Given that film’s lousy reputation, “from the director of Caligula” seems like a strange way to advertise 1992’s All Ladies Do It. I guess those behind this release hoped the notoriety of Caligula would attract some eyeballs.

Five years into her marriage to Paolo (Paolo Lanza), Diana (Claudia Koll) starts to feel like she needs more than he can provide sexually. She enjoys desires that she seems unable to attain within a monogamous situation.

As such, Diana finds herself drawn to adultery. Despite the inherent negatives involved, Diana throws herself into erotic escapades because she believes these indulgences will save her marriage.

All of that sounds like a framework for a nearly plot-free series of sex scenes, doesn’t it? And Ladies delivers exactly what I anticipated, as it exists mainly to provide a high-class form of porn.

Films in which a young woman goes through a series of partners already enjoyed a pretty long history when Ladies hit in 1992. Indeed, Seinfeld alluded to the genre in “The Movie”, an episode shot late 1992 that introduced the existence of Rochelle, Rochelle, a made-up flick about “a young woman’s strange erotic journey from Milan to Minsk”.

In Ladies, Diana goes on no long-haul travels but the film otherwise fits the format well. Although the “story” intends to depicts Diana’s changes and growth, it all really does feel like little more than an excuse to create at “artsy” version of a porn flick.

Ladies definitely offers much more explicit fare than we’d expect from mainstream movies – at least here in the US. The film launches with full-frontal nudity and offers genital close-ups I’d never expect from a film intended for a market beyond the XXX market.

Do I mind the ample footage of sexy Claudia Koll nude? I do not.

Do I find Ladies to offer a compelling tale beyond those shots of Koll sans clothes? I do not.

In theory, Ladies depicts Diana’s self-discovery, but that concept gives the storytelling far too much credit. She comes across as a horny young woman at the start and this never changes.

Indeed, my synopsis probably overstates the nature of the film’s character elements. The film hints at the themes of marital dissatisfaction more than anything else.

As a result, Ladies uses this vague concept as the framework around which it builds Diana’s sexual adventures. In theory, this creates a narrative journey, but in reality, it seems like nothing more than flimsy context.

All of this leads me back to my feeling that Ladies exists as a porn movie and nothing more. Sure, it gives us a porn movie with far better than average production values, and those add a professional sheen that allows the viewer to pretend it tells an actual story.

But honestly, we get no more depth here than from the average cheesy porn video of the era. The “plot” barely exists and characters never truly develop.

This leaves us with an art house porn movie but it remains a porn movie nonetheless. As an attempt at a real story, Ladies completely flops.

All Ladies Do It appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Though a little erratic at times, the image usually worked fine.

For the most part, the movie exhibited positive delineation. While not consistently sharp, we didn’t find prominent softness, so the end result seemed a bit “off” but still reasonably accurate.

I noticed no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain seemed natural, and outside of a few spots/marks during the opening credits, print flaws failed to mar the proceedings.

Colors seemed adequate but not great. Still, the film’s natural palette boasted reasonable clarity and range, and HDR added emphasis to the tones.

Blacks seemed fairly deep and dense, while shadows appeared concise. HDR brought oomph to whites and contrast. I thought the image seemed a bit more dated than I’d expect from a 1992 release but it still satisfied most of the time.

This release came with two separate Italian soundtracks: one DTS-HD MA stereo and another DTS-HD MA monaural. IMDB claims that the film’s original release came with the mono mix, but I checked out both to be thorough.

Of the two, the monaural track easily fared best. As with so many Italian flicks, it came with looped dialogue, but speech seemed pretty natural nonetheless – much better than usual for these affairs.

Effects lacked much to do, but those elements seemed fairly accurate, if less than bold. Music appeared a bit on the flat side, though, as the score failed to bring much range.

Dolby 5.1 debuted in theaters late in 1991, so mono was far out of fashion by 1992. A movie from this era should at least offer stereo surround, and that meant a monaural track by definition needed to get a below average grade.

As noted, I couldn’t firmly establish which mix accompanied Ladies in 1992, and that left open the door to the notion that the included DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio equalled the theatrical mix. If so, the movie’s sound designers needed to be fired.

Despite the stereo tag, this mix felt like broad mono at best. When information spread to the sides, it did so in a mushy and ill-defined manner.

In addition to the spotty “stereo” imaging, the 2.0 mix’s quality seemed inferior to that of the mono track. Actually, music and effects came across about the same, but speech suffered.

During the mono mix, the lines seemed fairly natural, but alongside the stereo version, dialogue appeared more canned and artificial. I can see no reason to bother with this lousy mix.

Note that the disc also came with mono and stereo English dubs. I sampled them and quickly bailed due to the terrible acting that these tracks brought.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the film’s Blu-ray version? Both came with identical audio options.

As for visuals, the 4K showed some improvements in terms of delineation, colors and blacks. However, the nature of the source restricted growth, so while the 4K became the preferred version, it didn’t blow away the BD.

On the 4K disc, we find an audio commentary from film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth. Both sit together for this running look at the work of director Tinto Brass as well as notes about other cast/crew and their thoughts on the film.

You’ll note the absence of a reference to this as a screen-specific piece. Ercolani and Howarth do occasionally touch on the footage we see as the movie progresses, but the vast majority of the track offers much more of an audio essay.

Which works fine, as the pair goes over the topics in an engaging manner. We don’t learn a ton about the production of Ladies but the commentary nonetheless gives us a good collection of notes.

The 4K also presents a selection of Tinto Brass Trailers. In addition to the promo for Ladies, we find ads for Frivolous Lola, Paprika, PO Box Tinto Brass and Istintobrass.

Everything else appears on the included Blu-ray Disc, and from 2001, we get an Interview with Writer/Director Tinto Brass. This fills 15 minutes, 19 seconds.

Brass discusses the movie’s origins as well as cast and crew and some production elements. Brass offers a reasonably informative chat.

A collection of Outtakes fill a total of nine minutes, 57 seconds. Mostly we get more sexual material and filler, so don’t expect anything that adds to the film’s flimsy “story”.

Note that these come from a prior DVD and some of them now appear as part of this disc’s “Uncut and Uncensored Director’s Cut”.

A Still Photo Gallery offers 25 shots, most of which stem from the movie, though we get some publicity elements as well. These don’t stand out as memorable, even if we find some nudity.

The set also includes a booklet that provides photos, ads, and an essay from Ercolani and Domenico Monetti. It finishes the package on a positive note.

Exclusive to this 4K set, we find four reproduction lobby cards.

If one expects anything more than a high-class porn flick from All Ladies Do It, one will encounter nothing but disappointment. Even with ample – and graphic – female nudity, the film becomes a slow, plot-free journey to nowhere. The 4K UHD comes with fairly positive visuals, mediocre audio and a small mix of bonus materials. Even plenty of attractive naked women can’t save this dud.

To rate this film visit the Blu-ray review of ALL LADIES DO IT