Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 9, 2023

Zalman King was once a young actor trying to build a career in Hollywood, finding his way into television work, eventually graduating to features, including roles in 1977’s “Blue Sunshine” and 1981’s “Galaxy of Terror.” King wasn’t a remarkable performer, with career opportunities eventually drying up. A move behind the camera changed everything for him, taking on directorial duties for 1988’s “Two Moon Junction,” allowed to indulge his interest in erotic entertainment. The effort found its audience on VHS, where it became a staple of mom-and-pop video store selections, giving King an opportunity to keep working the system, returning to a similar study of distress and undress in 1989’s “Wild Orchid,” which enjoyed tremendous publicity due to the possible all-too-real heat generated between stars Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis, creating another picture perfectly suited for the rental market and late-night cable enjoyment. It was another green light for King’s creative wheelhouse, and he jumps right back into the thick of sensual distress with 1991’s “Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue” (aka “Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue”), which carries a head-turning title, but actually has nothing to do with the 1989 endeavor, as King, who returns to write and direct, seeks a new screen adventure featuring an impressionable young woman and the world of predatory men she inhabits. “Wild Orchid 2” isn’t a bold leap forward in imagination from King, who mostly rests on his laurels here, once again giving viewers an uneasy mixture of heated encounters and sexual violence, trying to craft a soap opera to give what’s basically an exploitation offering some softness, helping the audience digest a story that’s quick to dive into unpleasantness.

In 1958, Blue (Nina Siemaszko) is a teen girl touring around California with her father, Ham (Tom Skerritt), who’s trying to make something of a living as a jazz musician. Ham is lost after the death of his wife, turning to heroin to take himself away from life’s responsibilities, leaving Blue to clean up the messes he leaves behind. When Ham disintegrates during a stop on their journey, Blue is forced into prostitution to acquire a fix for her father, with the virgin quickly introduced to the harshness of men who solely want to use her for sexual needs. Ham eventually passes away, leaving Blue on her own, quickly sold to Elle (Wendy Hughes), the owner of a brothel that caters to wealthy and powerful men. She offers Blue a life as a sex worker, sending the girl into an overwhelming world of fetishes and extremity, which works to harden the adolescent. Some comfort is provided by Sully (Robert Davi), Elle’s muscle, who helps Blue escape from her traumatic life, finding peace in the company of Josh (Brent David Fraser), a young man unable to contain his wild spirit, creating chemistry with Blue as they fall in love.

Blue exists in a bleak world in “Wild Orchid 2.” She’s without the care of her mother, left with Ham, a father who has little interest in the job, offering minimal guidance as he pursues his own form of self-destruction, spending his nights shooting up after gigs. He’s a talented trumpeter, making some cash while visiting various jazz clubs around California, leaving his daughter to basically raise herself, with the teenager forced into maturity due to caretaking needs. Blue receives a blast of life in an early encounter with Josh, who’s presented as a wild child immediately taken by the girl’s beauty. However, before Josh returns the story, “Wild Orchid 2” deals with Blue’s downfall, soon left without a guardian after Ham gets reckless with his addiction. Her virginity is taken by a club owner capable of providing drugs in exchange for sex, and Blue is basically gifted to Elle, who presents an air of sophistication and a dose of hard reality, offering Blue a home at the brothel, leaving her with no other living options.

Elle’s establishment is the primary location for “Wild Orchid 2,” with King creating a classy den of sin for the teen to explore, learning the rules of the business, also sparking up a friendship with Mona (Liane Curtis), another underage prostitute also trapped in a dire situation, unable to escape. King focuses on client relations, which fulfills nudity requirements, but there’s a lot of creepiness to “Wild Orchid 2,” with the helmer celebrating erotic events that essentially involve an unwilling participant in Blue, who’s never comfortable with her part in Elle’s plan. The screenplay doesn’t push hard enough on this understanding, as disturbing psychology and statutory rape scenarios tend to distract from King’s love of askew sensuality, leering camerawork, and pronounced style, turning sections of the picture into a 1987 Jovan Musk commercial. And there’s a violent side to the writing, finding King searching for some way to create a story out of next to nothing but fetish-y moments.

“Wild Orchid 2” offers temporary breaks from the brothel, giving Blue a taste of freedom and normalcy, even returning to high school, where she reunites with Josh. There’s potential in this subplot to find some sense of human behavior, but King loves his destructive eccentrics, restarting the pain process for the main character as the movie becomes “The Passion of the Blue,” watching as the girl is hit from all sides by threats and misery.

Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation appears to be sourced from a much older scan of "Wild Orchid 2." Fine detail isn't strong, and filtering is present, losing any look at skin particulars. Costuming isn't richly textured. Interiors aren't sharp, with a hazier sense of decoration and depth. Exteriors retain some dimension. Colors aren't remarkable, with flatness throughout. The picture's lighting schemes are mildly appreciable, flooded with blues and reds. Skin tones lose natural qualities at times. Delineation has moments of solidification. Grain is chunkier. Source is in good condition.

Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix for "Wild Orchid 2" also offers a level of age, with dialogue exchanges softer, less pronounced at times, requiring some brief volume riding to manage emotional conversations. The jazz score supports with more definition, leading with a clear trumpet sound. Atmospherics are limited, but crowd bustle is appreciable.

Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (4:39, SD) offer more erotic footage from "Wild Orchid 2."

• And a Trailer (2:27, SD) is included.

Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot of ickiness to cut through in "Wild Orchid 2," which trades adult agony in "Wild Orchid" for teen horror here, only King doesn't always recognize the evil present in the picture. He's more attentive to ornate lighting, an extended jazz score by George S. Clinton, and the disrobing of female characters, with Siemaszko unable to get much going in the way of characterization despite her best efforts. "Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue" is allowed to be dark, it should plumb the depths of hopelessness, but King isn't a refined filmmaker, offering blunt command of a dreary and poorly scripted B-movie that eventually reaches a phony conclusion, triggering questions the helmer has no interest in answering.