Play Motel (1979)

We tend to think of the 70s as the giallo era but in fact the the Italian film industry (like the British film industry) was largely being kept afloat by sex, mostly in the form of sex comedies. Play Motel certainly isn’t a comedy but more a kind of softcore erotic giallo. I say softcore but there was a hardcore version as well, with hardcore inserts apparently filmed without the knowledge of the film’s director. This was not an uncommon thing to happen in European movies of this era. It is however the softcore version with which we are concerned here.

The Play Motel of the title is a hotel where wealthy businessmen can indulge themselves in illicit sex. If they want something kinky that can be provided as well. For businessman Rinaldo Cortesi that means having sex with naughty nuns.

The possibilities for blackmail are obvious, and Cortesi does indeed find himself being blackmailed. His marriage with his wife Luisa is not going too well. Payig up seems like the wisest course of action but he decides to call his lawyer for advice. At the time he makes the call his lawyer is in bed with Luisa Cortesi.

Luisa decides to play amateur detective. She finds the photos of her husband cavorting with one of those naughty nuns. Perhaps unwisely she decides to go on playing amateur detective.

Luisa had informed the police about the blackmail of her husband and they naturally investigate. They have a promising lead. They have identified the woman who played the rôle of the naughty nun but the trail leads them to murder rather than just blackmail. They think there’s a connection between the Play Motel and a porn magazine.

A young couple, Roberto (played by Ray Lovelock from Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man) and Patrizia, check in to the Play Motel for entirely innocent purposes. They go there to have sex but they are married. The wife just thought that sex in a motel would be more exciting. Their evening of sexy fun ends with the discovery of a woman’s body in the boot of their car.

Roberto and Patrizia decide to play amateur detective as well and surprisingly the police are quite happy for them to do so.

Patrizia goes undercover as a model, posing for sleazy photographer Willy. He makes her take all her clothes off and then tries to rape her. Patrizia had no idea that being a detective was so much fun. She’s so enthused that she eagerly volunteers to go on with the case.

What’s really cool about this movie is that the police let two unarmed young women do most of their work for them and don’t provide the women with any backup. And Roberto’s a nice guy but he doesn’t seem worried about the risks his wife is running.

Eroticism was already a major giallo ingredient. What Play Motel does is to ramp up the nudity content. It ramps it up a lot. In commercial terms this was obviously a sound idea. Erotic thrillers were becoming a popular genre everywhere. By setting the story against a background of the porn and prostitution industries Play Motel manages to include an immense amount of female frontal nudity that doesn’t seem too overly gratuitous. If you’re going to make a softcore porn/giallo hybrid at least provide some vague plot reasons for having the actresses getting naked.

The movie attracted some controversy because of the hardcore version which was released simultaneously, with the hardcore scenes supposedly added without the knowledge of the director or the cast. It’s a pity because without those hardcore scene Play Motel is a perfectly competent erotic thriller. The softcore version features mostly what I’d call tasteful nudity and tasteful eroticism - there are no instances of brutal sexual violence. But due to the hardcore version the movie gained an unsavoury reputation which it didn’t deserve.

And it does have a proper giallo plot, and having Patrizia doing her amateur undercover cop thing means that you know she’s going to be in extreme danger and that provides plenty of suspense. Patrizia is a sympathetic character. She’s a nice girl. She isn’t stupid, just over-confident. To make the Woman in Peril angle work it has to be a woman the audience will care about and in this case we really don’t want to see Patrizia get hurt although we suspect she will be hurt.

The acting is generally very good. Ray Lovelock has a high likeability factor. Anna Maria Rizzoli as Patrizia makes a fine feisty but reckless heroine.

Raro Video’s DVD release (they’ve released this one on Blu-Ray as well) offers an excellent transfer with a few extras.

Play Motel is not a top-tier giallo by any means but if you accept it for what it is, a good second-tier giallo with more eroticism than usual then it’s pretty enjoyable. Recommended.