Too Hot to Handle, Bikini Clad Assassin

In 1972 Don Schain directed the sultry Cheri Caffaro in one of the greatest sexploitation films of all time, The Abductors . In that film, cheerleaders and models were violently abducted, raped, and sold into white slavery. In 1977, the above duo gave us "Too Hot to Handle." Would it be as sleazy and fun as the "The Abductor." ? Instead of being filmed in New Jersey, this one is filmed in Manila and has a more exotic and Bond-like feel to it. The nudity is gratuitous and much of the plot is revealed while Ms. Caffaro is  in the throes of pre-marital sex.

Samantha Fox (Caffaro) is a bleached blonde assassin. She has been contracted to knock off five of Manila's top crime-lords. Her first hit is a schmuck named Portman. After securing an invite to his mansion, she arrives wearing black leather and the two of them immediately start playing with a whip. BDSM will rule the scene and Samantha will murder him as he is naked and in bondage. Now you get the picture. Uh oh for our hot assassin, Detective Domingo de la Torres (Aharon Ipale) is on the case, and he is The Philippines version of Lt. Columbo...except he is pretty hot himself. He immediately is onto Samantha as a suspect.

More crime-lords are murdered and nudity, sex, and hot tubs figure prominently in these killings. Using the direct approach Domingo approaches Samantha and a cat-and-mouse game is on. Domingo is very direct and him and Samantha have a passionate lust for each other. The two will have lots of pre-marital sex and Samantha will have to be careful to remain a step ahead of her new lover. Sex has everything to do with Samantha's killings and with one victim, she will have to come on to a middle-aged lesbian. As crime-lords fall, Domingo gets closer, but Samantha may have a few lethal surprises for her hunk lover/pursuer.

Will Samantha allow Domingo to gather enough proof or will she be forced to off the good detective? Is the BDSM, lesbian, and passionate heterosexual sex, rampant in this film, a good metaphor for the current behavior of our elected officials? Wild and total sexploitation from the 1970s...what more do you want?  For some prurient fun and frivolous entertainment, see "Too Hot to Handle" (aka "She's Too Hot to Handle").