Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.0

Porno Nights of the World N.2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 30, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle release.

Kier-la Janisse gave film fans one of the most outstanding boxed sets of the last few years with All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, a late 2021 release that ended up making my Best of 2022 list. Janisse is back now with another gigantic boxed set, one that's even bigger than the folk horror compendium, and one that may appeal to a certain niche audience who may not have been especially interested in that earlier set. Those who may remember the rating system of days of yore will probably recall the "M" designation, which meant "for mature audiences only", and if I may be permitted an orthographic joke that is admittedly a bit arcane, some might argue that Emanuelle gave up one of her "m"'s in favor of three x's, at least with regard to some cuts of the many Black Emanuelle films. For those not conversant with the history of this perceived franchise, and who may be scratching their heads at my "joke" (what else is new?), Black Emanuelle was a pretty blatant attempt to cash in on Emmanuelle, and in order to avoid any potential legal hassles one of those original "m"'s in the title character's name got dropped. Furthermore, as supplements on many of the discs included in this set offer, there were hardcore XXX inserts (in more ways than one) that at least some of the Black Emanuelle productions offered. Joke explained, hopefully. Perhaps even more comedically than my fitful attempt at humor, the Black Emanuelle series ended up offering many more films than its perceived progenitor, and 24 of them (with additional cuts) are aggregated in this at times overwhelming collection. This is a collection where the quality of the films may be highly debatable, though it's salient to note that the supplements both overtly reference and are in and of themselves examples of perhaps unexpected critical scrutiny this franchise has engendered, and anyone interested in this kind of bizarre franchise mash up of what might be called porno, mondo and gonzo will most likely find this an amazing set to dive into.

Porno Nights of the World N. 2 shares a disc with Black Deep Throat, and both films offer at least a glimpse of Ajita Wilson, a rather striking figure who is profiled in a supplement included under the Black Deep Throat side of things. Porno Nights of the World N. 2 finds Wilson in "Laura Gemser as tour guide" mode, in what is essentially another set of clips from films and/or stock footage. Kind of interestingly, the two actual Black Emanuelle efforts in this sub-sub-(sub?)-genre, Porno Nights of the World and Emanuelle and the Porno Nights of the World, offered Gemser more or less just straight on addressing the audience as a kind of linking device between the film clips, whereas this production attempts to weave Wilson's character's "story" into the narrative in a somewhat more organic manner.

Porno Nights of the World N.2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Porno Nights of the World N. 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Severin's almost overwhelming book The Black Emanuelle Bible included with this set offers a brief description of the transfer, as follows:

Source: 2K scan from original camera negative.

As with some of the other "cut and paste" offerings in this set, that "original camera negative" attribution may be just ever so slightly misleading, as the snippets utilized here are inherently duplicates, and many of them are pretty decidedly ragged looking in terms of both detail levels and at times at least especially palette (see screenshot 2 for one example). The contemporary footage tends to look relatively great for the most part, with a natural accounting of the palette and generally nice detail levels. The interstitial material is widely variant in just about every aspect we regularly address in our reviews, and as such there's an undeniably heterogeneous appearance on display here at times. The best parts of this presentation certainly get up toward 3.5 levels, but the shoddier looking material similarly ebbs to 2.5 or even 2.0 territory.

Porno Nights of the World N.2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Porno Nights of the World N. 2 features Italian and English language versions presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. The Italian track has a bit mellower midrange, but as with Amore Libero - Free Love, there are actually two pretty different mixes at times (listen to how the score fades in the English version early on, which it doesn't do in the Italian version). Both tracks offer capable support for dialogue, effects and score. Optional English subtitles are available.

Porno Nights of the World N.2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 3:09)

Porno Nights of the World N.2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another afterthought to the Black Emanuelle set that may be appreciated by completists, but which frankly doesn't have a ton to offer on its own merits. Technical merits are generally okay if not mind blowing.