special talents. “The Forbidden Tales” isn’t trying to much with the little it has to work with, keeping the couplings coming, dealing with mild perversions and group activities before climaxing with a dose of kink play.

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Billed as "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from their 35mm original negative," Vinegar Syndrome offers fresh looks at both "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights" and its sequel. The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation on the first installment secures a welcomingly textured look at screen essentials, doing well with bodily displays and limitations in set design. Detail is strong throughout the viewing event, also picking up on costuming achievements. Color is appreciable, managing limited interiors and decoration, and clothing provides a boost of primary power. Skintones are the highlight, looking natural. Delineation is comfortable. "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights Part II: The Forbidden Tales" lookse slightly less potent, sustaining franchise consistency and HD interests. Source shows wear and tear for both titles, with scratches and speckling detected, along with periodic blemishes and rough reel changes on the follow-up.

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both features offer a 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix, and while the productions weren't created to impress with their sonic presentations, the basics in dramatic communication and sexual response are present. The first movie suffers from some fuzziness during narration, and wear and tear is also present. Dialogue exchanges are acceptable, never dipping into unintelligibility. Scoring, pulled from public domain recordings, is inherently mild.

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailers for "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights" (4:32, HD) and "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights Part II: The Forbidden Tales" (3:23, HD) are included.

A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In terms of helming energy, the first "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights" has the screen power, with Brown actually trying to create some magic as he supplies the adult movie basics. He doesn't show much interest in elevating the sequel, but the helmer manages an interesting ride of star power and literary tribute.