Ted Roter was a most eccentric porn director, the epitome of an ego-tripper. Hollywood SHE-WOLVES is his expose of the sleazy side of Hollywood, admirably authentic but terrible nonetheless.
I guess I have to reluctantly admit that ignorance may be superior in such a case - I never liked the great Paul Anderson's BOOGIE NIGHTS because it was not in the least bit authentic, its auteur having not been born yet when the porn industry was in its infancy. But after all, filmmakers routinely shoot stories dating centuries before they were born - I was just mad because people in the know didn't make the film instead.
Yet Roter aka Peter Balakoff's decided acquaintance with porn doesn't help him craft an interesting script, cast appropriately or direct his way out of the proverbial paper bag. To start with, this story of an unscrupulous casting director Jane is immediately ruined by casting an untalented, no-name Roter discovery Ann Webster in the key role. Her line readings are terrible and she's unattractive. Good luck with the movie.
Far better is Roter casting William Margold as essentially Ted Roter. Margold can be insufferable in movies, and I've seen him in at least 60 or 70, always playing himself, smarmy with his trademark glasses on, never attempting to create a different sort of character. Here he doesn't have to, seen directing a film within a film PRISON BABIES, that Roter directed for real years before. Margold yelling "Make him bleed!" as a young guy is whipped in the film is SHE-WOLVES' brightest moment.
Its convoluted storyline boils down to a heavy dose of ALL ABOUT EVE back-stabbing, and plenty of all too true exploitation of folks trying to break into show biz. Running gag of a guy parked on Jane's tree lawn bugging her about helping him get an audition plus Jane's seduction and master/slaving it with both tung men and women is torn from real life rather than strictly a product of Roter's fevered imagination.
He throws in a wide variety of mercifully brief but arousing sex scenes so the movie's not a total loss. I guess it was just too easy to emphasize the clichés rather than come up with a novel or interesting take on mercenary impulses and gutter-level depravity. Sure, this is more fun than watching another phony-baloney HBO documentary (slang for cable sex content) about prostitutes or pussycat ranches, but it easily could have been a good movie with some talent and effort thrown in.
Alas, I'm sure some sycophant or shill will praise Hollywood SHE-WOLVES as a "classic romp" or some other b.s. when one of the current video porn purveyors (think Vinegar Syndrome) decides to reissue it again.
