Water Power (1977) Online

Three intervening decades have done nothing whatsoever to blunt the impact of this notorious roughie, ripped from then current headlines about one Michael Kenyon alias the Illinois Enema Bandit who raped and forcefully, er, cleansed at least two dozen women between 1965 and 1975. Charged with assault and battery, he served a mere six years behind bars, only to be paroled in 1981 after which he wisely faded into well-deserved obscurity. While a TV movie of the week (starring Cameron Mitchell perhaps, think TOOLBOX MURDERS) might've been a tantalizing proposition, the counterculture seemed a more likely candidate to process this peculiar court case. It served as inspiration for Frank Zappa's song "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit" and, for better or worse, this interesting but still extremely hard to take adult film long attributed to Gerard Damiano of DEEP THROAT and DEVIL IN MISS JONES fame. Though his name has always been prominently displayed in both credits and all publicity material, Damiano has repeatedly gone on record claiming he was supposed to do it, but didn't. Most sources henceforth agree that it was our old friend Shaun Costello at the helm, a theory supported by the familiar soundtrack choices (Bernard Herrmann's VERTIGO soundtrack has once again been extensively plundered to set the mood) as well as the director's brief appearance as an extra in a police station sequence. If indeed so, this truly stands as his most disturbing effort since 1972's FORCED ENTRY and it's a far better produced work to boot.

Opening with an improvised New York street scene, stylistically likened to Martin Scorsese's MEAN STREETS by Jonathan Ross in his enjoyable if not always accurate INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM BOOK (where he continually refers to the film as being titled THE ENEMA BANDIT and asserts that it sports no credits whatsoever while it actually has and fairly complete ones at that), the movie introduces its audience to an apparently average nameless guy played to absolute psychotic perfection by the inimitable Jamie Gillis. Surely, this part was instrumental in cementing the actor's longstanding reputation as porn's most fearsome nasty bastard and may even have hypothetically influenced the respectable likes of Harvey Keitel on Abel Ferrara's gut-wrenching BAD LIEUTENANT. A casual trip to a sleazy brothel named rather incongruously the Garden of Eden earns him a $ 10 blow job from friendly resident tart Sharon Mitchell and a lecture by madam Gloria Leonard (legendary former editor of skin magazine HIGH SOCIETY and one time chairwoman of the Adult Film Association of America) on the house specials. Her mention of high colonic captures his interest and, as luck would have it, one such session is just about to get underway with faux doctor Eric Edwards (yet again wiping the floor with his Mr. Sensitivity image) and ditto nurse Marlene Willoughby pumping a bagful of soapy water into the bowels of poor supine Pamela (Long Jean Silver from the jaw-dropping Alex deRenzy flick of the same name, though her claim to fame – one of her legs has been amputated following a car accident and she occasionally uses the stump for penetration of various partners of both sexes – is kept out of frame here). Having found his niche, Gillis sets about to ritualistically clean the "filthy whores" of Manhattan, his first victim being his across the street neighbor, a pretty stewardess he worshiped from afar until he realized she had a boyfriend (the ubiquitous chubby-cheeked David Joseph) whom she regularly performed sex acts with. The girl's eternal second stringer Clea Carson, billed as "Valerie Morgenstern", a pseudonym derived from mainstream actress Valerie Harper and her popular TV character Rhoda Morgenstern, more than a tad ironic considering this actress would go on to become a heavy hitter in the Women Against Pornography movement, sidling up to the likes of Linda Lovelace !

The nature of the crime alerts hard-bitten vice squad detective Irene Murray (an understated C.J. Laing who only seems to come to life when it's her turn to tussle with Gillis) who is forcibly teamed up with homicide cop Jack Gallagher (deftly sketched by the extremely hirsute John Buco) to crack the case. A pair of lesbian teenage sisters named Ginger and Candy (reliable supporting babe Susaye London and one shot wonder Barbara Belkin) find their fondling rudely interrupted by Gillis in the movie's most tasteless number, where it becomes painfully obvious that neither actress was given a chance to clean up before the forced irrigation action, a humiliating highlight clearly taken well beyond the ladies' comfort. Armed with the perpetrator's description and having narrowed down his territory, Irene agrees to act as decoy which very nearly leads to her being offed as the badge in her handbag inadvertently divulges her identity. The final frames show the maniac's face being lit up by the arriving cop car before he makes his way into the night.

It would be easy to ridicule WATERPOWER if it had been assembled with the slapdash, "make it up as you go along" attitude of Costello's customary "Russ Carlson" quickies of the same period. The immediately obvious fact that it doesn't pushes the film into a whole different territory however. Compellingly written and acted with utmost conviction for most part (making the rape scenes particularly queasy viewing), it has a power to disturb that very few other roughies can even begin to touch. Considerably more extreme than mainstream portraits of psychosis such as John McNaughton's admittedly excellent HENRY : PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, it once and for all dispels that old "less is more" adage by searing each grotesque violation into the mind's eye with unrelenting blowtorch intensity. Presumably impossible to love (unless maybe you're the lucky owner of a very sick mind), this is one film you will NEVER forget.

Faster than an erupting colon! More powerful than an over-exercised sphincter! Able to cram liters of water into asses with a single nozzle! It's - THE ENEMA BANDIT!!! Oh boy - this one's another weirdy from "classic" smut director Shaun Costello...

Burt (played convincingly by porn-pro Jamie Gillis) is a bugged out freak, who after witnessing an enema procedure at the local sex-club, decides that it's his duty to clean out all the whores he cums across - starting with one of his neighbors that he often peeps on. Armed with a backpack full of enema supplies, Burt goes on an ass-douching rampage of twisted hilarity - including the aforementioned neighbor, a pair of sisters (who are a little too "close" for comfort), and finally a female undercover cop who is out to bust him...

Many seem to find WATER POWER "disturbing" - sorry guys - this one's just down-right funny. Apparently based on true events that happened at Illinois University where some whackadoo went around enemizing co-eds - Costello (according to his own story about the "conception" of the film) states that when confronted with the "material" that he was asked to shoot - he decided to make it a parody of it's own self, while throwing in a healthy dose of TAXI DRIVER-ish pathology blended into the character of Burt. He considers it his funniest film - and honestly, I do to. Not for all tastes by any means, but even though the film offers such "treats" as forced-enema expulsion (both real and staged) one of which is particularly noteworthy where Burt has the girl spray her butt-water on his hand and dong for a little "lube" action, gun-point rape, a little golden-shower action, incest and all-around humiliation and depravity...there's still something in how the material is portrayed that is so over-the-top as to honestly become comical. Either that or I'm just really sick.

The sex scenes are unarousing and are basically comprised of a few rape scenes, and one relatively energetic blow-job from Sharon Mitchell. The first and last enema scenes are obviously genuine, the two "messier" ones in the middle of the film appear to be staged - but are still a riot. Nothing really whack-worthy, unless you are an enema-fetishist - but WATER POWER will appeal to those that dig really uber-weird and twisted films and don't mind a little (or a lot...) of porn mixed in. Definitely some strange (and messy) stuff, and some of the weirdest film-making you're ever likely to witness...9.5/10

EDIT: I have since spoken with Mr. Costello personally - and he assures me that ALL of the enema "expulsion" scenes were REAL and not staged...thanks to Mr. Costello for the clarification...

Man there's a lot of mighty unclean women floating around nowadays, well there seemed to be as far as Jamie Gillis was concerned! The director of "Deep Throat" tried his hands at yet another porn, this being by far the nastiest of them all. What can be so nasty you ask?

How about a loopy Gillis barging into your house with a gun in one hand, an enema kit in the other and hell bent on cleaning you up!!!

Honestly what can I say, it's a porn movie. Though it is a good porn movie, with some marvelous music swiped from "Cape Fear" and god knows what else. Jamie Gillis is, as per usual totally convincing as the "Enema Bandit". Plus this was also based on true events! Unbelievable!!!

The 70's were the times in which porn was very mean and ugly.Lots of so-called XXX roughies was made during those glorious years of cinematic filth.Among them was infamous "Waterpower" by Shaun Costello.Jamie Gillis plays here a notorious rapist called the Enema Bandit.He viciously rapes his female victims and before the rape he gives them an enema.The cops are trying desperately to catch him..."Waterpower" is certainly a shocking and dirty stuff,but the acting is pretty good and the cinematography is great.The film is filled with gritty atmosphere of urban decay.The scenes of sexual violence are hard to stomach and the misogyny is rampant through its projection time.Jamie Gillis is frighteningly realistic as the Enema Bandit.A must-see for fans of bizarre hybrids of porn and horror.8 out of 10.

Loosely based on the exploits of The Enema Bandit, a criminal who would sexually assault his victims before forcefully administering an enema, Water Power is a hell of a sleazy film—one that makes you feel incredibly dirty for having watched it. A twisted cross between Scorsese's Taxi Driver and a grimy 70s XXX feature, it follows nut-job rapist Burt (played by porn-star Jamie Gillis) as he sets out to cleanse the filthy women of New York, via the use of high colonics.

Directed by smut-merchant Shaun Costello (but often accredited to Gerard 'Deep Throat' Damiano), this film inevitably features a fair dose of adult acts and 'other scenes of a graphic nature' (use your imagination—I'm not gonna describe it!), but it also works as a thriller (thanks largely to Gillis's convincing turn as a total crackpot), meaning that fans of extreme exploitation such as myself can offer up a fairly valid (if not completely convincing) excuse for watching this filthy, disturbing and quite nauseating fetish flick.

As far as rating this one goes, it deserves either 1 out of 10 for making me feel like a total degenerate, or 10/10 for being a one of a kind, unbelievably demented and totally disgusting 'masterpiece', so I'll average it out and give it 5.5/10 (rounded up to 6 for IMDb).

Back in the golden era of the porn industry they really made some nasty flicks. That era lays between 1972 and the start of the VHS. Most of those flicks are forgotten and are nowadays searched by collectors. The girls in those flicks just looked like your usual neighbours, they didn't have perfect bodies but that added something towards the flicks. Nowadays they look like fake plastic barbie sluts, can't act and are screaming like their life is depending on it.

Water Power was one that had a proper VHS release and played some theatres in Europe. The copy I found even had Dutch subtitles. Finally it is out on DVD but still it is a hunt to find a copy.

Jamie Gillis, one of the well known porn actors, plays Burt. A lonely guy who hasn't got a girlfriend and watches a stewardess undress from his window. From there on things go wrong with Burt. When he's seeing a hooker she tells him of some perverted sex going on in the room next door. He watches it and by seeing enema he decides to clean the sleazy streets of New York.

You don't watch it for the script because that sucks (no pun intended) really hard. When the cops go looking for him nothing goes on and how a cop Irene Murray (played by C.J. Laing) finds him on the streets isn't explained neither but the script isn't the most important thing.

It does contain some normal sex scenes but the ones with the enema are the ones that are hard to swallow (no pun again intended). The first enema is explained in front of the camera and does look normal but once Burt is on the streets to rape and punish things aren't for the easily offended. Two scene's are rather disgusting, especially the lesbian one with Susaye London (Ginger) and Barbara Belkin (Candy). Susaye went further in the business but Barbara made her first and last entrance into the porn industry. Were the scene in the club the enema was done with a cleaned girl (if you know what I mean) pure water came out of her ass but in the lesbo scene filthy shitty water is sputtered in the bath tub were they were standing, but to make it worse Burt gives them a golden shower and to humiliate them he cums on their juggs, not an easy scene to take if you aren't into roughies. Naturally C.J. Laing had do to her stuff too. It's so weird as being a Jew that she entered the porn industry. Nevertheless, she gets an enema too but this time she filled with so much water that it really must have hurt and to make it even worse Burt penetrates her. You can see her being humiliated in Sex Wish and The Taking Of Christina, both from 1976. What makes it all even naughtier is the fact that no effects were used or stand-ins. What you see is the real stuff.

Still it's worth seeing because there is an actual story in it although it isn't that good but it's not just about banging and the face of Jamie did look a bit creepy sometimes. This is really a classic in the 'roughie ' genre and one to see if you aren't easily offended.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Waterpower is a movie that could have been only made in the seventies. Based on the true story of Michael Kenyon, the Illinois enema Bandit. Waterpower stars Jamie Gillis as a guy who finds his true calling in life after watching Eric Edwards and Marlene Willoughby give Long Jeanne Silver am enema at a brothel called "The Garden of Eden" Gillis is his usual scary self and the movie plays like a porn remake of Taxi Driver. Erroneously credited to Gerard Damiano. The film is for me, a classic example of seventies porn, It has an interesting story, is well filmed and is extremely dark in tone, something that you will not see in recent porn. while definitely not for everyone. If you are interested in seeing that's not run of the mill, see Waterpower

Of course, I do not want to condone the use of force or violence, and in this video, it is actually criminal - rape associated with the administration of enemas . . . however, with that caveat having been applied, this video is CLASSIC. Everything you could want, from the medical administration of a discipline enema, to the girl next door who needs to be cleansed, to the two sisters alone at home, to the ultimate female police officer who tries to set the guy up! It's a full length film and I think - with other vintage 70/80 film - that which became the cornerstone of my interest in medical fetish/fantasy and the later development of "PLAY DOCTOR". Highly recommended.

All the way through watching "Water Power" I couldn't stop chuckling because Jack Nicholson's legendary Joker quote from "Batman" was stuck in my head. "This town needs an enema!" That must have been exactly what the protagonist was repeating in his head the entire time as well. Gerard Damiano, the same legendary guy who brought us "Deep Throat" presents this vile and hugely perverted "Water Power". At least, that's what the cover proudly exclaims, but apparently this was just a shameless publicity stunt and the actual guy in the director's seat was Shaun Costello. Now that is a much more logical and acceptable link with this film. "Deep Throat" was a porno movie, but a comical and light-headed one, whereas "Water Power" deals with unpleasant topics like rape, torture and perverted fetishes. Since Shaun Costello previously directed the notorious "Forced Entry" – revolving on a Vietnam veteran on a rape and murdering rampage – it's much more credible to see his name linked to "Water Power". Either way, this is a remarkable piece of ultra-smutty 70's porno exploitation. It's a unique and fascinating effort to behold, but for all the wrong reasons as you're are basically watching a story about a misogynist freak raping women and sticking tubes of water in their behinds and actually getting away with it, too! "Water Power" introduces a thirty-something and very bored guy named Burt. His apartment is decorated with pornographic pictures and he peeps at his sexy stewardess neighbor through a telescope, but other than that he's a random and completely normal male individual. After a visit to a luxurious sex club, however, Burt discovers his true calling in life: enemas! He goes on a purifying crusade through the rancid streets of New York, beginning with his neighbor but quickly taking on every random woman he assumes to be a dirty whore. He picks them up or even perpetrates into their houses, rapes them and then finally thrusts tubes into their anuses and turns on the tab! The police desperately searches for the so-called "enema bandit" but can't find him, even though he doesn't make too much efforts covering up his crimes. That's probably because the duo of inspectors is too busy investigating each other's genitals. Supposedly based on a true story, "Water Power" is a rather disturbing film. The setting, decayed and sleaze-infested New York streets, is obviously copied from "Taxi Driver" and Jamie Gillis probably even owes his casting to his sinister and menacing appearance. Most unsettling, of course, is the actual act of performing forced enemas. They look very realistic and even more painful (I hope the actresses were paid accordingly!) and honestly not something you do to get sexual kicks. Anyways, in case you are looking for the extreme type of adult movie with a plot – yes, they do exist – and character development, "Water Power" would make an excellent choice.

One reason modern-day hardcore porno movies are such a waste of time is that they have become so damn conservative and even respectable. The "adult industry" doesn't want to do anything that will upset the lonely businessmen in hotel rooms or the lucrative "couple's market" which allows them to rake in billions of dollars annually. It's kind of refreshing therefore to see an old style porno movie that is completely un-PC, in the worst possible taste, and even downright disturbing. This movie is actually fairly well-made and could probably pass for a (very) low-budget police thriller except that it has a villain who ties up women and forcibly, and very graphically, gives them enemas!(An alternate title for this is "The Enema Bandit", but "The Enema Rapist" would probably be more appropriate).

I should point out that this movie is not the least bit erotic if that's what your looking for. Even if you are some kind of sick deviant who finds enemas sexy, the execution here is pretty risible. Plastic tubing being shoved up the pimply backside of some "actress" while she squirms and unconvincingly protests might be many things, but erotic definitely isn't one of them. Director Gerardo Damiano was one of the people responsible for ushering in the whole "porno chic" nonsense in the 70's with his film "Deep Throat", but I've often suspected he was really a very subversive filmmaker who was never really interested in turning people on. His follow-up film, "The Devil in Ms. Jones" is a classic too, but it has a gut-punch ending like something out of Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit" that really delivers a very chilling message about sexual obsession. And I can't imagine he really meant this or his even more ridiculous puppet porno epic "Let My Puppets Come" to be anything more than a sick joke on all the "porno chic" idiots.

This movie is best approached as a (very) black comedy. Some might be troubled by the air of misogyny or the fact that the enemas here were very obviously not simulated, but you should take into account that 70's porno actresses were often strung-out junkies who frequently engaged in anal sex with numerous overly-endowed males--I imagine many of them probably could have used a good enema. . .

Vicious and unhinged rapist loner Burt (superbly played with frightening conviction and intensity by late, great porn legend Jamie Gillis) gives his unfortunate female victims brutal and degrading anal probings and rinsings after he's finished after his wicked carnal way with them. Writer/director Shaun Costello, who also blessed us with the equally nasty and shocking "Forced Entry," expertly creates a harsh and seething mood of all-out sexual depravity that really gets under the viewer's skin and makes you feel filthy for watching the unsparingly gross'n'graphic on-screen carnage. Moreover, Costello manages to build a considerable amount of nerve-wracking tension at the harrowing climax and concludes the whole sordid show with a truly chilling ending. Of course, this movie wouldn't work as well as it does if it wasn't for the unusually strong and credible performance by Gillis in the lead role; he's both utterly convincing and absolutely terrifying as a seriously hateful, scary, and repellent creep (the scenes with Gillis forcing women to have sex with him at gunpoint are extremely unpleasant and upsetting). Gillis's bitter monologues about cleaning out the "vile humors" of dirty whores are simply priceless and pleasingly reminiscent of "Taxi Driver." Naturally, this picture certainly covers all the essential seedy bases with unflinching explicitness: Besides the jarring rape set pieces and disgusting enemas (said enemas were actually done for real!), we've also got such basic sleazy stuff as fellatio, voyeurism, straight copulation, cunnilingus, masturbation, and even lesbianism. The cast is a veritable who's who of the 70's porn scene: C.J. Laing and John Buco as the hard-bitten vice cops determined to bust Burt, Eric Edwards as a kinky and gleefully zealous doctor, Marlene Willoughby as a naughty nurse, Sharon Mitchell as hooker Eve, Gloria Leonard as a cheery sex club manager, Clea Carson as Burt's sexy stewardess neighbor, and even amputee Jean Silver as a hapless patient who receives an enema. Bill Markle's surprisingly polished cinematography gives the movie an impressive professional gloss. The authentically grimy New York City locations and the wonky droning score further add to the picture's substantial jolting impact. A rare notoriously perverse and seamy underground hardcore cult item that truly lives up to its infamous reputation.

Wow! This one's the real deal. What can I say but fellatio galore, some "roughie" rapes and of course, forced colonics. This one just has it all (and in a fun little parody of "Taxi Driver" to make things complete).

When I first recognized the music from Scorsese's classic (made the previous year) I paused it to look at the "Water Power" page in the IMDb. Sure enough, in the write up for the film (done by Shaun Costello himself), a description, of how the movie came to be, showed it to be a parody (with seemingly lifted samples from the soundtrack). We even get the Travis Bickle narrative treatment about how everything needs to be cleaned up. Marvelous stuff. Strangely enough, the Bickle character, Jamie Gillis, sounds nothing like De Niro, but instead a dead ringer for Al Pacino in his "Godfather" days. For those who have seen it and not noticed, re-watch it and you'll spot it right away.

Some other music that seems copied are the electronic music from "Lipstick"(1976) during the first rape and what seems like Alan Parsons at the end when the male partner arrives. I just "viddied" this last night and must re-watch it (oh darn) to listen for more copied music (now that I know a bit more about Costello).

Do whatever it takes to see this most perverted and completely enjoyable film.

Water Power is a project Gerard Damiano was attached to. He reportedly left because he thought the film was 'mean spirited'. The plot line is about a lonely, voyeuristic man who visits a brothel and witnesses an enema performed by a man posing as a doctor; he becomes highly aroused by this experience and decides to clean sinful women of their immoral past by becoming the 'enema bandit'.

Both the cinematography and acting are superb. The director couldn't have done a better job. Jamie Gillis does a great job of portraying a troubled but psychotic man, without giving an over-the-top hammy performance.

My problem with Water Power is the brutality of it. The enemas are forced (but only for the purpose of the film, not in real life) and look quite nasty. The film is also relentlessly grim which makes it difficult to watch although there is some humour to take the edge off slightly. I also had issues with some of the misogynistic language used; women are occasionally referred to as 'bitches' and 'whores'.

Summary: A technically superb piece which is in no doubt a classic, unfortunately I found some of the film a bit nasty, despite this it is a must see for Damiano completists, Shaun Costello fans and Classsic XXX lovers.

This is one of so-called "roughies", nasty hardcore exploitation cinema. Good example of that kind of cinema is surely the other picture from Gerard Damiano: "Forced Entry". "Waterpower" is quite similar - it's filthy, with lots of XXX scenes included, but they're here trying to say: "we were shoot on purpose". Don't be naive, it's only another fetishistic piece of trash. But it's also quite entertaining. The plot is very simple: there's a man with some serious psychic problems. After a visit in a bordello, where he sees the man doing an enema to a girl, he finds he's new great fascination. He starts to be a "moral voice" of the big city, he traces young women and rapes them. After all he's doing an enema to them to - as he says - purify them. Well..., I didn't find it nice watching water mixed with feces coming out of those girls, but I must admit that this is really original idea. See for yourself if I think that you have to, but remember that you were warned.

Water Power is about the Adventures of the Enema Bandit. That line and that line alone told me I had to check this movie out. And from that line you should know exactly what type of movie you're getting into. If you're a little slow on the uptake or you want some more info, here ya go. Water Power is about a guy named Burt who is bored with his sex life and is on the search for a new fetish or what have you. He drops by his local sex shop that has a high class bordello in the back. He finds about the specials and inquires about the Colonics. He gets lucky and gets to witness a colonic special in one of the back rooms. From this moment on he's fixated with enemas and "cleanin these bitches out". He takes the responsibility to clean out all the dirty whores around his city. He begins his duty but the cops are on his trail. What will Burt the Enema Bandit do? Find out in Water Power! This movie is sick, graphic, perverted and above all (for me) funny. The guy who plays Burt is one of the sleaziest guys I've ever seen. He talks in a soft voice, has the 5 o'clock shadow going, dresses like a loner. He looks the part, and he plays the part. Some of the lines he says are flat out hilarious. The way he talks about his new found love and what he has to accomplish are jaw droppingly funny. Not even counting the enema and sex scenes the movie has many memorable moments. All of the cast play their parts as good as you'd want them to, and the direction and cinematography were done very well. This is one movie a fan of gritty, exploitative porn has to see. It's f@ckin awesome.

From the late 70's to the mid-80's, Shaun Costello was a force of nature in porn. He directed the inflammatory "Forced Entry", the ultra-erotic "Hot Dreams" (as Warren Evans), and the almost-mainstream X-rater "Amanda By Night". "Waterpower", which is a mean-spirited little number, is also quite funny, and, like Yasaharu Hasebe's "Assault - Jack The Ripper", ends with the bad guy getting away scot-free. Tonally, the film probably inspired, even sub-consciously, Bill Lustig's "Maniac".

Although the great Jamie Gillis, who plays The Enema Bandit with total conviction, rapes women and administers the obligatory enema, he does not kill, cut or maim his victims; he certainly leaves them tied up and traumatized, but he's not a crazy, homicidal maniac. The film is modeled on Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" right down to the voice-over and actual Bernard Herrmann music cues stolen directly from that film's soundtrack and the soundtrack of Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (also a Herrmann score). These bold copyright infringements probably explains why there has never been a totally legit DVD of this movie sold in the US; the version I have just procured from Alpha France boasts a high quality print/transfer I never thought I'd see. There is also an undeveloped subplot lifted from "Taxi Driver" referring to Gillis's affiliation with a political party.

Costello, certainly one of the most accomplished X-rated directors, uses music thoughtfully and wears his influences on his sleeve. It is also fascinating to hear musical cues that would later appear in the director's sensational "Hot Dreams", a film starring Sharon Mitchell, who appears in this pic's first sex scene as a hooker.

"Waterpower" concludes fairly abruptly and matter-of-factly and is short but sweet. The enema scenes featuring the expulsion of water are graphic and authentic; the enema sequences featured the expulsion of non-liquid body matter are clearly faked because the material being expelled is seen shooting out of the women from an area a couple of inches below the vagina, not above it.

This is certainly one of the better "roughies" and is far superior to "Sex Wish", "Hot Night in the City" and "Expensive Tastes". It is not, in my opinion, better than "Femmes De Sade", so it's like Xmas all over again to find "Femmes" sharing the same French DVD (in its original English) with "Waterpower".

The film's front and end credits are totally intact and the title is "Waterpower", not "The Enema Bandit" or variations thereof.

Shaun Costello certainly made a mark on the "roughie" genre in 1973 with his directorial debut - the shocking 'Forced Entry'. Four years later he made this film and while it may not be as well known or have had such an impact on the genre; it's still a thoroughly nasty little roughie and anyone looking for trash and sleaze will surely find it here! The film is memorable because it dares to take a route that other films (even most roughies) wouldn't take - that being the idea of forced enemas. Apparently the idea came from a true story...and surprisingly it actually works quite well. The backbone of the film is not too imaginative as all we have is the basic idea of a psycho going round cleaning up society...although here he does it by cleaning their colons rather than killing them. We focus on Burt; a weird guy who gets to watch an enema being performed on an unwilling recipient. It seems to have a big effect on him and he becomes obsessed with enemas and focuses his obsession on dirty women, who he gives a 'cleaning' to...

The film is clearly not meant to be taken completely seriously and this comes through best by way of the music score which is entirely inappropriate given how over the top it is, but it actually works quite well when mixed with the sleazy sex scenes - it gives the film a feel quite unlike most other genre entries. Of course, the main themes running throughout the film are sleazy and dirty and the film doesn't hold back at all; I have to admit that I wasn't really all that familiar with the idea of enemas before seeing this film (I think it's more of an American thing...), but I'm pretty clued up on exactly how the whole thing works now! The best thing about the film is undoubtedly the way that it mixes a thriller narrative with a plethora of hardcore sex scenes; it's not brilliant plotting but it works well and keeps the film interesting for the duration. The fact that it's very tongue in cheek does lessen the impact of some of the sleaze slightly; although this is still a film that is clearly not for all tastes. Hardcore sleaze fans only need apply, but said fans won't be disappointed!

Shaun Costello's WATER POWER, for worse his legacy given the decline in audience tastes, has a surprisingly serious patina for what is basically tongue-in- cheek gross-out porn. Many prominent filmmakers, not the least of which Jean- Luc Godard, make a habit of thumbing their nose or shooting a middle finger at the viewer and this is perhaps SC's ultimate raspberry.

For fans the casting of Jamie Gillis as the nut-case anti-hero, on a crusade to cleanse -literally - women of their vile humors with a trusty enema bag at the point of his gun (taking misogyny to unprecedented levels), would seem inevitable. His poor acting, sometimes beyond incompetent, sinks the project entirely for me - just as you have to concede bad jokes to become involved in any Costello undertaking, apparently the viewer has to accept the tautology of Gillis = pervert to make his character fly -no "acting" required.

This issue is in bold relief early in the film when in small roles Gloria Leonard, Marlene Willoughby and Eric Edwards, as a madam and her team of "water sports specialists" giving out enemas while play acting nurse and doctor, give outstanding and brief performances while Gillis can only stand around and watch.

The police procedural of a no-talent cop and his lady partner (C.J. Laing in sort of the Fay Wray XXX role) is listlessly directed en route to a mockery of the saved in the nick of time damsel-in-distress ending. For porn purposes, Laing must suffer a fate worse than death, making her being nominally saved from death-by- overfull-enema-bag an afterthought.

Costello has studied the classics of the (mainstream) perversion genre, if not the great Edward Dmytryk movie THE SNIPER, at least Powell's PEEPING TOM and the like, and does a workmanlike job of detailing Gillis's descent from mere voyeur with chip on shoulder (using a telescope to spy on a neighboring stewardess to whom he attaches like a stalker) to enema-fetishist on a maniacal crusade. Several "brownout" scenes of Gillis forcing women to "cleanse" with streams of brown liquid emitted in closeup from their posteriors to mix with his own ejaculatory semen in bathtub stagings are Costello's pieces de resistance, disgusting as intended. This is not remotely Eroticism, merely Shock Cinema.