Praised by Andy Warhol and panned by Roger Ebert, Radley Metzger’s “The Lickerish Quartet” is a unique piece of erotica by today’s standards.

The year was 1970, and the golden age of pornography was just dawning. The iconic “Deep Throat” was still two years away, and pornographic filmmaking was asserting itself among the avant-garde.

Here’s the thing about the avant-garde. Sometimes, it can be a little precocious. And that’s exactly how “The Lickerish Quartet” comes off. 

The film follows one sexually dysfunctional, but opulently wealthy family living in an Italian castle. Husband, wife, and, brace yourself, son, watch stag films together. Something that is clearly non-consensual based on the son’s fervent objections.

They attend a carnival and notice a woman (Silvana Venturelli) who looks exactly like one of the actresses in the sex-flick. Daddy (Frank Wolff) just can’t leave it alone, and invites the young carnie over with the express purpose of showing the film in front of her.

Think about that in modern context. You see a person who bears a striking resemblance to a pornstar. You invite them over, pretend you don’t know who they are, and nonchalantly play one of their pornos for them with your wife and son. Nope, not creepy at all.

Here’s where it gets weirder. Their son (Paolo Turco) has an existential breakdown, puts on a magic show, and then somehow the stag film is changed to hide the girl’s face. After some maniacal laughter, the visitor agrees to stay the night.

First thing in the morning, she wakes up and seduces each family member by awakening their hidden desires and exposing their personal secrets. That part is pretty interesting, and yields a lot of character development. She’s something of a sexual vampire, or maybe a sexual therapist, it’s hard to say.

She vanishes like a ghost at the end of the night and our characters are sucked into a stag film that the original stag film actors are watching. Are you following this? No wonder Roger Ebert found the plot to be convoluted.

“The Lickerish Quartet” is beautifully filmed. It’s clear that Metzger and Stanley Kubrick were thinking along the same lines at the time. You’ve got lingering shots and still frames that could serve as Italian castle-themed postcards. 

As a pornographic film, it’s pretty quaint by modern standards. There is a total of three sex scenes, not counting the ever present stag film reel that our characters obsess over. All of the sex acts are simulated and feel tamer than what you might see on an episode of “GLOW” or “Game of Thrones”.

While the plot is hard to follow, Metzger makes a statement about 1970’s attitudes towards pornography and sexuality. You’ve got three archetypes, all of which are uncomfortable with their own sexuality in one way or another. There’s an older man who feels discarded by his wife’s disinterest. A child, scarred by early exposure to sexuality and certainly some abuse. And there’s a woman who cites sex as a source of discomfort, an allusion to her non-hetero tendencies--quite the statement for 1970.

It’s one of those artsy ‘70s films that doesn’t seem so great on first viewing, but will carve out a niche in your thoughts for days to come. While Andy Warhol called it “an outrageously kinky masterpiece,” I find myself dazzled by the filmmaking, but lost in Metzger’s attempt at deep storytelling. 

You can watch “The Lickerish Quartet” on demand at PinkLabel.tv.