Very disappointing...

Instant Favorite.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It's a familiar story. Not this tale of Tony, who is apparently mentally handicapped, and his mother Mudi (Maud de Belleroche) and friends' attempts to rid him of his virginity, amidst exotic, sun-kissed locations. I mean the story of a film with a certain reputation presumed lost - or woefully incomplete - found and meticulously reconstructed, proving to be ... mostly unspectacular.Not since Godzilla trudged out of the water to confront a shabby Japanese King Kong have two more mighty icons shared screen-time together. Seeing two mighty giants of giallo films - Rosalba Neri (Paola) and Edwige Fenech (Ulla) - sharing screen time together is an almost surreal scene, and it is this pairing that probably ensured interest in 'Top Sensation'. The result spends vast amounts of its running time exploring the tremendous environment and the equally tremendous star players.Visually, it is great. The locations are incredible and lend themselves entirely to the casual paradise in which these rich layabouts live their lives. It goes without saying Fenech and Neri are masters of their craft: naturally beautiful and exuding casual confidence and a sense of presence, it is a pity this is the one and only time they are billed together. There's a scene featuring Fenech and a goat that is as mind-boggling as it sounds.Mudi is pretty fixated on her son's plight, going to the lengths of implanting hidden cameras in the yacht and copping off with Paola's husband Aldo (Maurizio Bonuglia). The stinger here is that Tony, despite being surrounded by such wanton temptation, falls for uncorrupted local farm girl Beba (Ewa Thulin). Only then do events turn particularly strange and nasty, and the shift from mild sex-romp to drama becomes apparent. This interesting development almost feels tacked on, it arrives so late, but is still very effective and unexpected.The final scene leaves things open-ended but fairly gloomy, which is a good contrast to the sunny, carefree hi-jinks earlier on.

I haven't posted a review in a while because I haven't seen anything worth reviewing, but this little 1969 masterpiece from Ottavio Alessi, TOP SENSATION, hit me on the head like an anvil when I stumbled across it this morning. Maud de Bellroche, looking like a butch dominatrix on the run from Nazi hunters, plays Mudy, an oil Baroness who has taken her demented pyromaniac son out for a pleasure cruise with a couple of swingers and their prostitute girlfriend, the impossibly beautiful Edwige Fenech. They toss sticks of dynamite into the ocean and drop acid and drink whiskey and screw each other, all in the hopes of creating an ambiance that will get Tony, the Baroness's weirdo son, to pop his cherry. Eventually they run into a sandbar and explore an isolated island where Tony falls for a virginal and equally impossibly beautiful goatheardress who shines in brilliantine contrast to the frivolousness of mom and her crew of golddigging pals. All while Rosalba Neri, the other sexpot from the ship, wanders up into the hills to blow the brains out of the peasants' goats.Of course, things go terribly wrong….Beba the goat girl and her oafish brute of a husband meet their proletariat demise aboard the ship, and later Tony strangles mother dearest: the girl he really wants to lose his virginity to. In the end, the boat sails off into the sunset with Mommy's Little Madman at the helm. Capital has remained in the hands of the decadent ruling class, and Tony steers his crew of hustlers and murderers towards their next plunder-rich target. Sounds like Antonioni a bit, or even Lina Wertmuller, just a lot more entertaining. In fact, being a filthy, elitist libertine never looked like so much fun.

Because of its elusiveness and because of the poor quality copies that did circulate, Top Sensation developed a reputation that it really doesn't deserve. It is not a thriller. The exploitation goodies, while present, are not as numerous as what one might expect giving its X rating (now, easily an R). Still, Top Sensation provides undemanding viewers with a good time throughout its short running time.The film could be accurately called seven loonies on a boat. Mudy is a rich, decadent bi-sexual on a private cruise. Her yacht is staffed by an ambitious, morally dubious couple, both of whom are sleeping with the boss. In addition, there is a hired companion (the lovely Edwige Fenech) along to seduce the boss's son. The young man suffers from a mental illness which makes him act like a child. In 70's swinger psychology, mom thinks getting him laid will turn him into a man. The only thing is that boy won't come near his girl toy (turning down Edwige Fenech? The poor boy is worse than I thought!). When the yacht runs aground on a sandbar, the son sneaks off to explore a nearby island. There, he befriends a young, innocent shepherdess. Mom and company are thinking the girl might be good at tending something besides sheep, but what to do with her husband? This is a silly film, but one that is hard to dislike. It moves along at a nice pace. The viewer is never bored. There is a pleasant music score. The scenery is gorgeous and so are the girls. Edwige Fenech, Rosalba Neri, and Eva Thulin all radiate charm in their bikinis (and occasionally less). In addition, once in a while director Ottavio Alessi will go for an arty touch just because (check out the editing on the scene where the two more experienced girls make up the shepherdess). As nautical themed sex dramas go, Top Sensation is far more fun than Roman Polanski's Bitter Moon.

Rosalba Neri and Edwige Fenech in the same film...what could possibly go wrong? Very little, it would seem, as what we have here is a sensational slice of Italian trash that works in every way you could want it to. The film is something like Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water mixed with naked women and a handful of Giallo themes. It's a real shame that this film hasn't been given a proper DVD release, as while the seductive nature of the film still shines through on the bootleg DVDr that I saw it on, the film would be much better served with a crisp, clean picture and adequate sound. Anyway, the plot focuses on the events transpiring on a yacht. Mudy - a stone-cold matriarch, wants her son to get laid. Tony is an odd kid to say the least, and even when Mudy recruits Aldo and his sexy wife Paula (Rosalba Neri), as well as saucy prostitute Ulla (Edwige Fenech), he still doesn't seem interested. It's only when he bumps into farm girl Beba that his interest seems to be sparked, and his mother quickly insists on the pair returning to her boat. However, the lovely ladies decide to start playing games with the boy's new girl...Despite the fact that the film doesn't go too far, it is amazingly sexy, and that is of course down to its female leads. Director Ottavio Alessi makes good use of his women, and scenes involving Edwige Fenech and a goat, as well as a three way lesbian scene stand out most. Neri and Fenech spend most of the movie wearing hardly anything, and neither one minds taking their top off - which is fine by me. The plot doesn't take a backseat to the sex and nudity, however, and that's what really makes Top Sensation stand out above similar films. The way that the yacht is rigged with cameras makes the film feel all the more sleazy, and the idea of a mother trying to get her son laid is exactly whiter than white either. The sleazy elements exist in harmony with the storyline, which makes the film feel more complete than your average porno. The characters are all presented in an interesting way, and the director does well at ensuring that the plot is always interesting by upping the stakes at the right time throughout. The ending is shocking enough, and overall - Top Sensation comes highly recommended to all fans of Italian sleaze!