User reviews

Extreme depravity, hardcore sex, and ultra violence: I'd heard that this sleazy offering from Italian trash-movie king Joe D'Amato (Aristide Massaccesi) was the epitome of exploitation, so I borrowed a copy from a friend and settled down to enjoy a prime slice of deviancy. Unfortunately, this supposedly spicy dollop of D'Amato sauce actually turned out to be rather bland.

Laura Gemser plays Emanuelle, an investigative reporter determined to get her scoop, whatever the risk. Using her womanly wiles, she digs up the dirt on an organised-crime boss and his harem, some lust-crazed Venetian aristocrats, and a sex club for lonely women where our horny heroine eventually stumbles on the story of the century when she discovers a couple enjoying a genuine snuff movie.

The first half of the movie is rather dull, packed with plentiful female nudity but hardly any of the 'rough stuff' that I had read so much about; only a brief scene involving a happy horse named Pedro is worthy of note.

Eventually D'Amato hits his stride and, during an orgy scene, he delivers the first of many hardcore moments; from here on in, the XXX action is more plentiful, but the clumsy direction and editing means that they are far from erotic.

At the end of the movie, Joe throws in a smattering of very gory pseudo-snuff footage for good measure, but this only serves to make the film feel even more disparate. The end result is neither a soft-core adventure, a hardcore porn movie or an all out gore-fest, but a disappointing (and often boring) half-assed mixture of all three.

See it so that you can talk knowledgeably about the genre to like-minded sickos, but don't expect anything too amazing.

This is probably about as extreme as exploitation gets (even when compared to such gory masterpieces as Nekromantik and Cannibal Holocaust). What makes it so extreme are that all the images on display as used in the context of sexual fantasy.

The infamous scene of a naked girl masterbating a horse is shown for the purposes of titillation and arousal.

The snuff footage is extremely nasty and difficult to watch and again plays to an audience looking for sexual arousal.

The film also contains numerous hard-core sex scenes and various lesbian scenes.

All in all a classic in its own right, surely only D'Amato could get away with such a film - hunt it high and low and get hold of a copy now!

You might be disgusted, but you won't be disappointed!

Ah, that Joe D'Amato...you can't help but watch his films no matter how curiously interesting or just plain bad they are. If it weren't for the explicit versions, I think most folks would forget about them soon after viewing, unless just gawking at naked gals here and there in the guise of a "legitimate film" is your kind of thing. The BIG problem with Emanuelle In America is that it can't make up its mind if it wants to be mere exploitation or hardcore, as it bounces back and forth but never really completes those goals.

Li'l Miss Sexpot herself Laura Gemser is "Miss Emanuelle" who will travel anywhere and subject herself to any danger in order to get an ultimate story to further her journalistic endeavors (her sneaking around and snapping pics reminded me a lot of later Charlie's Angels adventures). She joins a harem of sorts and fondles women and watches bestiality, mingles with horny aristocrats, gets an expose of a women's pleasure resort (ah, finally a bunch of naked men in a movie), and shmoozes with bad men behind a snuff film ring. Yes, a film like this DOES need lots of sex to keep it going, but it's strange how much of it doesn't show up until much later.

When sex scenes start, they end abruptly like a bad tease. During the sex, lots of jumpcuts jar the viewer so that it's not easy to get any pleasure out of viewing it. When hardcore footage appears, it usually never "finishes" (okay, there's a lack of money shots). When there ARE money shots, the scene has zipped by so fast you wonder if you were supposed to get excited or think that folks finish sexual encounters within one minute or less. Sex scenes in films like this are usually intended to arouse, and these leave you somewhat confused.

Here is where I DEFEND something about this film: Those people who are only turned on by shaved, squeaky-looking pretty people in porn should not be so harsh to those of us who actually like a bit of body hair on men, or if women aren't so artistically trimmed. I have a feeling that most are bitching about the "hairy men" because of the bearded guy in the hut (in the Tarzan fantasy sequence). If anything, his hirsute appearance enhanced the energy of the too-brief scene, and I'm sure there are plenty of folks that appreciated a natural-looking man instead of plastic pretty boys. As for the women, it's funny how so many "reviewers" are calling the actresses unattractive -- seems there are too many men out there that have ridiculously high standards for women. I didn't find these women unattractive; if anything they seemed real and still even out of the league that most of the drooling heterosexual viewers would ever get in real life. You know the kind, guys with beer guts who wear hats and t-shirts that say "No Fat Chicks" and think that all women are inherently bisexual. I say HOORAY for '70s hairy porn, let's have more of it!

For me, instead of being creeped out by physically follicle-blessed men, I was creeped out by the sordid footage of the snuff films. Instead of a glimpse of one, we are subjected to several scenes of it, and it reminds me of those harsh slasher films that get women naked before they are dismembered. Are we supposed to be aroused by the nudity AND the physical violence at the same time? Otherwise, why so much of it in this film? I say fill out the other basic hardcore sex scenes more, and less of the poles and hooks being used as sexual torture. And to think David Cronenberg got his inspiration for "Videodrome" from this film.....eek!

So, take a look at Emanuelle In America so you can say you saw it, and if you got a kick out it, then it's actually okay. I saw it as a curiosity that had to be done and over with. It just really felt like a longgggg tease to me, so that I had to dig into my stash of hairy '70s porn afterwards to feel satiated!

Legendary sleaze maestro Joe D'Amato directed this dirt bag of a movie (among many other similar films) in the golden days of the 70's. Emmanuelle in America stars beautiful Laura Gemser as a reporter, and the plot involves her as she is forced to do and watch horrible things in order to do her job. This includes making love to every male she meets, seeing some disgusting perversions and finally very vile snuff takes on video. In other words, this film is exactly what the whole exploitation genre is about.

I found couple of scenes very off putting, and I don't think too many can say they actually LIKED this one. I understand that horror fans and marginal cinema lovers will want to check this out just as a curiosity, but it is very hard to imagine anyone liking what they see. Well maybe some perverts out there..The most disgusting thing was the genuine "horse masturbation" scene near the beginning, and that is something only D'Amato could have the guts to show, I think. There is also pretty large amount of hard core porn footage so if you can't handle XXX material, stay away as well. There is one orgy scene in which room full of people scre* with one another, and that is REALLY dirty scene. I think you have got the point by now what the film is about, so no more about these scenes; After the slow beginning, the real nature of the film reveals, and that consists mostly of scenes mentioned above!

The notorious snuff scenes at the end are fake, but so incredibly realistic and made me feel VERY sick. How the heck would someone like to shoot stuff like that? Shame on you, D'Amato! They are as gratuitous as this film as a whole, but maybe this had its audience, because otherwise D'Amato wouldn't have made this in the first place. That's why because he always knew what public wanted and made movies only because of money. He has also done couple of better films which can be seen as real films, too, and they include the legendary Anthropophagous the Beast and Goblin composed Buio Omega. D'Amato was businessman in the field of cinema, but fortunately there are also some noteworthy films in his filmography. And he has also produced many great films, like Michele Soavi's brilliant debut Aquarius (internationally known as Stage Fright and Bloody Bird) so his career was definitely not bad, as a whole.

Emmanuelle In America is legendary sleaze fest and as dirty as this kind of trash can be. Only twisted minds like me want to check this out, but I don't think many will actually like what they see. Even exploitation and trash can be worth many viewing times and cinematically noteworthy, but that cannot be said about Emmanuelle in America, in my opinion.

5/10 but very difficult to tell why!

Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) is a photographer/newspaper investigator/hardcore slut in this sleazy little film be the prolific Joe D'Amato. Emanuelle goes abroad to look for a story, any story. The plot is VERY secondary to getting the beautiful Miss Gemser naked as much as possible. But of course this being a D'Amato film that's not enough for him, so he throws in bestiality (real) and snuff (fake, but disturbing). Everyone except for the aforementioned actress isn't that easy on the eyes, to put it diplomatically, and despite the nearly non-stop action put on display one can't help but to be a tad bored before the films over. Only really worth it for fans of Laura. The only other quasi compliment I have for this one is at least it was better than "Erotic Nights of the Living Dead". Man that movie sucked.

My Grade: D

Eye Candy: Lorraine De Selle, Laura Gemser,Paola Senatore & various extras show all

Blue Underground DVD Extras: uncut version; a subtitled Interview with director/cinematographer Joe D'Amato; an 11 minute subtitled Audio interview with actress Laura Gemser/Poster & still gallery; Liner notes of the Emanuelle films by David Flint; Filmographies for Joe D'Amato and Laura Gemser

A good film by sleaze-master Joe D'Amato? No chance. Wait a minute, this one actually isn't too bad. Emanuelle's (notice, one "m", not Emmanuelle ©) forays into the aristocratic decay lifestyle get weirder and sleazier, culminating in the snuff footage in the end (modeled after Pasolini's "Salo", how ironical). It's not all bleak however, as Joe has a sense of humor. Case in point, Emanuelle and cohort having sex in the next room to an orchestra playing, and hysterically editing the sex with close-ups of the geek musos playing Ludwig's fifth. Or what about the ending? Emanuelle getting a vacation as a reward for her investigative journalism, only it turns to be a movie decor. It is only a movie after all. Hah.

Is difficult to tell you about the qualities of a film like this. I mean if you want to hear the true, EMANUELLE IN America is only another exploitation flick with some notorious points. The rest is pure Grindhouse in all it's glory, and even, maybe that it's charm.

O.K, i know that maybe this sound odd, but actually i don't find Emanuelle Nera movies so erotic as much say. Actually, being a Joe D'Amato flick i only can look at it as an weird mixed up of adventure and horror with some hadrcore/softcore sex. And, that is the most wonderful/bad thing of this film. The plot is just a mess, it got none just Emanuelle as a reporter that finds trapped in four well divided adventures (From horse lovers to snuff films). At the end, Emanuelle seems like nothing happens to her, but that is a typical aspect of this films (Even more noted in EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD).

I only can say this. This film is pure exploitation and is kind of boring unless if you can be shocked by the obviously shocking things (The horse thing ... well, is just not my thing if i can say something). The rest, see it for the beautiful Gemser, the great music Nico Fidenco and the gorgeous and perfect Joe D'Amato's photography. A kind of guilty pleasure but i must admit is simply an empty movie.

I really can't understand why this film is not on the list of the 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die. One simply has to watch at least one Emanuelle film to say they are familiar with 70s sleaze.

As an undercover reporter, Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) never hesitates to strip down and get under covers to get a story. Of course, this is America, so she will find all sorts of sleaze; enough to shock even her.

Mr D'Amato does not have to waste a lot of money on wardrobe in his films. Everywhere you go girls are lying around naked. When they do get in the pool, they have all sorts of fun with each other.

We even see a woman and a horse - not all the way, of course. That would make it porn. That is the way most sex scenes are; they stop just short of porn, although some do cross the line. There are even snuff films and torture porn, and then she sees the real thing.

If America isn't your cup of tea, you can catch Emanuelle in many other places in other film: Japan, Africa, Egypt, the Amazon, in prison, even in Hell.

At its outset, "Emanuelle in America" is like most '70s Eurotica, with naked women cavorting through every other scene, frequently having simulated sex with whichever man happens to be around, or with each other. The "plot" is just a series of scenarios meant to move the title character from one sexy situation to the next for a little less than two hours. In this case, Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) is a libidinous fashion photographer and photojournalist who travels to various locations (and not just in America, though she is New York-based), not-so-surreptitiously snapping photos of wealthy people having sex (almost no one questions why she insists on wearing that ugly pendant, even while she herself is having sex). But mixed among all this softcore humpage are scenes of bestiality, hardcore sex and very graphic (but faked) snuff film footage. Perhaps what makes these scenes so "shocking" is the casual way in which they're presented. First you're watching a half-hearted lesbian coupling in a steam room, then next thing you know you see a woman fondling an erect horse penis (surprise!). Then it's back into hard-R territory, until you suddenly see a woman performing fellatio (on a man, not a horse), presented in a decidedly triple-X fashion--particularly jarring when, up until this point, Emanuelle's America is a land where men seldom even remove their shirts to have sex, let alone their pants. There's more hard-X scenes to follow (none of which involve Gemser), but whatever prurient thrills that provides are quickly dashed by the horrific "snuff" film footage that follows. Scenes of women getting hot oil poured down their throats and getting nipples torn off are a definite mood-killer, yet they're presented matter-of-factly here, making their brutality that much more appalling.

That's not to say I hated this movie. The gorgeous Laura Gemser is a compelling screen presence, though to be a sex goddess she's quite detached in her sex scenes, looking more like she's posing for a still photograph. And though it's alternately goofy, tacky and revolting, director Joe D'amato makes sure "Emanuelle in America" is never boring. Love it or hate it, you'll never forget it.

And except for Laura Gemser, all of the woman look unappealing while the men look like a bunch of lecherous perverts. They should've all just kept their clothes on.

The Blue Underground DVD also has an excerpt from the late-Joe D'Amato where he tells us that some of the distributors inserted hard-core sex scenes for the French version, and that he was sued by an actress for having her undergo a 'traumatic experience' while filming the 'snuff' scenes. D'Amato explains that the actress knew what she was getting into ahead of time and that the lawsuit was strictly for money. These extras are more intriguing than the film itself.

There's not much of a plot to this. Laura Gemser plays a photographer (what else?) who visits a millionaire's mansion that contains lots of unattractive, horny women, and secretly (?) photographs the goings on.

Gemser has soft-core sex scenes with women where they mostly fondle each other. It's pretty tame stuff. Then there's the famous scene of a woman jerking off a horse. What a dumb scene. (yawn) Then there's a hard-core oral sex scene inserted during the cake party that's mechanical and boring. Then there's another hard-core sex scene in the beach hut that shows actual penetration between an unattractive couple. And finally there's a boring three-way between a black guy, a white guy and a blond lady. If you blink hard enough, you'll miss it.

And finally there's the afterformentioned 'snuff' scene which is also over in the blink of an eye. You have to freeze-frame the DVD in order to catch it. Just a bunch of ugly guys dressed in army uniforms, standing around cutting woman or sticking hooks into their breasts or poles into their vaginas. No wonder that actress, sued.

The title song by Armonium is hideous pseudo-psych pop (I had to turn the volume down) that I hope to never hear of again.

In fact, I hope never to see this film again, that's how bad it is.

2 out of 10

If pernicious is a stronger word for ugly, then it applies here, but I'm not referring to the "snuff" footage sequence, I'm referring to the non-sex/non-horror scenes. They're so unbelievably boring and poorly acted that you could end up leaving the theatre (or living room) and missing out on the sleaze.

The film's soundtrack is outstanding and captures the era wonderfully.

As always, Laura Gemser is captivating and too sexy for words, and the film's explicitness verges on hardcore for most of the time and crosses the softcore line once or twice.

But it's the "snuff" footage sleaze fans want and it doesn't disappoint. Almost SALO-esque in its intensity and terribly well executed, it arrives in context but blurs its context quickly because it is unexpectedly extreme and realistic.

Worth seeing once or twice. Or owning, if the inclination's there.

Every installment in Joe D'Amato's "Black Emanuelle"-series stands for super-sleaze of the 70's, but "Emanuelle in America" triumphs when it comes to ultimate perversion and rancid sex-images. In this film, that almost qualifies as disgusting, our ambitious female reporter goes through four little adventures. She ends up in a Zodiac-harem, amongst a high-society orgy, in a resort where wealthy ladies buy sexual pleasure and – last but not least – in the heart of a snuff-movie network. Particularly this last chapter is mildly shocking since the snuff footage looks alarmingly real and the shown fragments doesn't seem to end! There's a minimum of plotting, but Laura Gemser's mesmerizing naked body makes you forget all that. In order to get the articles she wants, she has sexual intercourse with practically every male and female (or both at once) that walks over the film set. Dubious highlights (apart from the snuff-stuff) include a horse-masturbation sequence and a woman who has her nipple bitten off during a Tarzan fantasy. Enjoy, but watch out for censored versions.

I don't know why this movie is so controversial. The sex scenes are very boring. On of the reasons they never finish a scene. After a few seconds Emanuelle disappears and goes to the next sex object like a horse. Well that horse scene is also very boring. And I cant understand why people bitching about that. She even doesn't jerk her off, she is only touching it a few times very softly. Well i'm sure someone who cleans a horse also cleans his penis and nobody has a problem with that? Many horse cleaners do that work because they love the horse penis. Nobody comes out for it but its the true.

At the end i was so bored i almost felt asleep. The woman look nice thats truth, and they could have made something of it if they give every sex scene some more time to finish it, now its just unfinished work in my opinion. OK I give it a 5 out of 10 because of the hot chicks and its from the seventies.

EMANUELLE IN America is a notorious entry in Joe D'Amato's long-running 'Black Emanuelle' series, starring Laura Gemser. This one infuses the usual '70s-era softcore fumblings with some real nastiness and grit, making it an exercise in bad taste. But then you'd expect little different from the director who brought us ANTHROPOPHAGUS THE BEAST.

The story goes that Emanuelle is now working as a reporter, taking on undercover assignments around the world. What this is an excuse for is a series of lengthy, pointless, and not particularly erotic sex and nude scenes, nearly all of them involving Gemser. The '70s-era fashions and the snazzy music make them amusing, but I'm not a big fan of sexploitation films so your mileage might vary.

Where the film becomes notorious is in its uncut form. As well as featuring hardcore inserts, Gemser witnesses bestiality and a snuff film seemingly inspired by the ILSA franchise. As I watched the BBFC approved version of the film, most of that stuff was expunged, although I can't say I'm particularly bothered by that. EMANUELLE IN America is still a cheesy, below-par slice of Italian sexploitation, extra footage or otherwise.

"Emanuelle in America" is one of the grittiest exploitation films I've seen from the '70s. A bizarre but successful blend of erotica, hardcore porn and realistic-looking "snuff" segments are blended in a powerful cocktail of images which aren't easily forgotten.

As the end credits rolled on "Emanuelle in America", I was left wondering what the purpose of this film was. A daft question, I guess, as this is a pure exploitation movie and designed for the sole purpose of making money. It just surprised me that D'Amato's film ends with some major plot threads hanging in the air, never to be resolved. Some would argue that this adds realism to the piece, which may be true.

Laura Gemser is delightful as the lead, Emanuelle. She has a timeless beauty and looks simply amazing throughout the proceedings.

I was actually surprised at the inclusion of the hardcore scenes in the version I watched. They proved far from titillating and out-of-synch with the rest of the film and the horse scene simply has to be seen to be believed.

A very seedy 7 out of 10. Viewers may feel like a hot shower after viewing this one.

Everything in this film is thin including the plot, acting, and non stop nudity. The reason this film is different from others in the genre though, is that it doesn't try to hide the tough stuff. A woman masturbating a horse, some XXX scenes, and even male love juice. Of course, how could I forget the snuff footage, including the cutting off of a woman's breast (yuk!). The snuff footage is meant to disgust you, but like everything else dirty in the film it is trying to arouse you at the same time. The characters in the film are getting off on what they are watching. Laura Gemser does some good acting, but not much else. 3/10 Bad to fair. I'm sure with a cut version of the film, I would not have given it that high a rating.

"Emanuelle in America" has the reputation of being one of the sleaziest, most vile films ever made. Well, having watched it a couple of times I have to say that its reputation is a tad overblown. Yes, the average movie-going public would probably be offended by many parts of EIA but when you think about those objectionable scenes, they're not that freaky. There is much worse on the internet right now than what is seen, briefly, in EIA. EIA was made during the greatest period of exploitation films, a period, which alas, will never be recreated again. The mores of the 1970s made it possible for films to explore the sleaziest, darkest part of the human psyche. Remember, these films were released theatrically. There's almost no chance today for a film like EIA to be released on the big screen, no matter how many sleazy or super violent films have been made recently, like, hmm, "Passion of the Christ"? Arf!

Anyway, there's something backwards and ahead of its time about "Emanuelle in America". It's painfully backwards in the attempts the producers tried to shock jaded 42nd ave viewers with bestiality and such but forward thinking in the way sex is shown so carefree and dare I say fun? It's like the realization of a silly Penthouse forum story made come to life...seriously, the film is sexy in only the way 1970s can be. The beginning is great. Seeing Laura walking around New York, which the groovy theme song, makes EIA look like an adult version of the MARY TYLER MOORE show intro: Laura is a free woman (who's almost always in control), a career woman and is sexually active. The only thing missing in the intro is Laura tossing a hat in the air.

The biggest problem with "Emanuelle in America" is the script. Films like this are not known to have solid scripts but the producers actually tried to create a semblance of an interesting story, amidst the sleaze and lurid goings on, but then completely forgot a satisfactory ending for this. I love the fact that film suddenly veered into snuff-like territory at the very end but it became sorta pointless without a proper conclusion to that last minute plot line.

All in all, I think "Emanuelle in America" is a masterpiece of 1970s exploitation. It has almost every exploitation element in it (the only thing missing, like most of exploitation films, is male homosexuality). Laura Gemser is hot. The music is amazing and the cinematography is actually pretty good. I only give it 8 because of the missing ending and because of some boring, drawn-out spots.

If want to see a film that captures the warped side of the 1970s in all its Euro-cult glory, make sure to watch "Emanuelle in America".

I recently watched the exploitation film Emanuelle in America (1977) on a random streaming service. The story follows the infamous American journalist, Emanuelle, as she investigates the sex trade in Venice. During her mission, she faces life-threatening danger and must decide whether to abandon her pursuit or push forward with even greater determination.

Directed by Joe D'Amato (Death Smiles on a Murderer), the film stars Laura Gemser (Black Emanuelle), Gabriele Tinti (The Flight of the Phoenix), Roger Browne (Mahogany), and Paola Senatore (The Mean Machine).

This entry in the Emanuelle series is notable for its creative and unique ways of staging explicit scenes. Laura Gemser is stunning throughout, and the film features nudity from start to finish. The infamous horse sequence and cake party are particularly memorable. There are even scenes of actual pornography, such as the Tarzan sequence. The pool scene is visually creative, and the soundtrack complements the film well.

In conclusion, Emanuelle in America is essentially a pornographic film with a thin storyline. I'd give it a 6-6.5/10 and would only recommend it with the appropriate expectations.

I had seen the cut version of "Emanuelle in America" once before, and my advice is: skip that version, it's boring and repetitive. Now I saw the complete uncut version, and my advice is: skip this version too, it's boring and repetitive. The pseudo-snuff footage, although undeniably well-executed, is way too brief (about 2 minutes in total) to justify its notoriety. As for the hardcore scenes, let's just say that I agree with director Joe d'Amato who, in his interview included on the DVD, says that "for me, eroticism is in soft-core" (he also claims that he was forced to include the hardcore footage by the French producers of the movie....who knows, that might be true). The overabundance of sex and nudity means that there is little time for build-up and genuine eroticism. The one thing I appreciated more on second viewing was Laura Gemser's performance as Emanuelle: besides her obvious physical beauty, there are also hints of intelligence and strength in her portrayal. (*1/2)