If I told a cinephile that a man by the name of "Abe Snake" directed a cheap, 1975 pornographic film by the name of Angela - The Fireworks Woman, they probably wouldn't flinch. If I said that "Abe Snake" was a pseudonym for The Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes Craven, they may jump a bit. Indeed, between the grimy horror film that was The Last House on the Left and the game-changer A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven faced financial/funding hardships due in part to the level of graphic content in Last House that forced theater projectionists to make their own edits to the content at hand.
In need of money, just like he would later do for The Hills Have Eyes 2, Craven phoned-in a project, this one by the name of Angela - The Fireworks Woman, a very graphic pornography film that owes itself to the newly-developed "porno chic" trend that revolutionized the way pornographic films worked. The films of "porno chic" were "at least as good in terms of production values as the B-movies Hollywood made," stated Ron Jeremy, and Angela - The Fireworks Woman occupies many of the same traits of a film of the time period. It has a story, graphic sex scenes, some hilarious lines and sequences, and a solid level of eroticism in order to ensure a worthwhile viewing.
The film stars Jennifer Jordan as Angela, in an exhaustive role and performance that requires more sex and legwork (no pun intended) than a day in the Red Light District. Angela is madly in love with her brother Peter (Eric Edwards), going as far as to have sex with him on a regular basis. When Peter decides to drop plans for a longstanding incestuous relationship and go to ministry school, he leaves his sister in a sexually unsatisfied tizzy, leaving her to explore her desires with complete strangers.
Angela becomes hellbent on having several explicit sexual encounters, even embracing an assault later on the film. The film concludes with one of the raunchiest sex orgies I have yet to see in a lengthy scene that is simultaneously hilarious as well as consistently surprising.
The pornographic aesthetic is here in full force, with scuzzy, seventies-videotape-level production values on display and frequent imperfections in Craven's camera. These choppy technology issues only add to an already nostalgic film, as it replicates a time period accurately, right down to its graphic sex scenes, which are simply basking in an era rather than shooting for the stars and trying for an effect they simply don't have the capacity to achieve. There's something about a sleazy, sometimes uncomfortable pornographic film that exercises so perfectly within its means that almost warrants a recommendation on-sight.
Finally, I must acknowledge whether or not Angela - The Fireworks Woman sparks any sort of arousing qualities and the answer is surprisingly "yes." Again, this goes back to the fact that the film doesn't try to be more than it is, and, similar to Debbie Does Dallas, does what it wants with what it has and on that merit succeeds. Even the storyline, as narrow and somewhat half-baked as it is, is at least intriguing and substantial enough to beat the plastic porn that exists today where the characters seem to just be itching to take their clothes off.
There's something to admire about Angela - The Fireworks Woman that will undoubtedly do justice for cinephiles and Craven fans. To the enthusiasts of the Golden Age of Pornography, just a head's up, here's one for the books you may have missed while rewatching Behind the Green Door and Deep Throat.
Starring: Jennifer Jordan and Eric Edwards. Directed by: Abe Snake.
