Full Body Massage Blu Ray Review (Unearthed Films)

Full Body Massage is a 1995 television film directed by Nicolas Roeg (Don’t Look Now, Walkabout, The Witches, Cold Heaven, Eureka, and Performance). It was written by Dan Gurskis (The Stranger, Body Language, and The Substitute: Failure Is Not an Option). It premiered on Showtime Networks as one of their original features. Nina (played by: Mimi Rogers from Ginger Snaps, Gung Ho, Street Smart, Desperate Hours, The Doors, Tales from the Crypt, Austin Powers, and The X-Files) is a successful art dealer but let’s her work take most of her time. She depends on her normal sessions getting massaged to relieve her stress. She is shocked to find that her regular masseur has sent a substitute which happens to be Fitch (played by: Bryan Brown from Cocktail, Anyone but You, Gods of Egypt, Kill Me Three Times, Money Movers, F/X 1/2, Along came Polly, and Gorillas in the Mist). Fitch’s therapeutic caresses, while charged with sexual tension, gain emotional significance as the opinionated pair first clash originally. They start to bond while relaying thoughtful meditations on intimacy and human relationships. She is free to discuss her life, hopes and failures to him, Her interaction with her handy muse ends up being much different than expected!!!!

Full Body Massage is basically a two person movie. There’s a few other minor characters but they are all barely in this. It’s a very talky production so luckily the script is really good here. Yes, it does have a decent amount of nudity and some adult content but it doesn’t live up to it’s reputation. Lots of people would bring up the softcore or erotica sub-genres when this is mentioned but it’s honestly not even close to that. It’s tame compared to anything like that, it’s mainly a drama about two strangers getting to know each other. Both of the leads are great here and they have excellent chemistry in Full Body Massage. If you are a fan of Mimi Rogers then you are going to love this flick because she’s basically nude for most of the running time. She’s quality eye candy and she has a nice body when it comes to the visuals. She’s the best thing about this TV film. Bryan Brown has always been very consistent in every role that he’s done and this one is no different. This is definitely something you wouldn’t normally see from the actor. Like I said before, this is a visual conversation so don’t expect much more than that for Full Body Massage. It’s a simple concept with very few cast members and locations but it works. Director Nicolas Roeg flexes his talent with this type of production. Most filmmakers would come up flat and boring with something like this but Roeg doesn’t struggle at all. If you are fans of either Rogers or Brown then this feature is a must watch for you. Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Unearthed Films!

This 1080p (1.67:1) transfer looks so much better than I thought it would be especially for being an 90’s television film. Director Nicolas Roeg always had a nice when it came to his visuals for his work. It has an English: LPCM 2.0 track. Full Body Massage is not flashy or explosive type of movie when it comes to audio. That being said, everything still sounds solid here. All of the dialogue is elevated and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English and English SDH subtitles. The coolest extra on this disc is that Unearthed Films included the original TV version here. This (1.33:1) transfer is upscaled. Both subtitles mentioned above are available for this one too. It has an “Image Gallery” from the production. It has a “Trailer” for the movie. It comes with a slipcover. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!