A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine / The Brick Dollhouse (Something Weird)

Starring:Stacey Walker, Sam Melville, Bob Todd (IV), Sharon Carr, Michael Wright (VII), Michael O'Kelly, Larry N. Jones, Linda Gearheart, Tom Hughes, Tom Dolbey, David F. Friedman, Ken Shapiro, Tina Vienna, Lee Cory, Peggy Ann, Joyana, George French, Janice Kelly, Steve Powers (III), Helena Clayton
Director: David F. Friedman, Byron Mabe, Tony Martinez (II)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
She's sexy! She's psycho! She's a sadistic little sex kitten gleefully destroying men with A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine! She's Sharon Winters -- played by the delectable Stacey Walker (The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill), the Ultimate Tease who gets her kicks by seducing guys, then calling for the cops: "What do you think I am? Some two-dollar hustler?!" She sends one young man to jail, forces another to skip town, and drives one poor slob so crazy that he runs maniacally through the streets before attacking the first woman he sees! But the tables are turned when Sharon zeroes in on a thug who's even sicker than she.... Written and produced by the legendary David F. Friedman (The Defilers), this gritty, gutsy, outrageously un-PC sinema classic is a truly twisted gem from the Golden Age of Sexploitation! Plus: Vivacious Vincene Wallace (co-star of Russ Meyer's Vixen) is Dee, a naive young gal who's come to Hollywood to be a star. Instead, she's jumped by her landlord, hired to headline a "strip auction," and becomes the drugged centerpiece of a lesbian-and-whipped-cream party! As the narrator says, "It's sort of a sickness trying to reach the top. But it's A Sweet Sickness...." Also: Pot-party swingers, high-haired hellcats, gals who love gals, and -- yikes! -- one shot-to-death stripper are all to be found behind the well-built walls of The Brick Dollhouse! It's a torrid and tumultuous triple bill of scintillating Sixties Skinflicks, Friedman style!

A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine / The Brick Dollhouse (Something Weird)
Average customer rating:

"Paula, I may be a b****, but I'll never be a butch!"

"Get away from me you pervert."

My favourite movie

Another amazing triple feature from Something Weird Video

"Honey" Easy to Swallow, "Dollhouse" Smells

A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine / The Brick Dollhouse (Something Weird)
Starring: Stacey Walker , Sam Melville , Bob Todd (IV) , Sharon Carr , and Michael Wright (VII)
Director: David F. Friedman , Byron Mabe , and Tony Martinez (II)
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000YEDTA
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Description

She's sexy! She's psycho! She's a sadistic little sex kitten gleefully destroying men with A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine! She's Sharon Winters -- played by the delectable Stacey Walker (The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill), the Ultimate Tease who gets her kicks by seducing guys, then calling for the cops: "What do you think I am? Some two-dollar hustler?!" She sends one young man to jail, forces another to skip town, and drives one poor slob so crazy that he runs maniacally through the streets before attacking the first woman he sees! But the tables are turned when Sharon zeroes in on a thug who's even sicker than she.... Written and produced by the legendary David F. Friedman (The Defilers), this gritty, gutsy, outrageously un-PC sinema classic is a truly twisted gem from the Golden Age of Sexploitation! Plus: Vivacious Vincene Wallace (co-star of Russ Meyer's Vixen) is Dee, a naive young gal who's come to Hollywood to be a star. Instead, she's jumped by her landlord, hired to headline a "strip auction," and becomes the drugged centerpiece of a lesbian-and-whipped-cream party! As the narrator says, "It's sort of a sickness trying to reach the top. But it's A Sweet Sickness...." Also: Pot-party swingers, high-haired hellcats, gals who love gals, and -- yikes! -- one shot-to-death stripper are all to be found behind the well-built walls of The Brick Dollhouse! It's a torrid and tumultuous triple bill of scintillating Sixties Skinflicks, Friedman style!

Customer Reviews:

"Paula, I may be a b****, but I'll never be a butch!".......2007-05-12

A SMELL OF HONEY, A SWALLOW OF BRINE was the second--and final--feature to star Stacey Walker, one of the most popular and elusive exploitation leading ladies. Producer David F. Friedman, who discovered Ms Walker (aka Barbara Jean Moore) on the beach at Santa Monica in 1966, quickly cast Stacey in "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill" and wrote SMELL OF HONEY... especially for her. She walked away from her career shortly after, but this merely adds to her collectability.

In this sordid gem, which virtually defines the Roughie genre, Walker plays Sharon Winters, a vile little white-trash tramp who leads men on and then cries rape at the last moment (hence the title). You could almost mistake this for one of Doris Wishman's epics being produced around the same time, but SMELL OF HONEY... is very much a Friedman production.

Much of the fun is watching Sharon as she systematically destroys every man who crosses her path, before she gets her ultimate comeuppance in the final reel. The print of the film isn't exactly pristine, but again this adds to the feel of the story.

Something Weird has also included two minor skinflicks on this disc: THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE and A SWEET SICKNESS, filmed in 1967 and 1968 respectively. The less said about these films the better; the main intent behind this disc was the long-awaited digital release of SMELL OF HONEY..., and it alone is worth the price of the DVD.

Extra features are highlighted by the feature-length commentary on SMELL OF HONEY..., supplied by David F. Friedman, Mike Vraney and Frank Henenlotter. They offer a fun-filled glimpse into what happened behind the scenes, and Friedman still regards Stacey Walker as possibly his greatest discovery. Copious trailers for other films are included (I wish "Starlet!" would get released soon). There's also some home-made footage from the Apple Theatre.

Perfect for the late-night movie enthusiasts and the ever-growing fanbase for Stacey Walker. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

"Get away from me you pervert.".......2006-11-27

It's easy to see why Something Weird Video packaged these three films together for a triple feature--they're good examples of 60s 'adult' films. Obviously very low budget, with terrible acting, and thin plots, all three films cash in on theoretical sexual naivete, underwear and endless bathroom scenes. All three films use any excuse to show the female 'stars' undressing, stretching, dancing and generally jiggling at the camera.

There's the title film--the strongest of the three--"A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine" which concerns Sharon, a young girl who teases men and then when she pushes them far enough, she calls the police and files assault charges. The film follows the games Sharon plays until the one night she meets her match.

"A Sweet Sickness" is supposed to be a morality tale about tinsel town ("Hollywood. Where a beautiful body isn't enough"). A naive young girl arrives from Kansas (of course!) and hopes to hit the big time. She takes a job in a strip auction and eventually ends up as a drugged participant in a whipped cream party. The Big Bertha scene was the highlight of the film

The third feature, "The Brick Dollhouse" is the only one of the three films in colour, and it truly has a swinging 60s feel. The film begins with three roommates coming home to find the fourth girl--a stripper complete with a cheap red wig--topless and shot to death--sprawled out across her bed. Detectives question the three nonchalant roommates (one files her nails). A wild party life emerges involving spin-the-bottle, scenes on the billiard table and even a few peeping through keyhole shots.

All three films take advantage of every moment to show endless shower and bath scenes. The girls go around half dressed (even answering the door topless at one point). It's mainly a lot of silly naughtiness, and your tolerance for that may vary. This triple feature is not as campy as many of the Something Weird titles (my all-time favourite is "Satan in High Heels"), and these three films definitely lean towards the adult film industry. With Something Weird Titles, I seek a High Camp Factor (HCF) but here it's unfortunately drowned by all the topless frolicking, and ultimately the occasional inadvertent humour isn't much of a payoff--displacedhuman

My favourite movie.......2005-10-29

This film is really amazing. It's 60's trash, but it is different from other films of the type and becomes a film in a category of its own. It may sound pretentious to call a movie like this art, but is so orignal it can only be described as such. It's extremely low budget. The filming is crude, the camera is often shaky, and the editing is very poor, scenes jump around and collpase into one another. But all this almost seems to be done on purpose. The music is amazing, light 60's rock that is so repetitive that it puts one in a quasi-hypnotic state and the melodies are beautiful. The film is often silent except for the music which constantly plays in the background. The sreenwriting is of course not written by the book, but you can still find a traditional three act story if you try. The movie instead moves in segments, each having its own theme song and victim. The story is divulged in other reviews, but if you can watch the movie without having the story line revealed to you first I would recommend it. I recommend this movie to any adult who can watch it with an open mind.

Another amazing triple feature from Something Weird Video.......2005-04-15

If anything, Something Weird Video has the most interesting DVD catalog out there. Even if you have no particular affinity for the films, you've got to admit that they have some of the most unique titles ever to be displayed on a marquee. And with this David F. Friedman triple feature, SWV once again proves that they are one of the leaders of the DVD industry today.

A SMELL OF HONEY, A SWALLOW OF BRINE is obviously the main point of interest, and with good reason: it is the only good film on this DVD. SMELL OF HONEY has it all-- sleaze, cheese, a fair bit of nudity, and lesbian action; all of which usually make for an entertaining viewing experience. Stacey Walker is hilariously bad (which equals good, in my book) as sex kitten Sharon Winters, who teases horny young men and then cries rape when things go too far. The acting is atrocious (though not annoyingly so) and the ending is deliriously ironic. Anyone who is a fan of vintage Something Weird product will have a great time with this.

A SWEET SICKNESS is certainly a few notches down in the fun department, but is not without its merits; the film has some good photography and the quality of the transfer really brings this out. The main problem with A SWEET SICKNESS is the pacing (which is also the problem with THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE): minutes go by without anything much happening besides unattractive girls dancing in a very unerotic way, which makes a 65 minute film seem like a 165 minute film. But still, A SWEET SICKNESS has an intriguing plot that somehow makes up for some of its mistakes. In fact, the plot of the film (a woman moves to the city hoping to make it as a stripper, only to find that the only thing the men want is sex) leads one to believe that perhaps it was the inspiration for the infinitely superior cult classic, SHOWGIRLS. However, the ideas behind this film are far better than the actual execution.

THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE is a bore, plain and simple. In fact, I might go so far as to say that it's one of the worst films I've ever seen. This would have worked as an effective updating of RASHOMON--five women discover their roommate has been murdered, but each has a different explanation of the events leading up to her death--if only it weren't so mind-numbingly dull. THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE was obviously filmed to titillate, and while the women are quite attractive, the gratuitous nudity and sex does very little to advance the plot. Both this film and A SWEET SICKNESS pale greatly to SMELL OF HONEY, making that film look like a masterwork in comparison.

For the age of these three films, the picture quality is outstanding. In fact, the latter two are hardly deserving of such grand treatment. The sound is average, but the extras are where this disc really shines. SWV have included a commentary on SMELL OF HONEY with producer David F. Friedman, the original trailer for A SWEET SICKNESS, bonus Friedman trailers, a special shot-on-video short called "A Visit to the Apple Theater", and a gallery of posters from David F. Friedman productions. All in all, a very worthwhile set for any fan of sexploitation films, and even though A SWEET SICKNESS and THE BRICK DOLLHOUSE aren't very interesting, SMELL OF HONEY alone is worth the retail price.

"Honey" Easy to Swallow, "Dollhouse" Smells.......2004-03-09

Kudos to Something Weird Video for putting "A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine," one of David F. Friedman's best movies, on DVD! Sexy Stacey Walker, with her arched eyebrows, wicked smile and heavily sprayed hair, burns up the screen as Sharon Winters, a character who gets her kicks seducing men, then crying "Rape!" (In his commentary, the always-enteraining Friedman tells how he considered calling the movie "C.T.", but figured no one would get it.) It's a performance that's fun to watch, and certainly uses Walker to much greater effect than the nudie-cutie "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill." Shot in black and white, "A Smell of Honey" has a deliciously tawdry look, yet shows some artful flourishes (likely attributed to cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs as director Byron Mabe was never known for artful flourishes. Even when the actors are clothed, our imaginations are nudged into the gutter (Walker and "victim" framed in a tree that looks like spread thighs; Walker suggestively drinking from a Coke bottle while the camera periodically cuts to the thrusting, bulging crotch of her boyfriend singing in a bar). Walker could've easily gone on to stardom, in either exploitation or even mainstream movies (she reportedly was courted by Paramount). But, as Friedman tells it, she married "some gazoony" and moved back to her home state of Texas after only making two feature-length movies.

Friedman only distributed "A Sweet Sickness," but the movie is a worthy second feature to "A Smell of Honey." Starring Vincene Wallace as a Hollywood hopeful who tries to hold on to her virtue while pursuing an acting career, "A Sweet Sickness" is nastier than most '60s sex pics, but not quite crossing over into '70s soft-X territory. Some amusing moments include Wallace's sleazy agent getting cornered on his casting couch by a Rubinesque stripper (named Bertha, naturally); Wallace sporting a hairstyle that looks like she has a giant gourd perched atop her head; a hyperkenetic performance by a spindly exotic dancer who looks a lot like Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss; and a bed brought to life through stop-motion animation. Look for Carol Channing in an opening scene (calm down, she's not naked).

"The Brick Dollhouse" is another Friedman pickup, and even he refers to it as a "worthless piece of crap." Swinging roommates come home to discover one of their roomies has been shot dead. By the time the police arrive, they've all changed into sexy lingerie--perfect attire for telling the police about all those swingin', topless pot parties they go to on a daily basis. There a few moments in this lame whodunnit that'll produce giggles, and if you like looking at topless '60s babes go-go dancing you'll be in heaven. Otherwise, even with a running time of 55 minutes, "The Brick Dollhouse" goes on waaaay too long.

There are trailers for other Friedman movies, like "The Defilers," "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill" and "The Lustful Turk" (in which all the men wear obviously fake beards). But the best extra is Friedman's commentary on "A Smell of Honey." This sultan of sleaze and Allah of alliteration (sorry, got carried away) livens up any DVD with his frankly-told, frequently humorous anecdotes of exploitation's golden age. At times, his commentary can be more entertaining than the movie (e.g. "Fanny Hill" and "The Head Mistress"). Though "A Smell of Honey" easily stands on its own, Friedman's commentary is icing on the cake.

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