The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

She hightailed it after a scandal but now ABIGAIL LESLEY IS BACK IN TOWN and the old gang's creamin' their jeans, let me tell ya. They all knew each other back in high school when they either lusted after or had sex with each other and now, ten years later, it's happening all over again, their marriages be damned... Joe Sarno's oneiric 1975 (im)morality tale has a number of superstars from The Golden Age Of Porn (Jamie Gillis, Jennifer Welles, Eric Edwards) doing softcore (where a modicum of acting replaces penetration) and guess what- nobody breaks the suspension of disbelief or embarrassed themselves. This may be softcore porn but it inhabits the same universe as it's XXX brethren -a world where sexual fulfillment is the most important thing in life. It's the only thing, in fact, and if it isn't, there's something wrong with you, like Priscilla (Rebecca Brooke). I was down with it but tremors began to crack the terrain when a couple of characters professed their love at the end (Abigail to Priscilla, Priscilla & Chester to each other) and I had a Scarlett O'Hara moment when I thought, "But where will they go? What will they do?" because not one of them worked or did much of anything besides think or worry about sex when they weren't actually having it. In this universe there's nothing wrong (as Priscilla found out) that a little liberation can't cure so I was gobsmacked when Priscilla told Chester that the only way they could be happy was to "leave this place". Why? Are they running from a past they had no trouble embracing in more ways than one? That revelation turned this universe on its ear and my comprehension crumbled along with it. The cock-blocking mixed message confounded me but the film's anatomical and pastoral (a New England fishing village) tableaux were so nice to look at, I didn't care. It was filmed in Amityville, Long Island but I'm not reel sure what possessed writer/director Sarno. Not that it matters, of course -I was spellbound. I was surprised beautiful leading lady Rebecca Brooke (aka Mary Mendum) wasn't the titular vixen but her Priscilla was the film's focal point and she its star. Brooke was found floating in a Boca Raton, Florida canal a couple of years ago, "accidently drowned" but I can't find out anything more about it.

Effective and ultimately rather engaging soft core from Mr Sarno. I think it should be said right away that 'soft core' here means something a little more than the usual mincing about that one might imagine. I reckon but stand to be corrected that some of this is real sex without us actually being shown the graphic detail. Anyway, suffice to say the sex scenes are believable and erotic. I am not as stunned by the acting as some seem to be but, I guess for the type of film this is, the acting is surprisingly good. I don't really know whether the film is a bit stilted at the beginning with its slightly awkward flashbacks or it just took me a little while to get into things but the film certainly seems to get better as it progresses. By the end when Abigail has managed to 'engage' with the whole cast and encourage almost everyone to also go with each other, in twos, threes and more the fire is well alight. There are also some pointed observations and I particularly liked a scene where one of the more retiring girls asks Abigail to help her become free like her, Abigail replies, 'You may not like being free'. Very enjoyable and not one scene that seems too long - some achievement!

I first saw the film Abigail Leslie is Back in Town in the 1970's – shortly after it had been made. I believe I saw it on cable in some early cable attempt at late night programming. As a then enthusiastic consumer of 'lesbian porn', I remember enjoying it a lot at that time.Recently some inspired promoter re-issued the film on DVD; as I was highly curious about whether or not it had stood the test of time, I bought a copy and watched it.The movie was originally issued as a 'soft core' art film. Therefore, it must be judged on two criterion: does it work as a porn film: and does it work as an art film.The problem is that, as a porn film, it moves way too slowly to succeed. Even the erotic moments are extended beyond the attention span of the average porn viewer. And the connective 'soap opera', which centers around the title character's return from exile after sleeping with the husband of the most uptight woman in town, leaves something to be desired. She returns for revenge and, like Puzo's literary Don Corleone, knows well the Sicilian proverb that 'revenge is a dish best served cold. Unfortunately these connective scenes drag on and on, with long shots of gorgeous New England winter filling them it. It's a very beautiful porn film, but it simply doesn't work on that level.Does it work as an art film? That depends on the viewer. To me it's still remarkably long winded, with all these beautiful shots of a cold and bitter New England winter. But some art film critics love that. And, of course, do I have the credentials to make a judgment about an 'art film'? All I can say is that, though it's still long and awkward in places, I found it enjoyable and interesting. I would, in the overused words of Roger Ebert, give it a mild "thumbs up".One performance needs to be singled out. Rebecca Brooke, who plays the 'most uptight woman in town', has a "deer in the headlights' quality to her performance which more than matches her material, which allows her to be shocked and hurt any number of times. Easily the best performance in the film, she might have had a career as a successful mainstream supporting actress had she tried hard enough.All in all, an enjoyable film but not one that lives up to memory well.

The drab and uneventful tranquility of the sleepy affluent coastal community of Baypoint gets rudely ripped asunder when the notorious sexually voracious and insatiable bisexual harlot Abigail Leslie (the smolderingly hot Jennifer Jordan) unexpectedly returns to the dreary hamlet after a lengthy absence. Demure and uptight socialite Priscilla (the luscious Rebecca Brooke) is especially perturbed, although her smarmy and licentious husband Gordon (legendary porn star Jamie Gillis) is more than eager to have an adulterous fling with the wanton and willing Abigail. Pretty soon Abigail's infectiously sensuous presence causes everyone in town to toss aside their morals and inhibitions for the sheer sake of carnal pleasure, indulgence and debauchery. Among the folks who fall under Abigail's seductive and irresistible spell are feisty, friendly, but unfulfilled fisherwomen Alice Ann (Chris Jordan), Alice Ann's shy, sweet, soft-spoken brother Chester (Eric Edwards), Priscilla's snobby gal pals Tracey (Anne Keel) and Lila (Julie Sorel), Priscilla's raunchy aunt Drucilla (Jennifer Welles), and hunky resident stud Bo (handsome, muscular Sonny Landham, who later went on to act in such 80's mainstream action features as "48 Hours" and "Predator").Acclaimed soft-core director/screenwriter Joe Sarno expertly crafts a highly absorbing and arousing soap opera-style small-town slice-of-life melodrama which not only delivers the expected sultry and alluring goods (the sex scenes are fairly explicit and steamy, but never too graphic or sleazy), but also serves as a perfectly trenchant and provocative critique of very conservative and puritanical small town mores (best represented by the frustrated Priscilla and the unhappy Alice Ann), hypocrisy (Priscilla's friends Lila and Tracey blithely partake in Abigail's lascivious fun and games despite the fact that they are both married), and repressed passions and desires (Priscilla pines for Chester, but is too timid to pursue her romantic interest in him). The uniformly excellent acting from the first-rate and attractive cast is a substantial plus: Brooke, Jordan and Edwards in particular are outstanding, with sound support from Welles, Keel, Sorel, Jordan and Landham. Moreover, both Bill Godsey's pretty, polished cinematography and Jack Justis' hauntingly sad, moody, tuneful acoustic guitar score further enhance the film's sterling quality, thereby lifting this movie well out of the rut of your standard mindless skin-flick. All in all, this picture rates as another involving, intelligent and impressive thinking man's soft-core outing from the always reliable Joe Sarno.