The Director Reviews... Venom 5

Cast

Kaitlyn Ashley, Jay Ashley, Scarlett Fever, Julie Rage, Tony Tedeschi, Nici Sterling, Alex Sanders, Alexis Dane, Wilde Oscar, CBlue, TT Boy

A series of loops which are shot by the actors themselves. Well, sorta. Pachard does have one cameraman on hand to handle coverage. It's an interesting experiment, but I think it falls a little flat...

Kaitlyn Ashley/Jay Ashley/Scarlett Fever

This loop starts with some behind the scenes footage of Kaitlyn smoking, putting on makeup and getting ready to shoot. Then Pachard gives the actors instructions, which will carry through all of the loops.

"Do not act for the camera," Pachard says. "Fuck for yourselves."

So Kaitlyn and Scarlett (is there a worse name -- a horrible childhood disease?) stat to go at it, but it seems so "for the camera" and fake that it never really gets going. Jay Ashley handles some of the camera work, but not nearly enough. We get a lot of 2nd unit stuff.

The gals go at it, then Jay jumps in, taking advantage of his wife. Scarlett doesn't really go near him.

There are some 2nd unit shots which show Jay holding the camera in a great position, but for whatever reason, we never see the shot from his camera. This happens a lot and is very very frustrating... especially when the movie is supposed to be focussed on the actors' point of view.

Eventually, Jay drops a load on Kaitlyn's chin and tits.

Julie Rage/Tony Tedeschi

This is the first I am seeing of Ms. Rage, and I like what I see (apart from the fake tits, of course.)

This loop has the participants trading off some headgear which fills the wearer's field of vision with TV. It looks like a virtual reality helmet.

Tony gets some shots of himself fingering Julie (four fingers full) and Pachard is heard saying "Have you ever seen your ass like that before?" And Rage seems to actually be getting a kick out of it.

And everyone is calling Pachard "Ron" (which isn't all that strange considering it's his real name, but still, it's slightly disconcerting...)

Anyway, the two have a good shag which ends with a... facial! A trend which will last the flick.

Nici Sterling/Alex Sanders

Two old pros. The loop starts with Alex in some sort of carnival gyroscope. Exactly why I must have missed, but we see him spinning around. What is annoying about the scene is they use some stupid shutter effect to make Alex's movements all herky-jerky. I would have preferred a more flowing poetic motion... but enough of that, what about the sex?

Nici is a slut, no argument. Alex is a trained stud with his own video line, so he does a fine job with the camera, and the scene is rote, but spirited. He cums on her... face! A decent pop shot.

Alexis Dane/Wilde Oscar

I guess while Nici was fucking Alex, Oscar got to fuck Alexis Dane. This is my first time seeing Ms. Dane, and there is something fresh about her. The scene is pretty short, but she does seem to have a good time with Oscar, and he does cum on her face, after all. They hug afterwards and trade compliments.

CBlue/TT Boy

Scene starts with TT Boy blathering on about how he likes to be a little rough with the gals. He seems to take it all as a joke, which I hope it is (but know it is not...)

Eventually, CBlue makes her way in, and while not stunning, she is a real woman. Real breasts, little paunch, pierced clit, shoulder length blondish hair. Behind the two actors is a huge 48" TV which is showing them in action. Best use of a TV as background since Night Trips.

TT is nothing if not consistent. They swive and she gets into it. It's a pretty decent scene in that it does not seem to be "for the camera." He cums on her face.

Whatever you want to call it (gonzo, porn verite, etc.) first person porn has been around a good long time; it's been almost 10 years since the first Buttman hit the streets.

Pachard feels that this is a good thing(tm) and wants to give his actors the camera, so they can shoot themselves having sex, and remove some of the artificiality. In this, his fifth try, he fails.

I have not seen the first four, so I can't comment if they were successful or not, but this one seems botched. Jay Ashley gets some good angles judging by the way he is holding the camera, but we never get to see what he was shooting! That's the whole point of the tape, I thought -- to see what he was shooting!

But this is not to say that the tape stinks. I think there is some decent sex here (and none in the bathroom oddly enough) to overcome the deviation from Pachard's formula. Also, the girls don't shoot enough. Granted, I don't necessarily want to be looking into TT's mug for a long time, but I'd like to see what she's seeing when she looks down or around or wherever.

There were some nice touches throughout. After each pop shot, the scene would freeze for a moment, and then would break, where we see the performers clean up, giggle, smile, reach for a towel... this is the interesting part, since we get a chance to see them as people -- people doing a job, but nonetheless, people.

I don't think we can ever expect to see professional porn performers in an amateur video situation; they're too well guarded and versed in the porn ethic now. They'll be worrying about their light or if their moaning is as "real" as it could be, instead of just letting go and fucking with reckless abandon (with passion, perhaps?) and having the camera be incidental.

What I really miss is passion.

But that is neither here nor there, since I think it'll be a long time coming...

This is a rental only, and even then it depends upon you motives. If you want to check out some new meat (new for me anyway) CBlue and Julie Rage are worth checking out here. Every scene ends in a facial, so you may be interested in that.

On the Imperial scale, I'd give it a 2.65.