Though I wouldn’t necessarily say that these
two films are perfectly paired, I am certain enough fans of Grindhouse will
merely be pleased to have them available on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack after
decades of obscurity. Both were made by B-film director, Arthur Marks (Detroit
Despite the
title, The Roommates features very
little footage showing the female leads cohabitating together, instead focusing
on their individual storylines with various men. In fact, some of the women
don’t even seem to live together, but merely have storylines that all exist in Lake Arrowhead , CA
In typical
fashion, the group of female friends is conveniently diverse in appearance; at
least as far as hair color is concerned. Heather (Pat Woodell) visits her
family summer home in the mountains along with her younger cousin Paula
(Christina Hart), discovering that there is an attractive young man living on
their property. They allow him to stay in order to perform daily chores, along
with the inevitable sexual relationship. Meanwhile Carla (Marki Bey) works at
the local library while beginning a summer affair with the local deputy
sheriff, Beth (Roberta Collins) has an affair with a married man while working
as a ski instructor, and Brea (Laurie Rose) uses her job at a summer camp to
begin a relationship with one of the awkward high school boys.
Though it takes
at least a third of the film for the killing to move the plot of The Roommates forward, the pacing is far
more engaging than the second sexploitation thriller in the double-feature. A Woman for All Men deals more in family
melodrama and near-noir twists than the exploitation found in Marks’ more
recognizable work, containing no more sex and nudity than could be found in
basic cable programming. The story instead focuses on the soap opera
relationships and the movie seems to drag without the typical spectacle of an
exploitation film.
Judy Brown (The
Big Dollhouse) stars as the title character, Karen Petrie. When millionaire
Walter McCoy (Keenan Wynn) brings his new bride Karen home, his daughter (Patty
Bodeen) and housekeeper (Lois Hall) are suspicious of her intentions, while his
son has a different reaction. It quickly becomes clear that Karen does not have
the best intentions when she begins a secret affair with Steve (Andrew
Robinson), the son of her new husband. There are a few twists and turns along
the way, but the pacing of the screenplay is too slow for any of them to have
the desired impact.
The two-disc set
includes a Blu-ray and DVD copy, which contains the double feature on both.
Each film also has a few special features worth mentioning, with a bit of
favoritism given to The Roommates.
This film includes a commentary track with Arthur Marks, as well as interviews
in a featurette alongside start Roberta Collins. A Woman for All Men also has a
featurette with comments from Marks and star Judy Brown, but merely has a
trailer/TV spot gallery in place of a commentary track.
Entertainment Value:
5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4.5/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Special Features: 6/10
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