Emmanuelle in Space (4 Stars)

This is the first in a series of films made for television in 1994. It's been released under several names, including "First Contact" and "Queen of the Galaxy". As far as I know, the DVDs have been out of print for years. I managed to get a copy on Ebay for a reasonable price.

The film is obviously cashing in on the success of the Emmanuelle films of the 1970's. There's no connection with the films apart from the main character's name. I'm surprised that there weren't any legal challenges to calling the new films "Emmanuelle", but I don't suppose that it's possible to copyright a name.

The original Emmanuelle was the Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel. The Emmanuelle in this film series is the young American actress Krista Allen. Sylvia Kristel became typecast, appearing in erotic films all her life. Krista Allen has avoided being typecast, probably due to her acting talent, and she's still making films today. In her first seven films of her career she played Emmanuelle. Six of them were part of the "Emmanuelle in Space" series, and in the seventh film she played an unrelated character called Emmanuelle.

There's something about the name Emmanuelle. It used to be a common name, but now (since 1974) it's become so connected with sexuality that few parents would dare give their daughter this name. They know that she would suffer in school and the workplace, with people snickering at her all her life.

The film begins with the arrival of a spaceship from a far distant planet. They want to save their species, which has become stagnant because they reproduce by cloning themselves. They've received broadcasts from Earth in which they've found out that humans procreate by pairing a male and a female, mixing up the genes from generation to generation. In short, they want to find out how to have sex. They search the Earth for a woman to teach them, and they find Emmanuelle. She's intelligent, she's highly sexual and she has contacts with people in high places. And her name is Emmanuelle!

First Emmanuelle takes Theo to a castle in France owned by Raskin, a man who takes glamour photographs. This seems to be based on Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion. Raskin is surrounded by beautiful women who have sex with any of his visitors, including Theo, whose full name in Theo 204. Emmanuelle and Raskin are close friends, so she tells Raskin that Theo is a virgin and he should be assisted in getting over his shyness.

Theo sleeps with two of the maids, but he doesn't see the point. He's no longer a virgin, but it didn't give him any pleasure. That's a very different planet he comes from! Then he visits the horse stables and finds a stable maid called Angela who isn't part of Raskin's sexual menagerie. She's dressed modestly, but Theo finds her beautiful. Theo develops unusual feelings, and Emmanuelle explains to him that he's fallen in love. Theo says he wants to remain on Earth with Angela, but the alien leader, Captain Haffron, takes him back to the ship.

Next Emmanuelle takes a small group of aliens to a Chinese temple at the foot of the Himalayas. She says she's known the head priest for 300 years. Their friendship began in a previous life. Suspend disbelief. What's important is that she has close contact with the temple. Their religion is based on the belief that sexual intercourse leads to spiritual enlightenment. The temple's monks have sex with female visitors while the other monks play musical accompaniment. Now that's the sort of religion I'd like to join! The trouble is, with my luck the other monks would be having sex while I'm just sitting banging a gong and beating my drum.

How does a subversive temple like this survive in Communist China? The district governor is a woman, and she makes regular visits to further her enlightenment.

In the meantime, Theo escapes from the ship and runs away with Angela. They drive to Italy, to a town where a large gypsy festival is taking place. The men don't look like any gypsies I've ever seen, but evidently it's a religious festival. Emmanuelle and Haffron visit the festival. While Haffron is looking for Theo, Emmanuelle visits the gypsy king for an intimate encounter.

There's something I should say about Emmanuelle. Yes, she manages to seduce the gypsy king, but most of her sexual encounters are with other women. The aliens on the ship are monitoring her all the time. I thought they were visiting Earth to learn about procreation. Teaching the aliens about lesbian sex won't help their race to survive.

Krista Allen is beautiful. Sylvia Kristel is nothing in comparison.

Theo is taken back to the ship and locked up as a deserter. Emmanuelle begs Haffron for mercy. She says that love is more important than sex. That's not a lesson that Haffron wants to hear. They're visiting Earth to learn about sex, not love.

At the end of the episode Theo has been re-instated as a crew member on the spaceship. Emmanuelle asks Theo if he's not in love any more. Theo replies that he's never been in love. He tells her that he's a new clone, Theo 205. Theo 204 has returned to Earth, leaving Theo 205 in his place. It's a secret. Emmanuelle shouldn't tell anyone that he's not Theo 204.

This is a campy little story, fun to watch, as long as you don't take it too seriously. It's less pornographic than the original Emmanuelle films; after all, it was made for television. I can hardly wait to watch the other films in the series.