Heart Of Darkness Directed by Paul Thomas (2003). Randy Spears is in lead role hear as Johnny who has a extremely high sex addiction and is constantly frequenting hookers.At the beginning of Heart Darkness Sunrise Adams(Silvie,in her Vivid debut)enters a bar and the first thing said is by the bartender you're late,she sees Johnny sitting at a table and goes right over to him which eventually leads up to the two of them having a sexual encounter.Afterwards Silvie gets all demanding of Johnny and when he doesn't give into to Silvie's demands she goes all ballistic which leads to her being removed from bar.The police get called in and question Johnny outside bar and he tells the policeman that Silvie has been fired.The policeman suggest to Johnny that he might want to consider getting a restraining order after all Johnny does own the bar. After this incident Johnny goes and sees what appears to be a Dominatrix by the name of Marsha (Dru Berrymore)who owns her own studio and is like shrink to Johnny as well as his best friend he confides everything to her.Johnny tells Marsha this will be his last visit his wife is having a baby.Marsha looking on in disbelief offers Johnny her pussy which he gladly goes down. Shortly after words Johnny solicits a prostitute (Nakita Kash) and they drive off get a room Nikita has a friend in the room (Sophie Evans).Nakita and Sophie are on a bed getting it on while Johnny is sitting in a chair masturbating.This session is interrupted by the police I guess nothing materialises because shortly after words Johnny is with yet another prostitute getting his dick sucked.This session gets interrupted once again by the police fortunately for Johnny he gets his pants zipped up in time and avoids getting arrested. Johnny is back at home and at 4 am and places a call to a phone sex operator.His wife (Ava Vincent) wants to know who he's on the phone with?Johnny tell his wife it's business and then tells the phone sex operator that he has to go and her check will be in the mail.Johnny then goes and fucks his wife and gets extremely upset with her when she talks like a dirty whore. Johnny is now back at work he is outside in the parking and is approached by Silvie who desperately needs a job she is married to a low life (Rafe) who makes a living begging for change while in wheelchair making people believe he is handicapped.Johnny tells Silvia to get back in her van drive off and never come back. Shortly afterwards Johnny's life comes crashing down on him when his bar gets raided by the police. Heart of Darkness is Paul Thomas at his best. Randy Spears,when he is in a film you know it's going to have great acting and he's an excellent sexual performer as well. Sunrise Adams,Heart Of Darkness made me a true fan of hers. Dru Berrymore,I loved Johnny's encounters with Marsha I just love seeing a finely dressed lass perform while in high heel,stockings held up by garters and a corset.Also she had some great lines. My favorite films of Paul Thomas. 1. The New Devil In Miss Jones 2. Awakening 3. Heart Of Darkness 4. Bad Wives 5. Nothing To Hide Pt 2 (CalVista/Metro) 6. The Masseuse 7. Bobby Sox 8. Borderline 9. Bad Wives Pt 2 (When this film was released AVN had a rating system 1 thru 10 and they had guest reviewers from time to time. This film reviewed by Max Hardcore who said this the kind of movie he wanted to make when he got into directing and gave it a 10) 10.The Masseuse Pt 3 (Now I bought my version on VHS at an adult book store in Hollyweird,Ca it was on sale and heavily butchered Jamie Gillis (R.I.P.)was in the cast and never seen his voice was heard though.I bought this film because of my love for Melissa Hill and it was one of the few films with Tia Bella) 11.The Zone 12.Blow Dry 13.The Masseuse Pt 2 (Another one I bought sale and the strap on scene with Ashlyn Gere and Karl Radford was removed) Films of Paul Thomas I want to see. Heaven's Revenge (Because of my love of Melissa Hill) Devil In Miss Jones:The Resurrection Pervert The Mobsters Wife
Borderline,was a 90's Paul Thomas film. It was about a married couple (Celeste and Steven St.Croix) that was having problems with their marriage they both liked to fool around neither one was faithful.Celeste goes down to Mexico to get away from Steven.It's been years since I've seen this film.It did receive Hustler's Highest Rating which at the time still meant something.Tabitha,who was on my dayshift while I was employed at a Los Angeles club when I mentioned this film to her it caught her by surprise then she remembered how much she loved her girl/girl scene with Alicia Rio. John,you should really like Heart Of Darkness. When I first purchased Heart Of Darkness I watched it twice in a row I thought it was that good and it made up for the total disappointment of Fade To Black which I purchased at the exact time.Fade To Black with all of it's awards to me it was just a major let down and an average film at best.
ahhh yes I remember the 90's Vivid movies fondly. Just got done watching Love & Marriage from Digital Playground. Got this one because if was their first "combo pack" movie (Blu-Ray and DVD for one price), so I was not expecting much. I have known Kayden could act for a while now but here she was so spot on perfect it was amazing. She was playing a wife in a "perfect" marriage who enters therapy because she can't figure out why she is not happy. The dialogue between her and the therapist (Manuel Ferraro) is fantastic. They do not dumb it down for the porn audience. There are a few hick-ups along the way but I didn't mind as the majority of it flowed so well. I have never really thought of Manuel or Scott Nails as "actors". They both do great sex, but their acting has never impressed me. Here, they impressed me. Manuel especially. The music did a good job trying to compliment the movie but went over the top on a few occasions. Beware the final scene, the lighting was not always perfect, which is unusual for Robby. And finally while I love the script I must say one thing (without giving too much away), you took the easy way out which was kind of a let down considering how strong your script had been up till that point. That does not diminish the fact that this movie is one of the reasons I like adult so much. Those interesting little gems that rise above the standard. It may not have a big budget but it has big dreams, and that, sometimes, is enough. Edited by - Michael Saint on 12/23/2010 7:14:31 PM Edited by - Michael Saint on 12/24/2010 7:47:21 AM
I've seen BORDERLINE a bunch over the years; Celeste and Steve ditch their spouses and head to Mexico where Celeste falls under the spell of an over sexed little town with Tony Montana being the head seducer of sorts. Celeste and/or Steve tend to watch the sexual stuff even if they don't directly participate. There's a wild exterior nighttime orgy for the finale. Yep, I would love to see a cleaned-up version of BARBARA BROADCAST, too. Love the closing scene that's an outtake from OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN and the others mentioned above. I recently watched (and reviewed) the OFFICIAL FRIDAY THE 13TH PARODY, which plays Jason for comedy and horror but succeeds at neither. At least, the sex scenes are fine---TB
Well knowing the history of Ms. Magnificent, having it start out as a XXX version of Supergirl, and seeing what it turned into after WB's lawyers got to it always makes it something worth watching. And certainly as a precursor to all the comic book porn parodies now hitting the market, it will get its status as one of, not the first one.
Oh yeah! Seeing the fetching Kandi give herself to the band and splay herself all over that downstairs jazz club table was a spunkaholic's wet dream. Wait, isn't that tautological?
^I'm thinking Dru Barrymore is my favorite thing about Heart Darkness and that's saying a lot.Heart Of Darkness won 5 AVN Awards all deservedly so it's such an excellent film.
I own a copy of Borderline, but only on VHS. Remember it quite fondly, even if the sound wasn't the best. I recall having to turn the TV up pretty loud to hear it well. Girlfriend enjoyed that film too. Maybe I'll pull it out this weekend and watch it on the 19 inch. Boy that sentence is filled with... One scene I recall is when they're invited to dinner and they're is a porno playing on the tv above on the wall. If you look closely, it's from a future scene in the movie. Great movie for its time and probably still a good rental. These 80s films you're referring to, don't the actors have more hair on them than planet of the Apes? I like the reviews I'm hearing, just concerned that I'll be watching two rugs rub up one another.
I'll try to check out GREAT SEXPECTATIONS in its entirety; I like what I've seen so far. Over the weekend, I found my self watching TABOO 5, which seemed more concerned with Amber Lynn's interracial stuff than better developing the usual incest themes. I also watched a warped flick called STAR ANGEL, which appears to have comes out at about the same time as the 1986 mainstream film SID and NANCY. Directed by Cecil Howard, STAR ANGEL mixes xxx with the story of Luke, a rock star haunted by the death of his rock star lover, Lola. I won't share too much about the film except to say that the finale seemed a bit too open-ended. Was there a sequel? Was a sequel planned? Or was this the way Cecil Howard wanted it to end? Happy 20-11!---T0M
^ I watched Great Sexpectations, also -- incredible film. It was super fun to see John Leslie play himself, and the film as a whole was clever as hell. I watched Sexcapades twice before it too, which made a positive difference. These two films are easily two of the best I've seen in terms of script, acting (Eric Edwards is phenomenal -- blew me away in GS), eroticism, and pacing/tone. Also watched Any Time, Any Place -- this was just ok, not bad. I don't recall too much about it, but Seka was beautiful and charismatic as always. Also, Sweet Alice which started out just ok, and quickly became awful, thanks in part to the worst musical score I've ever heard in my life - "The Ballad of Bobby Jo" by Sandy Bush (IIRC). Sung by someone who can't sing, and a guitar player who struggles to change chords. She narrates the whole movie in segments, so y'know, no real need for a solid narrative.
Been catching up on some 80s movies I shoulda seen by now... First off, I wanna thank GoreGoreGirl for her recommendation of BODY TALK. It's one of the most interesting XXX films I've recently watched. Quick comments on the films: BODY TALK (Pedie Sweet, 1982) - Despite its low budget and a couple gaping plot holes/errors in logic, BODY TALK is surprisingly poignant romantic melodrama with one twist on the standard "separated lovers" plot: the lead character (played by Angelique Pettyjohn) is diagnosed with bone cancer halfway through the film. BODY TALK is a rare example of an X rated movie that involves real people with real problems that actually allows their lives to play out in realistic ways. BODY TALK dispenses with the classic "porn" logic of "sex will solve all your problems" and is all the better for doing so, for the film deals with some remarkably serious material, including parental rejection, marital commitment and, of course, fatal cancer. Acting ranges from "meh" to pretty convincing, with the non-sex performers really shining and all four major sex performers turning is passable, though mostly uninspired performances, though Pettyjohn certainly puts her all into her role and is able to manifest some genuinely touching moments, especially towards the end of the film. Considering the fact that this production was clearly made on a shoestring budget, the nicely structured screenplay, crisp cinematography and competent direction really shine in making what could have been an interesting idea destroyed by cheap production values into an rather excellent and touching film, regardless of its technical shortcomings. DESIRE (Vinnie Rossi, 1984) - I've gotta say that I was tempted to hit the fast-forward button, but clenched my fists knowing that I wouldn't have had that option, had I been sitting in a theatre watching it, c. 1984. I probably woulda walked out. Anyway, the film starts off well enough as Toby (Herschel Savage) is left by his "one true love," who utters "Desire" as her reason for departure. Now old and frail (and played, to great hammy perfection, by the wonderful Bill Margold), Toby hires a shrink (Kay Parker) to figure out what the woman meant by "desire" some 50 years earlier. OK, sounds interesting, right? Well, if that were actually the plot, maybe. Instead DESIRE decides to go down the more typical road for porno-shrink movies, where we're treated to a bunch of "quirky" patient scenarios, which could have even been OK if they all hadn't sucked so much. Eventually we return to withering old Margold who's randomly visited by the woman from his past who has inexplicably not aged a day (?!) who explains what she meant (I guess her explanation is supposed to be "deep") then the movie just stops. It's not that DESIRE is technically "bad," it's just stupid and boring. Not much happens and what does happen isn't interesting. Margold is fun to watch, as always, but he isn't given much screen time. BLUE ICE (Philip Marshak, 1985) - Scribed by underrated screenwriter Mark Weiss and directed by weird genre-film hack, Philip Marshak, BLUE ICE has all the making of an awesome late-period Nazi-sploitation flick, as the plot involves a sect of Nazis in S.F. planning to unleash a sex drug while attempting to acquire an ancient book of prophecies with rumored supernatural powers. Sounds great, right? Well, it is, except for the way too frequent sex scenes that just seem to be there to waste time and fill in the requisite fucking requirements. Though they get less frequent as the film goes on, they really make the pace of the movie drag, especially when important plot points, which out to be shown, are merely explained in voice over so as to hasten the pace in order for the film to advance to another sex scene. However, the plot and script are great, combining nifty twists, well rounded characters and punchy noirish dialogue. The film's final revelations are pretty damn clever and, as mid 80s XXX goes, BLUE ICE certainly has one of the most unusual narratives for any XXX of the era. Technical elements are top notch with some great cinematography and excellent set design. Performances are outstanding all around, with Herschel Savage extremely well cast as a private dick and Paul Thomas acting up a storm as his drunk friend. Shanna McCullough is a real surprise, turning in a fine acting job as Savage's roommate. Unfortunately, the pacing and pointless sex scenes just kill the atmosphere making what could have been a great film just "OK." I guess you can't win every time. As a footnote: BLUE ICE also features an awesome, and very 80s, synth score, played to full effect during Savage and Jacqueline Lorians big tryst. EVERY WOMAN HAS A FANTASY (Edwin Brown, 1984) - Another disappointment. After having read almost nothing but rave reviews about this so-called "couples film" masterpiece, I went in with expectations which were clearly too high to be fulfilled. Sure, everything about this movie feels well intentioned; it's nicely written, well acted and pleasantly directed, but it's just bland. The plot is perdictable, the dialogue, although cute, offers nothing terribly original, and the mostly beige and maroon furnished sets are dull to look at. I felt like I was watching what some new-age psychologists would have concocted as the perfect film for yuppie couples to curl up together with. Sure, there are dozens of sex films about marital distress, set in anywhere USA, but few are as taken with themselves and think their pedestrian plotting and cliched characters are as unique as EWHAF. Maybe I'm being too hard on this one cause, again, it's not offensive, just too meandering. Opportunities for real drama are lost and replaced with mindless fluff. Attempts at comedy fall flat (men in drag are funny, but not that funny) and the whole thing feels like an 80s version of some dime-a-dozen SOV Wicked movie from c. 2003. Edited by - john lyons on 1/2/2011 3:24:56 PM
I actually like that one. It's a nice late loop-carrier (hence no solid narrative). Nothing great, but perfectly fine for what it is. Agreed about the score though.
Aw man, I've been wanting to see that for ages!! Can't find it. :( I recently watched PT's Twilight Zone Parody. Guess what -- it wasn't bad at all! I really enjoyed the tone/set (very 50s, vintage feel to it like the TV show). It's like a middle-class suburbia gossip drama that had an ending tacked on to make it Twilight Zoney. I don't care -- the performers were good, it was "videoed" nicely, and the sex scenes weren't too long. Hurrah! It felt like one of those small films that when it's over, you're like, "Is that it? Huh. Neat."
If your talking strictly body hair, I really don't think so. Well probably a lot more by today's standards, especially chest or pubic hair, but not hardly what "I'd" generally call excessive. Today's guys are generally way better studs, but the 80's guys had superior acting talent. IMHO. There was definitely more hair back then though, so you may want to check around. Ron Jeremy was definitely very hairy, though much slimmer. I should note that a lot 80's porn was shot in New York City or California. IMO, the New York actors, especially those who were lesser known weren't always the best kept. Most of the top actors from the 70's worked well into the the mid-to-late 80's. Guys like: John Leslie, Eric Edwards, Harry Reems, Richard Pacheco, Paul Thomas, Joey Silvera, Herschel Savage, Mike Horner, R. Bolla, and Ron Jeremy. Add newer 80s talent like: Jerry Butler, Tom Byron, Peter North, Blake Palmer, and the notorious Marc Wallice. Quality of male talent started to go way down when most of those guys retired, worked less, or went behind-the-scenes, as well as film giving way to cheaper looking early video. Edited by - aplus on 1/2/2011 5:15:36 PM
I watched another 3 mediocre 80s films...They are as follows: BUBBLE GUM (Damon Christian, 1982) - A weird pseudo TABOO ripoff directed by major XXX producer, Damon Christian. The film is all over the map and can't decide whether it wants to be a melodrama, a comedy or a romance, so it tries everything and ends up just seeming contrived. Eric Edwards is lots of fun and the cinematography, from the ridiculously talented Jack Remy, sparkles, almost making up for how big of a mess the rest of the film is. That said, clocking in at a mere 64 min, it's sorta hard to get too burnt out on this routine little screw-fest. VIRGINIA (John Seeman, 1983) - Coming off of the fluffy incest dilemmas presented in BUBBLE GUM, VIRGINIA probably came off as more cruel and unsettling than it should have. Unfortunately, uneven plotting and pacing turns what could have been a hidden gem into a very average production with a few incredible scenes, especially the film's first five minutes which is so damn uncomfortable I really was squirming in my seat. Then the film descends into porno silliness for 40 min, eventually returning to the ill fated romance between father (Paul Thomas) and daughter (Shauna Grant). The "twist" ending is a bit silly, but it's subdued enough that it doesn't come off as totally contrived. Overall, VIRGINIA is a great idea with some great moments, which gets bogged down by a meandering script. CALIFORNIA VALLEY GIRLS (Hal Freeman, 1983) - I was told by the walking sage, Bill Margold, that this film originally had a 135 page script but, due to conflicts between various members of the crew, the script was shorn of a good 70 of those pages, including numerous supporting characters and subplots, which would have made the film much, much richer. That said, I can only comment on the film that is, not the film that could have been. Anyway, the silly plot, which involves two broke lesbians deciding to create a valley girl hooker agency, makes for an entertaining first half hour, but then the plot dissolves into the requisite series of amusing client and co-worker scenarios. For the most part CVG is standard smut, except for the valley girls themselves: their constant and nonsensical valley girl blabber is a riot. These sequences make for the highlights of the film, while the sex is routine and the production values are absolute shit. Edited by - john lyons on 1/7/2011 11:31:46 AM
This seems unlikely. Rule of thumb is that one page of script = one minute of screen time. A 135 page porn script would be 2+ hours of dialogue and plot; let's add in 7 sex scenes at a conservative 5 minutes each and we're looking at a 3 hour theatrically released porn feature. That's a lot of time to be sitting in a room full of strangers watching porn without a pause button. (Direct to video doesn't make it big for another couple of years.) In contrast, the mainstream Nick Cage "Valley Girl," also released in 1983, came in at 99 minutes (according to IMBD). It is possible that pages were shed, and maybe Margold lost a credit as a result, but it seems that he may be exaggerating just a tad.
Margold has said script. It's 135 pages. The film originally included an entire subplot involving cops trying to bust the hooker ring as well as another subplot involving a PI.
I recently waded through The 8th Day and, having nothing to do this evening, will let myself blather on shamelessly. This is a movie I fully expected to love; indeed, I am quite surprised and disappointed how little I liked it. With a fine cast, a potentially good premise, and obvious love lavished on it (the attention to detail in scenery, props, costumes, and overall look is dazzling), it held up in parts; but, this movie would have been twice as good at half the length. My biggest complaint (so shoot me) is that the sex scenes were way, way, way, way, way too long, with some of them spending too much time on one position and far too much in close up. Though each scene had seriously hot, sizzling moments, they were drowned out by the sheer, numbing length. The scenes collapsed under their own weight and became dull. (To cite just one example, the feral feline g/g/g scene, so inspired and initially erotic, dragged on slowly until the heat and cleverness got lost in the repetitive length, and I couldn't bear to hear another screech. What should have been truly memorable became merely tiresome.) The biggest victim of this was the threadbare plot, in spite of excellent acting and incredible production values. Thin to begin with and not well developed, the plot was simply overwhelmed by the sex scenes; storywise, the signal was swamped by the noise. And while, in any trip, the journey is more important than the goal, I felt this trek lost its way toward the climactic moment. Besides the movie itself, I also differ with the rest of the world on the DVD extras, of which reviewers have raved. Personally, I couldn't care less about most of them; I watch a movie for the movie, not the ancillaries. When a work of porn needs four discs to carry its load, I feel something is out of whack. I would love to pay a couple dollars less and get the film by itself. (Okay, I did like the interview with Amber Rayne, whom I adore. She is fun and articulate and must be an interviewer's dream: just wind her up and let her go, and she'll do all the rest.) So, sexy women, very good acting, often great sex, and a lavish look with amazing production values, yet it still hits me as a lumbering, weighted-down near miss.
It only has a few minutes of hardcore, but I figure I should report that I watched the new, uncensored release of Radley Metzger's Score. I *loved* it! It's witty, sexy, and just downright glorious. Beautifully shot, and intuitively acted/directed. Great stuff. I also recommend the "making of" feature. It's short, but it's interesting and packed in a lot of neat stuff.
The Marriage Counselor. Easily the most fun I've had with a couples feature in a very, very long time. "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
I recently watched an early 80s feature, Nurses of the 407 -- not so much a parody as an imitation of the M*A*S*H TV series. Reasonably entertaining and amusing with the kind of attention to detail typical of the more ambitious movies of the era. This starred Paul Thomas in the film's equivalent of the Hawkeye Pierce character, Joey Silvera as the faux Radar, and the magnificently sexy Jesie St James as their version of Hot Lips, as well as a nice selection of delightful lovelies from that time (I especially always adored Tigr). While not overly original, I found that it had some genuine laughs and the sex scenes mostly were very erotic. My one complaint is that (with the exception of a very nice Tigr-Jon Martin scene) all of them were marred by several scenes being interleaved. I tend to get annoyed when the film cuts away from the action just as the sexual temperature is going through the roof. Otherwise, well worth a looksee. It also had a fairly interesting commentary by Gloria Leonard and Bill Margold. They had little to say directly about the film itself and spent much of the time pitching the Free Speech Coalition, but still worth hearing. Edited by - alphadachs on 2/4/2011 12:55:37 PM
Nurses of the 407 is one of my favorite classic porn features, and has the honor of also being my first review "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
I watched Naked Afternoon and thought it was delightful. Abigail Clayton is now on my radar in a major way. Just ordered a couple more of her hardcore flicks.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Feb 5 2011 : 8:53PM
Abigail is great but didn't seem to get many starring roles, unfortunately 7 Into Snowy has been released in terrible shape on DVD. She has several scenes in The Coming of Angels though.
I ordered 7 Into Snowy (VCX version I think -- someone told me TVX has a horrible copy and it's cut...unless I'm thinking of a different film). Spirit of Seventy Sex, also. I will have to go order Coming of Angels too.
I watched The Condemned. Enjoyed it, but did quite a bit of fast forwarding through sex scenes because they were just too long and not character-related enough to keep my attention. Nikki Jayne did an outstanding job. I was really impressed with her.
pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07
Posted - Feb 6 2011 : 5:48AM
TVX is really terrible but unfortunately the VCX version didn't look much better. Still it's an interesting movie worth checking out. Coming of Angels is kinda dark, funky and druggy, in a good way.
7 INTO SNOWY is a turd of a film. Too bad, really. The uncut version only adds a bit more sex footage of the loosely "forced" variety. No great loss to this already lackluster film.
