Stacey
occupies a (very) minor place in film history, because it’s the first example
of low-budget director Andy Sidaris’ signature style. During the ’80s and ’90s,
Sidaris made a slew of ridiculous action movies starring Penthouse and Playboy
models, correctly assuming that the combination of guns and gazongas would
score with the home-video crowd. All the elements of Sidaris’ exploitative
formula can be found in his debut feature, Stacey.
Presented as a hard-boiled detective story, complete with cynical past-tense
narration, Stacey concerns Stacey
Hanson (Anne Randall), a private eye who happens to be a buxom blonde. Hired by
a rich old woman, Stacey is charged with investigating the woman’s potential
heirs to see if any of them deserves an inheritance. Naturally, each of these
folks is up to something. John (John Alderman) is gay but closeted, so his
horny wife, Tish (Anitra Ford), finds pleasure in bed with a handyman, who
takes pictures of their trysts for purposes of blackmail. Meanwhile, Pamela
(Cristina Raines) is involved with a Manson-style sex cult. This being a
Sidaris film, most scenes require Stacey to wear skimpy clothes—or nothing at
all—in order to track down clues. Somewhat improbably, Stacey is also a racecar
driver, which leads to the silly finale during which she steers a racecar down
a rural road while being chased with a helicopter. Even more typical of the film
(and of Sidaris’ juvenile aesthetic) is the scene in which a killer stalks
Stacy while she showers—only to discover that she’s waiting for him behind the
curtain with a gun. The ladies in Stacey
are attractive, and the film contains a fair measure of action, so it’s no
surprise to learn that Roger Corman’s New World Pictures released Stacey—Sidaris delivers the trashy goods.
Nonetheless, Stacey is boring, episodic, and stupid, ideal only for the most
lascivious of viewers.
Stacey:
LAME
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