In a lot of ways, John Leslie could be
considered the Jess Franco of hardcore. Although Franco was no
stranger to adult films, having dabbled in it himself numerous times,
that's not what makes the two auteurs similar. Both were exhaustively
prolific directors, often churning out multiple films in one year and
like so many filmmakers of the auteurist type, both utilized their
regular troupe of actors, crew members and score composers. Most
importantly though, what really draws Leslie and Franco together is
the way both kept returning to the same type of material, always
putting a fresh spin on it with “parallel” films. Franco was
particularly adept at making films with storylines that were nearly
incidental to films he'd made prior without the new films being
sequels. Leslie was very much the same way with many films from his
1988 to 1995 hot streak exploring many of the same ideas such as the
loose trilogy of Mad Love (1989), Laying the Ghost (1991) and Fresh
Meat: A Ghost Story (1995) all putting an XXX twist on new homeowners
encountering supernatural entities whereas the The Catwoman (1988) and Curse of the Catwoman (1991) center on women discovering their
inner feline, metaphorically and literally. Two of Leslie's most
bizarrely plotted films, The Chameleon and its companion film
Chameleons follow in the same mold, with the later being one of
Leslie's finest works all around.
One of Leslie's most outlandish
concepts, at the heart of The Chameleon is the love between Diana
(Tori Welles) and Marc (Tom Byron), a couple who's relationship has
become strained due to Diana's ability to inexplicably morph into the
body of anyone she desires, affording her the luxury of endless
sexual partners, much to the chagrin of Marc. Like so many of
Leslie's features from this period, the one word that best describes
The Chameleon is “clever”. For starters, the main concept is
ingenious for an adult film in that it gives way to featuring several
different performers in various sex scenes while continuing to tell a
story. What's more though, the idea of being a “chameleon” gives
way to many a metaphor which Leslie ponders on quite a bit. While
it's made very clear early on that Dianna does have to ability to
literally shape-shift into other people, her desire to become someone
else is much more than just out of a purely sexual need as despite
the confidence Welles radiates throughout the film, Diana is also
filled with self-doubt and loathing and Leslie even peppers the film
with scenes of Dianna speaking to a therapist. Leslie is also heavily
invested in the dynamics of Dianna and Marc's relationship and it's
sure to surprise many just how invested the film is in presenting
their relationship, the terrific performances from Welles and Byron
easily selling that aspect of the film with everything building to a
mind-warping surprise at the end of the film.
Leslie would return to the world of
chameleons in 1992 with Chameleons (awkwardly subtitled “Not the
Sequel”), this time focusing on a chameleon couple, Claudine
(Deidre Holland) and Reynaldo (Rocco Siffredi) who's life is turned
upside down after an encounter between Claudine and Casey (Ashlyn
Gere) at a swingers club which leads Casey to crave the chameleon
experience no matter the cost. A crown jewel in Leslie's filmography,
Chameleons greatly expands upon the chameleon mythology established
in the earlier film, adding the caveat of the life being drained out
of the person who's identity is being assumed. A much more intimate
and insular film than the original Chameleon, dealing with a handful
of central characters taking place in limited settings, there is a
strange claustrophobic and almost sickly atmosphere to the film with
the already berserk plot featuring almost zero skepticism from any of
the characters regarding their situations, but also with Leslie
giving no clear indication as to who is supposed to be a “good”
or “bad” character. Most of the characters are presented as
looking out for only themselves, with the second half of the film
becoming a series of head games between Gere and Holland with both
constantly switching the roles of potential villain. The cleverness
of the first film is multiplied tenfold with the storyline taking
some wonderfully sly directions, a benefit of the small cast, and
just like the first Chameleon, the film builds to a brilliantly
bewildering final twist that trumps the finale of the original film.
Both films feature typically excellent
scores from Bill Heid, Leslie's right hand man for music during this
period, the soundtrack for the first Chameleon being one of Heid's
very best for Leslie done in Heid's signature jazz style with a touch
of lounge. Chameleons was the third collaboration between Leslie and
Ashlyn Gere who had previously appeared in Leslie's excellent The
Tease (1990) and later in Bad (1992). Excellent as the entire cast of
Chameleons is, with Siffredi and Holland doing some of their finest
work, all ultimately end up in the shadow of the force of nature that
is Gere who owns the entire film with her forceful performance and
imposing presence. It's also interesting to see Siffredi in a role
that required quite a bit of sensitivity considering some of the
things he would become known for later in his career. Siffredi was
also becoming a Leslie regular around this time having already
appeared in Curse of the Catwoman (1991) and would feature again in
Leslie's fourth wall breaking The Rehearsal (1993). Chameleons is
also notable for having been one of three Leslie features lensed on
35mm film which was becoming more of a rarity for adult films during
this era, though it's a distinction the film deserves as it along
with the first Chameleon feature, like so many of Leslie titles,
represent adult filmmaking at its most original and unique.
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