Director Tony Marsiglia failed to impress me with his tale of a young prostitute named Susie Heartless. I found that film to be quite pretentious and it didn't work for me at all. After watching Chantal, I have a new respect for Marsiglia as this story of a naive young girl being eaten alive by the Hollywood underbelly is quite engaging. This is a director who obviously wants to do more than simple exploitation movies and while his experiments may not always work, I applaud him for trying to do something a little different even though the subject matter is quite dark and hopeless. He does a great service to many of the girls made famous by Seduction Cinema's lesbian antics by showing that some of them have more talent than you would think.

Misty Mundae stars as Chantal, a young girl who moves to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actress. Before long, she meets a pair of sleazeballs who want her to have sex with them. After escaping this situation, Chantal rents a room in possibly the filthiest hotel on film and is saved when she is attacked by a junkie who looks like a strung-out Alice Cooper. The savior (Andrea Davis) turns out to be not quite the angel Chantal had imagined when she leads her to a pornographic lesbian photo shoot (reminding me that I was watching a movie from Seduction Cinema). After a few more incidents, Chantal is taken in by a kindly hooker (Julian Wells), forced to have lesbian sex by a sleazy old producer, and eventually begins to lose her mind.

This is not your typical Seduction Cinema movie in that Marsiglia is able to get some actual acting performances from some of the girls. Julian Wells is excellent as a jaded streetwalker who does what she needs to survive and you can see that she still has some remorse for the choices she has to make. I know Wells is a good comedic actress from seeing Cloak & Shag Her. This performance shows that she is also a capable dramatic actress who happens to take her clothes off. It is a shame that she has moved on from acting. Another good performance comes from Andrea Davis who is able to show the internal pain she is feeling while also having that look that she has given up on life. This is very effective. Finally, we have Misty Mundae who plays the innocent and wide-eyed title character. There is not a big stretch for Mundae as I am sure she can relate to the character in some manner but the way she plays the role shines as one of her best performances especially alongside Wells and Davis.

This is not a happy movie but it is one of the better showcases of the talents of some actresses that are not always looked at in that regard. It is ironic that a movie with subject matter such as this is what it takes to make these girls be taken seriously. I wish that there were more roles like these but as Marsiglia and the girls know all too well, the target market for movies from this company is not looking for deep performances or risk-taking filmmakers. This genre is a definite strength for Marsiglia as he has an eye for the unpleasant and seems comfortable telling tales of hopelessness. It is a difficult type of film to make as it is hard to root for a character who makes so many bad choices but he is able to elicit sympathy and take you along on her journey. He also manages to incorporate the required sex scenes into the story without making them the focus of the film. Some other familiar faces that pop up include Darian Caine as a photographer, Julie Strain as a dominating model, and her sister Lizzie as a shy model. You can see Marsiglia himself as the creepy, heavy breathing, hotel clerk. (Josh Pasnak, 3/31/10)

Directed By: Tony Marsiglia.
Written By: Tony Marsiglia.

Starring: Misty Mundae, Julian Wells, Andrea Davis, Darian Caine.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: The movie was shot on film and the transfer appears to be a little bit unclear at times. This may have been an intentional move by Marsiglia to make the movie seem a little bit surreal because he does stuff like that.

Extras: First up, we get a commentary from director Marsiglia and producer Michael Raso. There is a lot of good information on the making of the film and how happy they both are with the performances. Next, is a commentary with Marsiglia and Misty Mundae. This is an excellent commentary as Mundae speaks candidly about her experiences as an actress and doesn't hold back. She comes across as very honest and real and it made me respect her a lot more. She speaks of how her transition away from softcore has not panned out the way she had planned since her "Masters of Horror" episode. I hope she succeeds in her career and pushes forward as I miss seeing her in newer movies. Next, we get a 10-minute making of with some brief interviews and behind the scenes footage. Rounding out the extras on the first disc is a camera test with unknown actresses and a handful of trailers.

Disc two begins with the original Chantal, which runs about an hour. This version was directed by Nick Phillips and released in 1969. Seduction Cinema has taken many of Phillips' films and remade them for contemporary audiences with their stable of actors. I found this to be one of the more accessible Phillips films. It is fun to see some shots of Hollywood from that era and the black and white photography looks decent. The content of the film is mainly three teaser scenes featuring women in various states of undress with a voiceover from the main character explaining the pitfalls of Hollywood. The movie is accompanied by a commentary from Phillips and grindhouse expert 42nd Street Pete. I hoped this would be an interesting talk about sexploitation moviemaking but instead there are long pauses and a number of references to "beavers". Next, we have a 5-minute interview with Phillips where he explains how some of his movies were initially shown. This is followed by a short film entitled "These Girls are Fools". This was made in 1956 and is another cautionary tale about young girls in Hollywood that features some mild teasing. Rounding out the extras is the usual assortment of Seduction Cinema trailers. The Nick Phillips trailers are worth watching for a laugh for the silly narration.

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