By John Giannini
For a long time, there have been TWO versions of Luscious on eBay. The "R" rated one and the "Unrated, full length" one. That there are two versions of this film is one of the great eBay mythologies, and is based on the two different packagings for the exact same movie.
When Luscious came
out on DVD, it was originally released by a company called
"Avalanche Video". The back of its case says the movie is 95
minutes. It was unrated. The front of the box has a figure of
Kari Wuhrer topless on the right side of the cover. The back
side of the packaging says 95 minutes, full length version.
The DVD label itself is red, with a figure of Kari Wuhrer on
it. And the label itself says 95 minutes.
Then there is the
"Platinum Video" version. It comes in a clear plastic case
(which all of Platinum's releases used to come in). In this version,
the picture of Kari on the front right of the cover has on a
black bikini top that was electronically
superimposed by Platinum. The back of the case says the movie
is rated R, is 80 minutes, and the DVD label has a
reproduction of the front cover of the DVD in full color, as
opposed to the red label with only Kari on it, in the
Avalanche release.
Two different companies, two different
releases, right?
Wrong!!!
They are
exactly the same movie. Here's a bit more detail: There are packaging
errors on BOTH versions. Avalanche's was the most accurate;
they only got their running time wrong. The running time is 1
hour, 24 minutes, 5 seconds. Not 95 minutes. But the fact that
the movie was unrated and was full length, they got right.
When Lion's Gate resold distribution rights to Platinum,
Platinum decided to slap a rating (The "R" rating) on the
packaging, so that the large chains like Hollywood and
Blockbuster, that won't carry unrated or NC17 movies, would
carry it. That opened up a whole market for sales of the movie
that the Avalanche "unrated" version had been closed to. But
in truth, Luscious was NEVER submitted to the MPAA ratings
board for a rating, So Platinum's "rating" is completely
fictitious and was only a marketing ploy. (Had Lion's Gate
actually submitted the movie for a rating, it would surely
have gotten an NC17 for the full length frontal nudity that
permiates this whole entire movie!)
Platinum also made a
mistake on their packaging with the running time. They
listed the movie's run time as 80 minutes. But the Platinum
one ALSO clocks in at 1:24:05! (Thus, Platinum's listed time
is 4 minutes short of the actual running time.) So the
Avalanche version and the Platinum version are EXACTLY THE SAME MOVIE. There is
utterly no difference between the two versions. Only the
packaging is different. And both companies made errors on
their packaging. This is an interesting testament to how
sloppy companies can be when marketing grade Z movies that
they just want to get out there and sell. How do I know all
this? When I, at one time, believed there was an unrated
version, I had wanted it. And once in a blue moon, one came up
on eBay. Finally in April '03, I snagged an unrated one from
an eBay seller. It was the Avalanche release, and I was most
anxious to see the extra - I thought - 15 minutes in this
"unrated" version.
When it arrived I was very excited by the
different, slightly more explicit packaging, and a different label
than I'd seen before. Imagine my disapointment when it turned out to be
the EXACT same version as the one I had bought a few weeks
before - the Platinum version!
This really teed me off. (I was not angry at the seller.
I was angry that what the DVD packaging promised, I didn't
get!) So I began doing research, calling up Lion's Gate,
making a pest of myself at Platinum. I couldn't get to
Avalanche as they'd been bought out several times over by
other companies. But Lion's Gate confirmed the 95 minute
running time listed on the Avalanche release was nothing more
than a typo. It was supposed to have been 85
minutes.
So, what does all
this means to you??? Paying big bucks for the "Unrated"
Avalanche version gets you nothing more than paying for the
Platinum "R" rated release, since they
are absolutely identical except for their packaging. BOTH
VERSIONS ALSO CONTAIN THE R-RATED ORIGINAL TRAILER FOR THE
MOVIE TOO. The Avalanche DVD is more scarce, as since it wasn't rated
on the packaging, it never made it out to the mainstream chain stores. But do you really want to pay more money for
nothing more than a cover insert????
However, truth be told now,
whichever packaging you get, the movie is still quite difficult
to find. The glut of DVDs sent out by Platinum last March to the chains
are now all but gone. And they only made that ONE push for the
movie, last March (2003), and that was it. It's not a
currently produced title. So it is no longer an easily
obtainable DVD, from anywhere. UPDATE:
2/15/04: Continuing with my research on this title, I have been given
information from a person in the U.K. that a 79:33 minute U.K.
version of this movie came out as a Region 2 edition. The BBFC
(the British version of the MPAA) apparently approved a 79:33
minute version on 11/3/98, which was released in the U.K. from
Third Millennium Distribution. (Thanks for the info, Steve!)