Art Films and Cult Favorites: The 1970s "adults only" genre
I went through all the Classic XXX movies and noted films that have something distinctive going for them—more "real movie" than average, famous, historically important or just in some way cool or unusual.

I can't name a '70s adult film that belongs in the first-rank of world cinema but a number of these are good movies. (By "good" I mean in the top third of all movies ever made.) American and European movies combined I'd guess this genre produced somewhere between 100 and 1000 good movies. Call it 250 ballpark. In their heyday these were uncommonly influential films. I doubt that it's possible to understand film history 1970-present without some familiarity with the best of the genre. (...more)

 

Switch to Concise Title List

3 A.M. (DVD)    1975
DVD / All Regions
 $14.39 Add to Cart
Director Robert McCallum's real identity is Gary Graver, the prolific cinematographer who shot a lot of famous exploitation films like I Spit on Your Corpse and Invasion of the Bee Girls. 3 AM is his first high quality explicit adult film, ... (See full description)
 
8 to 4 (DVD)    1981
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Louie Louis. Shot in 35mm. One of the highest grossing 80s theatrical XXX features. Well photographed office-girls revenge feature starring as intriguing a cast as any adult film. Starring cover girl pretty Annette Haven, Lee... (See full description)
 
800 Fantasy Lane - NUTECH Edition (DVD)    1979
DVD / All Regions
 $14.39 Add to Cart
Listed as the first film directed by Svetlana, but we suspect it is partially directed by XXX auteur Robert McCallum, who is credited with the cinematography. Erotic and inventive story of 17 delectable beauties who are employed by a real e... (See full description)
 
Alexandra (DVD)    1983
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Robert Freeman. Intelligent and well made – and why not? The scenario is lifted from Joseph Mankewicz's delightful LETTER TO THREE WIVES. Makes a great companion piece to THE BUDDING OF BRIE, the XXX version of Mankewicz's ALL A... (See full description)
 
Angel On Fire (DVD)    1975
DVD / All Regions
 $17.75 Add to Cart
Low-budget, but narratively ambitious Roberta Findlay classic. Up in heaven, Angel #9 (Barbara Jordan) is instructed to punish a Casanova named Steven for a lifetime of cruelty towards the oppos... (See full description)
 
Aphrodesias Diary (DVD)    1984
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Director Gerard Kikoïne was a major 1970s European adult film director (including some Brigitte Lahaie films like INDECENCIES 1930) who later "went straight" and directed horror films with actors like Anthony Perkins and John Carradine in t... (See full description)
 
Autobiography Of A Flea (DVD)    1976
DVD / All Regions
 $24.85 Add to Cart
Directed by Sharon McKnight. One of the super classy productions the Mitchell Brothers were able to do after the runaway success of Behind the Green Door. "This is the official Mitchell Brothers version - the most complete version sold. Set... (See full description)
 
Bad Girls (DVD)    1981
DVD / All Regions
 $19.5 Add to Cart
One of the great fun, simple-minded sex films. BAD GIRLS plays like a 1970s drive-in summer camp comedy–teasing, flippant and taking a purely recreational view of sex. Pretty forest settings. Big fun, with characters almost literally stumbl... (See full description)
 
Bang Bang (DVD)    1975
DVD / All Regions
 $17.75 Add to Cart
When someone says "a porno version of Kentucky Fried Movie" my instincts are to run, but this Chuck Vincent directed collection of sexually explicit sketches is pretty entertaining and has at least one genuine laugh in it—the pictures accom... (See full description)
 
Barbara Broadcast (DVD)    1977
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Radley Metzger (as Henry Paris) The best looking American explicit film. Extremely sexy follow-up to Misty Beethoven (including a bondage scene with Constance Money and Jamie Gillis that was filmed for Misty Beethoven but not us... (See full description)
 
Blow Dry (DVD)    1976
DVD / All Regions
 $28.89 Add to Cart
The mini-wave of high quality DVD releases of fun 1970s XXX classics continues with another company, Halo Park, offering this handsome, feature packed edition of obscure 1976 porn comedy Blow Dry. A STYLISH knock-off of SHAMPOO about enterp... (See full description)
 
Blue Ecstasy (DVD)    1980
DVD / All Regions
 $17.75 Add to Cart
Directed by 1970s cult auteur Kemal Horulu. (Not to be confused with 1976's ECSTASY IN BLUE) Horulu had a talent for establishing some sort of emotional context which is essential in a sex film. Blue Ecstacy is an unu... (See full description)
 
Cafe Flesh (DVD)    1982
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Stephen Sayadian (Rinse Dream). Strong candidate as most successful sex/genre crossover, and definitely one of the 10 best American explicit films. Sayadian's arty underground style is perfectly suited to weird sex cinema, and... (See full description)
 
Caresses (Caresses Inavouables) (DVD)    1979
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
American release of golden age French classic Caresses Inavouables directed by Claude Bernard-Aubert (as Burd Tranbaree) Starring Céline Gallone, Diane Dubois, Guy Royer, Erika Cool, Gallia, Marie-Dominique Cabanne, Morgane and Gilbert S... (See full description)
 
Centerspread Girls (DVD)    1982
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Robert McCallum. Fast moving Harold Lime produced classic with an amazing all-star cast. When a committee of Moral zealots try to blackmail the female publisher of a national magazine, her Centerspread Girls go to the rescue... (See full description)
 
China De Sade (DVD)    1977
DVD / All Regions
 $19.5 Add to Cart
XXX 1970s throw-back to the sensibilities of 60s exploitation directed by Charles De Santos (The Seven Seductions of Madame Lau), one of the more interesting 70s blue movie directors. "China De Sade is the story of Ming Lee (Linda Wong),... (See full description)
 
Coed Fever (DVD)    1980
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
A swell movie... McCallum's able direction and a big superstar cast make this tale of (failed) attempts to separate sorority girls from their lowlife boyfriends a true classic. Check out this cast – Annette Haven, Vanessa Del Rio, Samant... (See full description)
 
Coffee, Tea Or Me (DVD)    1984
DVD / All Regions
 $14.39 Add to Cart
Directed by Robert McCallum. "The sexual exploits of those hot and sexy stewardesses and the pilots will have you wishing you were in the airline industry. But wait… they are not the only ones who are taking advantage of the friendly skies…... (See full description)
 
Coming of Angels, A (DVD)    1977
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Joel Scott. Though marketed as a Charlies Angels spoof, this is no light-hearted romp… it's pretty sinister. All exterior shots are of a stark snow covered landscape, and the farm house/dungeon where most of the action takes place ... (See full description)
 
Confessions Of A Woman (DVD)    1977
DVD / All Regions
 $17.75 Add to Cart
Directed by Anthony Spinelli. "Behind every great woman is a confession. The only way to know what beautiful Cindy Johnson wants in life is to see her latest film, 'Confessions of a Woman', where she shows you in intimate detail, her over... (See full description)
 
Consenting Adults (DVD)    1982
DVD / All Regions
 $17.75 Add to Cart
Eleven years after his ground-breaking documentary CHANGES, Damiano took another documentary snapshot of sexual variation in America. (It's funny to see how "out there" genital piercing was in 1982.) "From pioneer eroticist Gerard Damian... (See full description)
 
Cry For Cindy (DVD)    1976
DVD / All Regions
 $18.75 Add to Cart
1976 was probably the single best year for American adult film and CRY FOR CINDY is arguably director Anthony Spinelli's masterpiece. It's very professional and "real movie" ambitious. "Cult starlet AMBER HUNT (Baby Face, Sex World) plays... (See full description)
 
Deep Throat (DVD)    1972
DVD / All Regions
 $23.75 Add to Cart
The most famous adult film ever made, and one of the top ten grossing films of 1972. Not top ten grossing adult films – all films! "Linda Lovelace's classic story of a young beautiful lady with a sp... (See full description)
 
Defiance (aka Defiance of the Good) (DVD)    1974
DVD / All Regions
 $19.5 Add to Cart
Judging by this film writer-director Armand Weston was (in 1974) almost on par with Brian De Palma, John Avildsen, Jonathan Demme, and other promising young directors who were working in sleazy or exploitive genres at the time. Not a great ... (See full description)
 
Desires Within Young Girls (DVD)    1977
DVD / All Regions
 $9.95 Add to Cart
Directed by Ramsey Karson (Sensual Encounters of Every Kind) and produced by adult film impresario Harold Lime. As with any "youthful" sounding titles on this website, the "Young Girls" alluded to in the original release title were well ove... (See full description)
 
[1/4]

A

BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ