Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Scandalous Emanuelle 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.

If there's a "scandal" about Scandalous Emanuelle, it may be that this is even less of a "real" Black Emanuelle film than some of the others in this set. Laura Gemser is indeed on hand, and Joe D'Amato is the, um, auteur, but this is a sidebar entry that actually serves as a kind of example of what D'Amato and Gemser matriculated to after the Black Emanuelle "thing" had basically run its course. The focal character is named Christina (Jenny Tamburi), and she's a distressed wife who takes a walk on the wild side, so to speak, ultimately falling prey to a local pimp named Andrea (Sebastiano Somma). This kind of hilariously might be the kind of "case" Emanuelle would have investigated back in the day, but Gemser is relegated to best friend supporting status here. While full of the typical softcore antics that often suffused the actual Black Emanuelle films, this is a somewhat more chaste entry from the likes of D'Amato.

Scandalous Emanuelle Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sister Emanuelle 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 of original camera negative by Film Export Group.

This presentation offers a kind of processed look, with a somewhat anemic palette that can admittedly come a bit to life in some of the more brightly lit outdoor material, where things can at least relatively pop a bit. But a lot of interior scenes in particular have a somewhat brown, dowdy appearance and the grain can have a rather oddly unorganic and gritty look. Detail levels can never quite protrude above some of these anomalies, but some brightly lit scenes featuring close-ups offer some decent fine detail.

Scandalous Emanuelle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scandalous Emanuelle features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono in English. This is another relatively unambitious D'Amato film from a sound design perspective, but the music attributed to Guido Anelli and Stefano Mainetti sounds fine, and dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Scandalous Emanuelle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Scandalous Christina (HD; 9:26) is an interview with actress Jenny Tamburi. Subtitled in English.


• Peeping Lilli (HD; 12:26) is an interview with actress Lilli Carati. Subtitled in English.


• Trailer (HD; 1:52)