For Lemon Popsicle Part 7 – Young Love, the series had a new Austrian director Walter Bannert, and with the exception of the actors and the producers Golan and Globus signing on as only executives, there was no involvement from the original crew.

Following from the mess of a production Up Your Anchor, the makers attempted to revive the flagging series. Sadly this was not the case and the director and writer seemed to have little knowledge of the films, and as such the script was very hazy with discrepancies, which sometimes had no relevance to other storylines in the series.

Set at a Beachfront Hotel, the guys were back for the seventh time, and even Jonathan Sagall was persuaded to return for this sequel following his argument with Golan & Globus before the previous production even began. Sonja Martin also returned to the Popsicle movies and was the only actress to play a leading Popsicle girl twice but as two different characters.

Model Sissi Pitz was cast in her first film role after being discovered by the producers. She had no formal acting training before being cast and was sent to an acting school in Athens where she was coached for 14 days to prepare for her role in the movie. Sissi reflects “At first I said no as I didn’t want to be an actress but I said Ok, lets try it!”.

Director Bannert succeeded in giving the films a more european feel and different tone to the rest of the series, with a story played purely for laughs, and featuring far more nudity than previous Popsicle films. Walter Bannert noted “many people working in the German-speaking Film industry, the question that posed itself most frequently was: why are we not able to create something like this in Austria and Germany?”

The film had strayed away from it’s early Israeli roots and by this time had become little more than soft core porn. Rather than being influenced by previous Popsicle films, the makers of part seven instead borrowed heavily from other Cannon and Davidson productions Hot Chili and Hot Resort, who had previously in turn copied the Popsicle movies. Going full circle, originality was not the priority here.

After ten years of making Popsicle movies, the fun had long gone for those involved, and now became just a way of making quick money. Audiences and the stars had grown tired and Young Love didn’t enjoy as much international exposure. Unlike previous Popsicle movies that packed cinemas around the world, Young Love was primarily a straight to video release, and didn’t even hit British shores at all. It was obvious that the films were fast dying, and it seemed uncertain if the long running series of movies would die at the completion of part seven.