Erotic Visions

Latex

Zazel

Starting in the late 1980s, a new trend emerged in adult movies. Where previous movies were rough, these would be polished. Where the performers in previous movies were selected for their enthusiasm, performers would now be selected for their stylish good looks. Where the movies previously would have production values that would have been dubious in a 1960s 8mm loop, these would have real sets with real lighting.

Andrew Blake was, of course, one of the first and most avid directors in this vein. His previous career as a fashion photographer was obvious in every frame: he knew how to light gorgeous people. Cameron Grant, and later Philip Mond, joined him in this trend.

There's an argument that this kind of tape is detached and sterile, and we suppose we can see the point. Passion and body fluids are not the emphasis here; instead, the compositions are painterly, and the emphasis is very much on esthetic appeal, both in the performers' physical appearance and in the settings. We think that the world of Erotica is far large enough to put its arms around both the hot-and-sweaty variety and the cool-and-gorgeous variety of smut.

This trend was terrific for at least one reason: It made it clear that you could have beautiful images of people fucking. This may be intuitively obvious to most of the people out there, but for many people, including many avid porn consumers, the idea that fucking and high esthetic sense were not incompatible was a revelation.

Now let's take a little tour of our collection of High-Gloss Videos.

Andrew Blake's Desire

Let's begin at the beginning. Andrew Blake pretty much invented this kind of high gloss look, and this is probably the best tape of his Early Period. The performers are very attractive: Racquel Darrian, Savannah (God rest her), Zara Whites, Sandra Scream, Amber Lynn, Jeanna Fine, Vivianna. The plot is as thin as gauze, something about Zara Whites being an art dealer and so forth, but everyone looks exceptionally stylish.

Andrew Blake Unleashed

After legal hassles galore, Andrew Blake returned to hardcore porn with this film. This is Blake in his Late Period: the sex is raunchier, while still retaining his exquisite production values and gorgeous photography. Again, everyone in the (huge) cast looks terrific, and if you like your sex just a bit steamier while still enjoying Blake's style, this is a great tape for you.

Erotic Visions

I cannot recommend this tape highly enough. Cameron Grant is best known for The Dinner Party (see below), but I still believe this is his best tape ever. There's no plot: it's a series of vignettes. Grant has all of the technical skills of his peers, but he simply knows what turns people on, with a more profound understanding than anyone else doing high-gloss. The "disembodied black latex gloves" sequence is worth the tape all by itself. This is a great "couples' film": hot but stylish.

The Dinner Party

This tape was our best-seller for a long time, and it's not surprising. It won baskets of awards, all of which it deserved. It's structured as a series of vignettes, as a group of friends describe their sex fantasies over a dinner party (hey, it's happened!). It's not quite as transcendent as Erotic Visions (above), but it is head-and-shoulders above nearly every other adult movie out there in pure style.

Latex and Shock

Ah, yes, Michael Ninn. These two movies, Shock being the sequel to Latex, are examples of what the rapid decrease in price of fast computers has done. There are tons, and tons, and tons of special effects in these movies, all done very well. The plot itself is, unusually for this class of movies, a good effort at a coherent storyline, while still giving everyone an opportunity to fuck. The sex is very hot and raunchy; no Blake-like detachment here; just everyone does someone, or gets done, up the butt at some point. (Anal sex fans will find much to like here.) And the underlying message, which is that sex is ultimately hostile to political repression, is profound and timely.

Zazel

Last but by no means least, there's Philip Mond. He is entirely over the top: everything that Blake, Grant or Ninn can do, he can do better and with a distinctively European style. Everything about this video is extreme: the production values are perfect (not one hair out of place), the performers (mostly European, not overexposed here in the US) are beautiful, and the plot and sex are kinky and bizarre. If just as an example of what porn can be, this is a wonderful tape, and it's delightfully hot as well.