BABES IN THE WOODS (1962)
Directed by: Afem A. Krovek
Review by: Adam Becvar (aka Luigi Bastardo)

Released by: Independent International Films
Running Time: 62 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Color Format: Black & White
Audio/Subtitles: English DD Mono/None
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
16:9 Enhanced: No
Special Features: Other Titles from IIF
Trailer Online: No

Back before the United States Government and the Hays Office finally decided that nudity wasn’t evil; the only way for exploitation filmmakers to incorporate a little T&A into their work was to market a film as “educational” or “artistic.” During the ‘50s and ‘60s, nudie films practically dominated the world of “art house” cinemas. The premise of each and every film varied from a showcasing of Nature Camp activities (i.e. people playing volleyball in the nude for an hour), to the more preposterous entries wherein moviemakers pretended there was an actual story going on with an actual plot.

One such preposterous “art” film is BABES IN THE WOODS. As far as anyone can tell, BABES IN THE WOODS was made by some acquaintances of the great Herschell Gordon Lewis, a fellow exploitation filmmaker, who would later hit pay dirt with BLOOD FEAST, thus earning the nickname, the “Godfather of Gore.” Lewis’ real-life wife at the time, Allison Louise Downe, is one of the featured beauties here, appearing under the alias Vickie Miles.

The “plot” for BABES IN THE WOODS involves three young “business ladies” who venture into the wooded hills to stay at Mrs. Figby’s Pine Tree Resort. Run by the widowed Martha Figby herself (Pat Bolin), the “resort” has been in dire peril of closing down altogether since Martha’s hubby, J. Wellington Figby, passed on. Marketing to businesspeople only, Martha’s first clients are the bouncing bosomy beauties of the title. Throughout the course of the sixty-two-minute film, the girls visit a service station run by a peeping tom (who has the most comfortable outhouse in existence), take a trip into the woods, and go on a host of activities run by their host, Mrs. Figby.

Some of said “activities” involve the young girls getting nekkid and frolicking about. Other goings-on include flying and fishing with Mrs. Figby, which are all done fully clothed. A few scenes of Mrs. Figby talking to the picture of her late husband and to her pet bird are the only ones in the entire film to actually feature actual onscreen dialogue (and are unbearable at that). The rest of the movie is narrated by the spirit of Mr. Figby, who is voiced by an uncredited actor that probably read through the “script“ in one read, and flubs it on a semi-regular basis. Some believe the voice to be that of BLOOD FEAST actor Bill Kerwin, whose brother, Edmund, is credited as the writer on the IMDb (though the opening credits attribute this story to “Ralph Timm”). As far as writing goes, BABES IN THE WOODS offers little else than an entire script full of bad jokes, stupid puns, and head-shaking double entendres.

Oh, sod it -- why am I even bothering explaining this film to you? It’s an early ‘60s nudie film, for fuck’s sake! Distributor Independent International Films deserves either an award or a big sincere “Boo” for finding this rarity, which has been MIA since it was first released. The 1.33:1 video presentation is hardly special, and in fact is pretty dark in some places (in one scene, one of the girls strips down in her cabin -- only it’s so dark that all you can really make out is the lamp beside her). The mono sound comes through rather well, but really isn’t worth listening to in the first place. The only extras on the disc is a look at other titles from Independent International Films -- which consists of little more than showing us the DVD covers of several other releases.

Recommended for ten-year old boys and nudie cutie perfectionists only.