Movie Ad of the Week: AUDITIONS (1980)

The second of three movies Harry Hurwitz (THE PROJECTIONIST) directed under his “Harry Tampa” handle -- the others are FAIRY TALES (1978) and NOCTURNA (1979) -- AUDITIONS is supposedly a documentary that was filmed with hidden cameras during the auditions for the never completed FAIRY TALES PART II, but you’ll smell the bullshit the instant Linnea Quigley and Hurwitz regular Bob Staats show up using pseudonyms when both of them had already appeared in the first FAIRY TALES under their real names. The rest of the cast consists mostly of recognizable porn stars (Rick Cassidy, Rhonda Jo Petty, William Margold, Linda York, Jennifer West) and oddball GONG SHOW types. It opened in Atlanta on May 16, 1980 with a self-imposed X rating, but producer Charles Band submitted it to the MPAA in 1982 for an official X ahead of its release on video through his Wizard label.

One-Sheet of the Week: WHEELER (1975)

WHEELER (1975) Originally released with a PG rating. Additional footage shot in the late 1970s -- including Linnea Quigley's forced nude dance, no doubt inspired by WHEN YOU COMIN' BACK, RED RYDER -- earned the film an R rating from the MPAA in 1980. The new version was re-titled THE MAMA'S BOY, then THE HURTING, and was finally released theatrically in 1982 as PSYCHO FROM TEXAS.