The Bulldance, Weird Pagan Rituals and Nubile Gymnasts

Weird, quirky, and not for everyone. There is a lot of reasons not to enjoy this film. Knowing this, the movie-makers added a couple of dozen nubile gymnasts who like pre-marital sex with rock bands and any other hunk who comes their way. Throw in a bull and one sultry gymnast's attraction to it and maybe 1988's "The Bulldance" garners some appeal.

Francine (Lauren Hutton) and husband Charles (Cliff De Young) run an exclusive gymnastics school on Crete. American beauties go there to train for the Olympics. As the film begins, Paula (Samantha Mathis) arrives. She'll train with the other gals but won't have a chance for pre-marital sex with coach Jack (Robert Beltran). Paula will be brutally raped. Oh yeah...Jack. This hunk coach has sex with the gals, usually the reform-school girl Jane (Viveka Davis). Jane lit her stepfather on fire and was saved from reform school by Francine and Charles...bad idea. Who raped Paula? The gals think utility-man Ulysis (Svetislav Goncic) did. With a tip of the hat to an ancient pagan rite, the gals have a bull mask made, perform a weird dance ritual, and conduct a sacrificial rite on Ulysis.

Okay...you're confused. I should say the nubile gymnasts are quite attractive, jump around a lot, and have pre-marital sex with rock bands and Jack. Uh oh...so does Francine. Uh oh again, Jane, the homicidal pyromaniac, gets jealous when she learns Francine is also going to town on Jack. Uh oh again, Ulysis didn't rape Paula...again begging the question...who did? As Francine keeps sneaking away from Charles for the purpose of extra-marital sex with Jack...and Jane keeps sneaking away from her dorm with the purpose of pre-marital sex with Jack...a vicious and weird ending appears to be developing.

As our gymnasts continue their gratuitous training and as sexual hanky-panky increases, everyone awaits Paula to regain conscious so she can identify her rapist. Who did rape Paula, and why? Will Jane and Francine engage in a bloody and gratuitous cat-fight? How will the gigantic bull factor into the ending of this sexually charged thriller? Weird and perhaps more than suggestively deviant, "The Bulldance" (aka "Forbidden Sun," and "Bull Dance"), directed by Zelda Barron, is a refreshing film to watch in the age of sequels and super-hero garbage.