Review: Score DVD

STUDIO: Cult Epics | DIRECTOR: Radley Metzger | CAST: Clair Wilbur, Calvin Culver, Lynn Lowry, Gerald Grant, Carl Parker
RELEASE DATE: 10/12/10 | PRICE: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $34.95
BONUSES: commentary, featurette, new interview with actress Lynn Lowry, more
SPECS: NR | 92 min. | Adult drama | 1.85:1 widescreen | Dolby Digital mono

RATINGS (out of 5): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

If there was ever a time capsule-worthy 1970s erotic film that has been sliced, splintered and censored in the 30-plus years since it was made, it’s Radley Metzger’s Score, the 1974 adult comedy/drama that’s the very definition of that era’s whimsical “porno chic” movement.

The big news is that Score, which concerns a happily married “swinging” couple (Claire Wilbur and Gerald Grant) who make seductive moves on a pair of young newlyweds (Lynn Lowry and Calvin Culver), has finally arrived on DVD and Blu-ray in an uncensored version.

The source material for this edition is a version of the movie that reportedly played in only a few theaters during its original theatrical run, a cut of the film that never saw the light of day over the subsequent three decades of chopped-up VHS and DVD incarnations.

The uncensored Score offers nearly seven additional minutes of undeniably adult content — graphic oral sex between two men, enthusiastic lesbian groping and lots of humping — that definitely elevates it to a hardcore classification, though it’s nothing compared to what was soon to follow. The inclusion of these scenes results in the film playing with a fluid rhythm that we didn’t even know was there following years of chopped-up versions.

Not that the now-complete film is suddenly a great one. Score still scores highest as a colorful artifact of its time, featuring then-radical depictions of bi-sexuality and alternative lifestyles along with its colorful production design, lively story and spirited dialog (“People loved…and loved some more…”).

The generous supplemental package on the DVD includes a commentary by Metzger, on-set production footage and a new 20-minute interview with co-star Lowry, who talks enthusiastically about everything from her career as a rising actress in the Seventies to  and her shock upon seeing Score for the first time (and her subsequent, lighter opinion all these years later).

The “original” version of Score — meaning the softer-cut version of the film that was predominantly exhibited during its first theatrical run — was released on DVD and Blu-ray from Cult Epics on Oct. 26, 2010.

Buy or Rent Score
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