The film “The Sexplorer” (also known as “The Girl from Starship Venus” and “Diary of a Space Virgin”) is a sci-fi soft porn comedy released in 1975 that incorporates extraterrestrial visitation, romance, and humor.
Directed by Derek Ford, it takes a lighthearted approach to science fiction while exploring themes of love, sexuality, and human connection.
The plot follows a mysterious female character called “The Explorer,” portrayed by Monika Ringwald, who hails from Venus as an extraterrestrial. She lands on Earth in a tiny spaceship and finds herself in the “seedy” district of Soho in London. The story unfolds through loosely connected scenes that depict how “The Explorer” explores opportunities for conducting “sex research” on Earth.
One interesting aspect of this movie is that the leading actress, Monika Ringwald, has few lines. Instead, a male voice instructs her off-camera on what to do, and she communicates telepathically, presumably back to Venus. The few lines she does say are innocent and childlike, which is used to exploit her character in certain scenes.
The film begins with “The Sexplorer” wandering aimlessly around a shady massage parlor naked, where she witnesses some questionable activities. She is eventually caught by the staff, where it is presumed that all her belongings have been stolen, but she doesn’t say anything. The staff are oddly kind and offer her some clothes. Once dressed, she walks London streets and telepathically communicates with Venus.
This leads her to an adult cinema. While there, she engages with a patron strangely, which causes her to be abruptly asked to leave. She wanders the streets once again until she stumbles upon a laundromat. Inside, she meets a homeless woman named Ethel, who introduces her to a man named Allan, portrayed by Andrew Grant. Allan allows her to stay at his flat for the night, but she decides to be “de-mattered,” and time slips back to daylight.
This leads to a series of transitional scenes, such as her sitting in a back of a limousine observing a couple (very odd), and then to a wedding, in generally awkward situations. At the wedding, she makes conversation with a man saying she wants to watch the couple on their honeymoon. He thinks she is joking and suggests she ask the bride. She does, and it prompts a violent reaction from the bride’s mother involving daffodils. The man quickly removes her and takes her to, of all places, a strip club. Here, we discover that alcohol has a regrettable effect on her. She suddenly is wearing blackface and has an afro. The intent is innocent but clearly offensive, even by 1970s standards.
The film transitions to a scene within a sea of balloons where she engages with the guest from the wedding that took her to a strip club. It’s here we discover she has electric powers upon becoming excited. We venture through a few more vignettes, such as a photo shoot and getting herself arrested and held in a police cell. Allan shows up to bail her out, as his address was the only address she knew. They return to his flat, where the powers at be on Venus decide to turn off her surveying powers. It fails as she is now “turned on” and genuinely has feelings for Allan and chooses to ignore all future commands from Venus.
“The Sexplorer” offers a blend of comedic situations and slapstick-acted sequences with over-the-top dialogue. It borderlines soft porn and tries to use a string of erotic encounters to tell a deeper story with deeper meaning.
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