Nov 1, 2011

The Van

Groovy movie poster.
ahhh after some well deserved Halloween celebration a la adult style of course I go back to our lovely B movies corner, and I guess this film I'm about to review will make it up to you, the connoisseurs since the latest reviews have been about actually not B movies (it gives me the creeps just typing that) but about movies considered as good films by the official standards we all hate very much. So, we go back to the saucy 70's with another sexploitation gem: The Van, AKA Chevy Van, a 1977 flick with all the ingredients Crown International has gotten us used to: Cars, Action, Poor Acting, Low Budget, Barely good movie directing and of course tits, pussy & ass the signature element.

I just love this 70's style fonts.
Cool Dodge Van are you selling yours?
70's Girl talk: Cool ride dude, let's get high and fuck!
Take Bobby, the main character, a typical teenager looking for some action in the 70's style of the meaning of action: Pots, Van races, good team V/S bad team and lots of sex. So, the storyline altough being clichéd, it does deliver, in fact it was a popular drive-in movie in the summer of '77 and in a way it depicted the custom van fad of those days.This movie is somewhat unique then because, though it certainly fulfills its big quota for female nudity, it really does seem to be aimed at actual 70's teenagers. It has a believable (relatively) and likable (very relatively) protagonist with a (somewhat)realistic problem: he wants to improve his love life by buying a customized van. It doesn't work too well at first, but eventually he has some success although not in the way he planned. This movie is not particularly funny, nor is it exactly neo-realism, but it does capture the spirit of the times enough to achieve a kind of nostalgia. 

groovy baby!
Van Interiors.
Nice blonde, no bra!
Unfortunately, reality bites, and for reasons related to politics, religion and society issues in  general the exploitation genre was getting weaker and weaker as many opposed the way women were depicted in this kind of movies, and I'm ok with that point of view, though I think the ones against it forgot these were just movies, and the problem wasn't in the minds of the film makers but, in the minds of thousands of people around the globe living life the easiest & fastest way, who most certainly still exist.

Overall, this is a good movie to look for, not in the kind of "let's play this DVD as the background movie for our Tequila party" kind, in fact it has a lot of elements to offer to the viewer besides sex and pot smoking. For instance, the movie does deliver some sort of lesson about true friendship and true love, and that's something we all die looking for in our real lives (well, plenty of sex with easy girls is something we also look for, but it just doesn't work quite like in the movies)

Exploitation rules!
Can I wash your car honey?
Nice Bush!
It's Van Fucking time!
Peeping tom.
alright, I'm a woman I want sex is that so hard to understand?
Another interesting element is the acting of Mr. Danny de Vito, the man, the myth, the legend.

P.S. the movie title was retitled to "Chevy Van" due to the song that plays during the film, this is a factual error because, the van used as the main vehicle character, if we could put it that way, it is a Dodge van not a Chevrolet Van.

Danny de Vito looked always the same.
P.S. II: this film not only exploited tits, pussies and asses, it also exploited the short van fad that existed in the late mid 70's, it was said you could custom your van to make it a motel-on-wheels vehicle with all sorts of options, like refined silk, giant mirrors, bars, and of course confy beds along with some cleaning tools for the after sex moment. 

Do you own a Van? if not, what are you waiting for? all you need is to go back to the 70's and you will have plenty of rides if you know what I mean.

Here's the original movie trailer:


the extended movie trailer:


a Movie excerpt:


See you next time, enjoy the ride while you can!

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