Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 28, 2024

Carlos Aured's "Sex Apocalypse" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the release include new program with director and producer Ricard Reguant; new program with author Miguel Angel Plana; and new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Kidnappers

Sex Apocalypse makes perfect sense only if you place it in a proper historical context. If you do not, you will end up misjudging it and wondering why it is neither a proper crime thriller nor an effective adult film. Here’s the important information that justifies the existence of Sex Apocalypse in its current form:

Spanish director Carlos Aured made Sex Apocalypse several years after the passing of General Franco. During this period, various Spanish directors experimented with a wide range of sexually explicit films, filling a massive void that had existed for decades. What had caused the void? Censorship. During Franco’s reign, Spanish directors were not allowed to make adult films, so the only adult films that entered the country were illegal imports, typically from France and the United States. (For this exact reason, Jess Franco left Spain and spent many years working abroad). When the political status quo changed, the Spanish film industry experienced a creative renaissance that flooded the market with ‘liberated’ films. Some were hybrid projects, meaning that they mixed sexually explicit and other genre content, and some were conventional adult films. Sex Apocalypse was conceived as a hybrid project. It reconstructs a famous kidnapping case but features plenty of explicit content.

However, during the same period, which started in the mid-1970s and ended in the mid-1980s, adult content evolved quite dramatically as well. For example, some directors insisted on working with better-known actors, when possible, even with mainstream actors, prioritizing quality over quantity, and some worked with the most affordable actors and shot as quickly as possible. The bigger and better films were routinely promoted to the same crowd that sought the latest arty films from France and Italy, while the cheaper and smaller films played primarily in adult theaters in the bigger cities. As the market became saturated with locally produced and imported adult films, and video players became more affordable, the bigger and better films became rarer. Gradually, the hybrid projects, like Sex Apocalypse, disappeared, too. In other words, Sex Apocalypse is a product of a unique Spanish trend of the post-Franco era.

The famous kidnapping case referenced at the beginning of Sex Apocalypse is fairly straightforward. Five criminals, two young men and three young women, break into a lavish mansion whose owner is on vacation in Miami and soon after kidnap the daughter of a local millionaire. While waiting for the millionaire to pay the ransom they have demanded, the criminals begin engaging in perverse sexual games. When their captive becomes attracted to the leader of the group and joins the sexual games, the trust between the criminals evaporates, and soon after all hell breaks loose.

Sex Apocalypse easily could have been a Franco project. It unites Franco’s muse, Lina Romay, with frequent collaborators Ajita Wilson and Hemy Basalo, and produces an atmosphere typically found in many of Franco’s films. However, Aured moves the camera differently and, in the process, creates far more consistent and refined footage that ultimately makes Sex Apocalypse look like a mainstream project.

This upcoming Blu-ray release presents a softer version of Sex Apocalypse that has been newly restored in 2K. It is approximately 78 minutes long. There is an extended version ofSex Apocalypse with hardcore footage that is approximately 106 minutes long. This version was prepared for the Italian market, which at the time was the most relaxed in Europe. It is included as a bonus on this two-disc Blu-ray set, also produced by Mondo Macabro.

Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080p transfer, Sex Apocalypse arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The release introduces a marvelous recent 2K restoration of Sex Apocalypse. Excluding some tiny instability/weaving noticeable during the opening credits, the overall quality of the presentation is as impressive as that of In the Folds of the Flesh, which might be the best looking release in Mondo Macabro's catalog. Delineation, clarity, and depth, for instance, range from excellent to outstanding. The density levels of the visuals are very good, too. I upscaled the film to 4K and thought that the density levels of all visuals were essentially as good as those produced by native 4K content. Color balance is fantastic. All primaries are lush and natural, while all supporting nuances are equally attractive, natural, and properly balanced. As a result, brighter daylight and darker indoor footage looks outstanding. There are no traces of digital tinkering. The surface of the visuals is very healthy. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

All exchanges are clear and easy to follow. However, the audio feels a bit compressed, at times even flat. I am unsure if this is an inherited limitation. If I had to guess, I would say that it is because Sex Apocalypse was done with a small budget, so more than likely its soundtrack was completed with minimal efforts. Again, there are no troubling anomalies. It is just that the audio isn't lush and nicely rounded.

Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Ricard Reguant: The History of S Cinema - in this recent program, director/screenwriter/playwright/TV producer Ricard Reguant discusses the state of the Spanish film industry after the death of General Franco, the evolution of the Spanish erotic/adult film, his work with many of the era's big producers and directors, and his contribution to various S-rated films. Reguant also recalls the exact moment in which he learned from Antonio Mayans that Jess Franco had passed away. In Spanish, with English subtitles. (46 min).

• Carlos Aured: Cinema as Survival - in this recent program, author Miguel Angel Plana (Carlos Aured: Nostalgia y passion) discusses Carlos Aured's background and the evolution of his career, the production of Sex Apocalypse, and the transitional period in which the film emerged, Plana also comments on the extended version of Sex Apocalypse and confirms that it was not co-directed by Italian helmer Sergio Bergonzelli. In Spanish, with English subtitles. (31 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson.

Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

After the death of General Franco, Spanish directors made a wide range of sexually explicit films, the earliest of which they attempted to craft as mainstream genre films. The few I have seen are quite interesting. However, the stronger demand for conventional adult films quickly put an end to this practice. Carlos Aured's Sex Apocalypse emerged during this transitional period and is very similar to the erotic films Jess Franco was shooting at the time. In fact, it unites Franco's muse, Lina Romay, with frequent collaborators Ajita Wilson and Hemy Basalo. It is a hybrid project whose greatest strength is that it is reflective of a unique Spanish trend that ended in the 1980s. Mondo Macabro's release introduces a gorgeous recent 2K restoration of it with a couple of very good bonus features. I particularly enjoyed the one with director and producer Ricard Reguant, who discusses in great detail the glory days and inevitable death of the Spanish rated-S film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.