F**K - A Musical

At the height of Porno-Chic, when uptown couples got down with the Grindhouse crowd and watching full strength Hardcore sex in a public cinema became briefly fashionable, Hal Manciano produced what some critics call his best work, the XXX rated "Song 'n' Dance Sextacular" F**K: A Musical.

Taking the blueprint from his previous counterculture music picture Up! Down! In! Out!, the director created a full strength Porno-Epic with songs so catchy there were calls to nominate the film for an Oscar. Such requests were quickly quashed by the awards voters however, after a private screening for guild members revealed the vast amounts of Troilism, Frottage, Water Sports, Scissoring and Teabagging contained in the movies 74 minutes of screen time.

F**K was Hal's most lavish, expensive production and, at the time, the most costly adult picture ever made (although it was eventually surpassed by the 1980 production Kramer Vs Kramer Vs John Holmes). The last thing the filmmaker needed was a ban but that's what he got, leading to massive losses at the box office as he lost obscenity case after obscenity case.

Luckily for the wayward producer, he signed a deal with the skin magazine Lube who agreed to screen the picture through it's network of Adult sin palaces. Soon, the movie was doing great guns throughout the states where it ran for 17 years in San Francisco.

F**K stars Broadway leading man and Numerology student Clasp Hendricks (Boss Lady 2 / Crisp Sheets, Bad Habits / The Templer Knights of Kentucky) as Adult Entertainer Rick Hammer, a stud with a heart of gold. Rick is trying to make his way in the porno business while avoiding the various potholes along the way.




Clara Van Halen (Naked Finishing School / Boat Ride to Bedlum / Grip of the Yeti Boy) is Pixie Goodmouth, a sassy lifer who earn a living on her back and makes no apologies for it. Together, they take on the world of adult entertainment, bringing down the sharks, making the money and delivering simultaneous orgasms on cue.

Banned outright in the UK to this day, F**K is a heady product of it's time, from the wood panelled, pot plant heavy interiors to the polyester jumpsuits and wayward pubic topiary of the women. With no discernable plot after the initial set up, the film drifts in a woozy, sweaty manner between song 'n' dance numbers and fevered, hammer and tongs sex scenes, leaving the viewer numbed into submission.



Released in a number of different versions over the years, including a pointless Soft edit and a fascinating Japanese Dub in which all the songs were re-recorded for the Land of the Rising Sun, getting to see an uncut version is one the holy grails of cult movie collecting. It's worth seeking out though, if only to see the magical erotic Busby Berkeley tribute "I Want Some Head".

Manciano himself had a ball on set and this is one of the few films he made were no one was killed during production (although seasoned porn industry 'Stunt-Cock' Brick Docker needed penile realignment surgery after the film wrapped). The director was always happiest surrounded by the naked and the desperate and his only complaint was about the people of the Pasedena, where the majority of the film was shot, who he described as "Nothing but a bunch of Low Rent Motherf**kers!".


Clasp Hendricks - Selected Filmography

1968 The Pink Draft Dodger

1969 My Brother The Horse

1969 The Templer Knights of Kentucky

1970 Shotgun Wedding

1971 F**K: A Musical

1972 The Secret Sex Life of a Human Cannonball

1974 Crisp Sheets, Bad Habits

1975 The Erotic Adventures of Martin Luther

1975 Jesus Christ: States Attorney

1976 Dr. Moonshine - Kentucky MD

1977 Flaming Youth

1978 Randolf, the World's Smartest Dog

1978 Henry the VIII's Seventh Wife

1978 The Columbian Package

1979 Space Junkies from the Outer Rim

1980 Space Junkies 2: Battle Beyond Sense

1982 Boss Lady 2

1983 Crypt of the Ice Bats

1983 Jerk Off Academy

1983 Jerk Off Academy 3: Thrust Patrol

1984 Night of the Sex Virus

1985 Mudfish and a Bear Called 'Hoss

1985 Blue Nights in Tuledo

1986 Blood Wish of the Night Crawlers*


* Clasp retired from film work in 1986 to concentrate on spiritual matters.