Naked Came the Stranger – Mélusine (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1975
Director: Radley Metzger (as "Henry Paris")
Writer: Radley Metzger (as "Jake Barnes")
Cast: Darby Lloyd Rains, Levi Richards, Mary Stuart, Alan Marlow, Christina Hutton, Kevin Andre, Helen Madigan, Ronda Fuller, Rita Davis, Steve Anthony, Alfie Holliday, Tom Dane, David Savage, John Buco, Gerald Grant, Marc Stevens

Release Date: May 27th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 83 Minutes 23 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $52.98

"Billy and Gilly host New York’s most provocative and successful morning talk show. But their lascivious on-the-air personas are masking a far less than voracious home-sex life. Everything comes to a head when Gilly discovers that her seemingly faithful husband is carrying on with his “Love Bunny” Phyllis. At first hurt by his infidelity, Gilly quickly decides that she too ought to expand her sexual horizons and, with that in mind, begins an over-the-top game of seduction as she beds each of her and Billy’s high society friends." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned and restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative."

Naked Came the Stranger comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.6 GB

Feature: 60.8 GB

Naked Came the Stranger was shot on super 16mm and blown up to 35mm for theatrical exhibition. The source looks excellent; any debris is minor. An example of source debris can be seen in screenshot #7. Flesh tones look healthy, color saturation, image clarity, black levels, contrast, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Naked Came the Stranger comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.7 GB

Feature: 24.1 GB (Hardcore Version), 19.8 GB (Softcore Version)

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds excellent, better than it ever has. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise the score and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an archival image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (stills/posters/advertisements/archival reviews), 4 radio spots (1 minute 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an alternate softcore version of Naked Came the Stranger (84 minutes 10 seconds, 1.66:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono English with removable English SDH), and an archival audio commentary with director Radley Metzger, moderated by Ashley West of The Rialto Report.

Other extras include reversible cover art (inside cover art features four original posters), a gold foil magnet clasp slipcase + slipcover set (limited to 4,000 units), and a 48-page booklet with liner notes titled Naked Came the Stranger written by Ashley West.

Summary:

Billy and Gilly, a husband-and-wife radio duo, host a hugely popular radio sex talk show. Their marriage, on the surface, appears to be perfect, while underneath the duo are having affairs. How long will it take before their affairs disrupt their on-air chemistry?

When I first saw Naked Came the Stranger, I was not that impressed with it. And to be fair, I did not watch the film in the most ideal of ways. The version I watched was missing almost eleven minutes of film (which amounts to 1/8 of its intended running time). You can see the film in all its glory thanks to this new release from Distribpix.

Newsweek journalists, working under the pseudonym Penelope Ashe, wrote the novel "Naked Came the Stranger" in the late 1960s. Radley Metzger, for his follow-up to The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, decided to go a completely different route with his second hardcore film. Naked Came the Stranger is a film that relies heavily on the style of comedy known as screwball, which was most popular during the depression era.

Though I am a huge fan of the screwball style of comedy, I was initially not impressed with how it's used in Naked Came the Stranger. Upon subsequent viewings of Naked Came the Stranger, the comedic set pieces finally connected with me. Two of the more notable moments of humor include the many times in which Billy and his secretary rush off into town at the end of each radio session and meet up for a sexual rendezvous. The other moment that stands out is when the film’s main protagonist, Gilly, dances in an empty pool while dressed in a tuxedo.

Besides the aforementioned comedic flourishes, another area where Naked Came the Stranger holds up really well is its stylish cinematography, notably a black & white sequence that pays tribute to silent films. Also, the music always plays an important part in every Henry Paris film, and the score for Naked Came the Stranger does a superb job reinforcing the mood.

All around, the acting is outstanding, especially Darby Lloyd Rains, who portrays Gilly. Her comedic timing and onscreen chemistry with Levi Richards are Naked Came the Stranger’s greatest assets. That said, though none of the other cast stand out, their performances suit the story that unfolds.

Radley Metzger’s growth from each hardcore film is remarkable, especially when you factor in that he never repeated himself. Though his early forays into hardcore lack the heat of his later films, he still manages to craft some scenes that are better than most of his peers. Some notable moments include a scene with Gilly and sex toys and another scene where Gilly performs fellatio on a two-tier bus.

Once again, Radley Metzger puts together a narrative that finds a perfect balance between exposition and sex scenes. The two protagonists and her husband's infidelities are the narrative's driving force. Besides humor, screwball comedy's influence can be felt in Naked Came the Stranger’s pacing. Ultimately, Naked Came the Stranger is an exemplary example of adult cinema’s golden age.

Mélusine gives Naked Came the Stranger a definitive release, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer