Férias Ardentes

Ever since I saw a VHS tape cover of this very movie, I've long been curious to see this especially since it never played in theatres in Baton Rouge, LA, where I lived as a teen then and I still do now. It's from Cannon Films as represented by producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the same people who remade their Israeli-made Lemon Popsicle into The Last American Virgin. Two players from that last one-Joseph Rubbo and Louisa Moritz-also appear here. Rubbo is one of four teens taking a job at a Mexican resort where they encounter many willing women. I'll stop there and just say the whole thing was silly and ridiculous to the extreme with plenty of predictable stereotyped-characters and occasionally sentimental moments that would either go down easily or just make one wish it was over very soon! I myself felt both emotions several times while looking at the timer on YouTube. I'm guessing this didn't do particularly well as no one in this film seem to have gone on to anything better...

Gees, how many of these films, do they have to have. I'm talking about 4 horny guys or 4 horny girls, on vacation, who get up to misadventures. And if you're lucky you will see actors of worth, like our maniac cop Robert D'zar, the apple of a wife's eye here. The movie's song that plays through the movie and at it's sudden ending has just one unforgettable tune, I loved. It still rings in my head. I love these 80's type movies, thanks to my friends at Golan Globus. This one is quite extra raunchy, with 4 guys trying to lose their virginity as I recall, or was that another movie. I'll never forget the Swedish chick in this with the big.... and playing violin. This is a little bit raunchy or may'be I'm a little horny, or may'be it's like so many other films, e.g. Where The Boys Are, Spring Break, The Pom Pom Girls, The Beach Girls, I could go on. And no this is not de javu. It's not Hot Resort, it's Hot Chilli, and it's a little hotter. An excuse for a sex romp with T and A: A grade prime trim. But like one of these sex films of sub standard quality, you see one, you have to see the others. You have been warned.

This film begins with four teenagers by the names of "Ricky" (Charles Schillaci), "Jason" (Allan Kayser), "Arnie" (Joe Rubbo) and "Stanley" (Chuck Hemmingway) driving down to Mexico to work at a Mexican resort for the summer. Naturally, being red-blooded American teenagers they are preoccupied with sex but once they get there are told that they cannot fraternize with the hotel guests. As it turns out, however, it's the guests who have a different set of rules with some of them quite anxious to bend the rules. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this could have been a fun, teenage sex comedy but it lacked the necessary humor and direction required for a movie of this sort. Quite frankly, other than the presence of Victoria Barrett (as "Victoria"), Bea Fiedler (as the "Music Teacher") and Katherine Kriss ("Allison Baxter") to enhance the scenery, I couldn't find anything remarkable or worthwhile about this film and I have rated accordingly.

This was a pleasant blast from the past. The Golan-Golbus Israeli sex comedies have always been a more distinctive lot than the American, French or British ones. These films are the ones where you turn your brain off and just watch the zany situations offered up.

Yes, it's another 1980's retread of Porky's but the GG Touch is evident here to make it all seem fresher. Where else but in a GG-produced film can you see the lovely Louisa Moritz, the forgotten sex kitten from Cuba? Where else can you see crazy characters like the dominatrix couple from Germany, the nude musician and the stereotypical Jewish family from New York all in one hotel? The acting is pretty bad but it's done in a very watchable manner. Nobody comes off as annoying or anything like that. There's plenty of nice T&A here as well but is considered tame for 2006; especially for Canadian T.V.

The real star of the movie is the hotel. The Hacienda Tropicana Cabana is the coolest fictional resort I've ever seen in a movie. It has swimming pools galore, exquisite suites, a fancy restaurant, a piano bar with live Mexican entertainment, plenty of hotties, a chapel and live bullfighting. The cool addition of a bullring made me feel that all the HTC needed is a casino and they could have a winner on their hands in Las Vegas.

In many respects, Hot Chili is a typical teenage sex comedy: lots of T&A, lots of slapstick humour, lots of ridiculed adults, some destroyed property, and a little bit of teenage romance to give our heros a more likeable personality.

The story resolves around 4 American (male) teenagers who go to Mexico for a holiday job in a hotel. Needless to say they also try to get laid and succeed in that ambition. Of course, they have to overcome some difficulties, like escaping the claws of the blood-and-sex thirsty dominatrix Brigitte or avoiding being shot by her jealous husband.

The film does not it take itself seriously for one minute and that alone makes it a lot more watchable than most films of this genre. The comedy element is unsophisticated but in its own way appropriate. Hot Chili does not really have any sex scenes but plenty of nudity and suggested sex. The acting honours go to people in supporting parts who deliver their one-liners quite nicely: "First I kill Salami boy, then I'll play the drums. "

Still, Hot Chili is a film directly aimed at young (about 14 to 24) male viewers; it has little to offer for a wider audience.