No one made 'em quite like Eric Jeffrey Haims, who in a filmography of just five features created some of the most out-there soft- and hardcore content the world has ever seen. Diving recklessly between genres and modes of film-making (sometimes even within the same film, as in the narrative / white coater hybrid THE FLANDERS & ALCOTT REPORT ON SEXUAL RESPONSE), Haims was truly an X-rated auteur like few others. It's been a delight to see the restoration impresarios at Vinegar Syndrome recuperate so much of his work, much of which had previously been near-lost or presented in editions of abominable quality.
Their latest rediscovery is THE MISS LAID GENII, whose supremely awkward title - combining as it does a truly lame pun with an inappropriate plural of the seemingly more apt "genie" - gestures grandly toward the strangeness within. Previously available only in foreign video editions, VS here presents Haims' final film in a new restoration that looks cobbled together from several pretty nice prints. The silly plot follows David Bates, a high school senior who discovers he has a genie in his dick while fondling himself in the bathtub one morning. Seems the poor genie has been "mislaid" by the powers that be, who are usually responsible for plunking him into a lamp, urn, or vase, but either way, he's now stuck with David as his master, and so he aptly names him "Master Bates." Yuk yuk.
Of course, as a high school boy, David's really only got one thing on his mind, and in lieu of treasure and palaces, he takes the opportunity to land himself some action, all while courting a comely high school classmate. The rest of the film is essentially a plot-less, freewheeling comedy, as David and the genie get into various scrapes, which David then has to use his wishes to get out of. (Weirdly, there's no apparent limitation on wishes here, in contravention of traditional genie lore).
Most resembling the director's far less enjoyable A CLOCKWORK BLUE, GENII is sexual shenanigans done right. All the jokes are groaners, of course, but there's a certain pleasure in a film meeting expectations. As is usual for Haims, the film isn't afraid to get weird, and it indulges in a lengthy digression where David and his friends are kidnapped by '40s-style gangsters, with one of David's friends forced to beat David's meat once he gets tied up in order to get them out of their jam. Similarly, the genie himself (Tobar Mayo, future ABAR, THE BLACK SUPERMAN) is revealed late in the film to be bisexual, hopping into bed with a gay guy David accidentally picks up while cruising around in his new wish-granted car. They certainly don't make porn this sexually porous much anymore, and it's a great time capsule of the free and fluid '70s, when sex was still an adventure rather than a mechanical chore.
Throw in a completely unexpected love theme for David's surprisingly romantic date with his classmate and a fantastic orgy scene in a high school classroom with Rene Bond as a sultry teacher one lucky student gets to bone, and you've got a recipe for a dynamite grindhouse rediscovery. Indeed, had Haims and company done a little rewriting and slashed the overlong sex scenes (by far the weakest element of the film, ironically), they could've had a nice R-rated crossover on their hands. Still, even in its harder form (which includes plenty of erections and a bit of shaft licking, though surprisingly no outright penetration or cumshots), GENII is a delight, one more refreshing breath of fresh air from a maverick who never failed to keep things interesting.
