The all-girl rock band the Vinyl Dolls has a problem: Artistic differences with their guitarist -- actually, the other band members cheesed her off when they told her she was self-indulgent -- have left the band without their best player right before they are to start a week of sold-out performances at a local rock club. Not only that, but a record promoter is interested in signing them to a major label. Lucky for them that Nola (Tiffany Shepis), an accomplished blues-rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, shows up for an audition; little does anyone know she's on the run from a violence-prone small-time drug dealing boyfriend. No matter, the band sounds better than ever, and the women have time to explore romantic interests in their off-hours, including Nola, who is wooed by a local deputy sheriff. But Nola's former boyfriend finds out where she is and decides to crash the Dolls' big concert. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Review
As far as erotic rock musical thrillers go, Vinyl Dolls is not a bad offering. Director Buddy Beale provides the requisite -- and copious -- steamy naked lovemaking scenes, but there's enough of an interesting story to hold things together. There's even a date scene that doesn't end up with sex, an unheard of prospect in a film released by Playboy. Tiffany Shepis, a veteran of the Troma troupe of low-budget indie oddities, is a fine actress and easily carries the movie, particularly in the performance scenes. Ambitious production values are betrayed by the low budget (the lighting in particular suffers as every scene seems eye-squintingly dark), but the Vinyl Dolls' attributes -- their musical ones, too -- are adequately showcased. Not great, but not offensively horrible either. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
