I have been a fan of Victorian Era pornography since the late '60s popularization of "The Pearl" and other once-forbidden books. There were several XXX movie adaptations in the early '70s, and this newer entry is welcome.
Canadian firm from femme director Nica Noelle started with another classic A MAN WITH A MAID, and then released this ambitious mixed-combo epic. I wasn't overly impressed watching it four years ago, but a recent viewing revealed promise, as well as serious artistic flaws.
Concept is to merge the period atmosphere & lingo of the Victorian Era with modern porn content, the added wrinkle being to take it all seriously without the silliness and slob-humor of today's porn. There is also an attempt (it failed in my estimation) to cling to a "porn realism" that's been gone with the wind since gonzo took over -namely to present sexual couplings as if real people, not pro performers, were having sex, perhaps harking back to the groundbreaking work of Joe Sarno so long ago. Pros & cons of this approach will be discussed below.
Set in the late 19th Century (time & place are not specified, however), tale deals with two families: one white and one black, who used to live together on an estate until the Black breadwinner (Sean Michaels) became a successful writer and established his own spread in a nearby town.
Narration introduces the hard times befallen on the white family; patriarch has died leaving them in debt, and the mother (Rayveness) sends her two kids to stay with Sean's family. First ten minutes of FAMILY SECRETS literally plays like a movie for the Hallmark Channel, with fully-clothed folks conversing intelligently, no skin and no sex. I liked it but suspect today's porn audience will be hankering for action.
At this point director Noelle switched to the porn mode, but very impressively stresses tease and an equal time inclusion of soft-core content, even after hardcore explicit sex had begun. This was most novel, but unfortunately she chose to graft her quality approach onto some of the wrong-headed clichés of 21st Century porn.
After excellent teasing by mammoth natural-breasted Black actress Alia Starr vs. her childhood white friend Dane Cross who's peeping at bedtime, film launches into a 27-minute fantasized coupling of the mystery man Wolf Hudson (is he a mulatto or isn't he?) and visiting white beauty Sammy Grand. Sammy's thick bush is a clue to what's different about this retro project, but Wolf's dramatic arm tattoo is out-of-place for the period,.
Video has the strange conceit of each character bearing the same name (at least familiar stage name) as the actor, a gimmick I didn't appreciate. Perhaps Noelle wouldn't have opted for this if some of the cast had peculiar contemporary monikers like Moon Unit or Blue Ivy but who knows?
During this way overlong (but conforming to current vignette porn content) sex scene the action plays out in seeming real time, which is tedious despite multiple cameras providing edited multiple angles.
Noelle scrupulously avoids the gynecological closeups or artificial posing that make regular porn so fake, but I would have thought a 4-minute or at least under 10 minutes approach would have worked far better. Even so, there is the inevitable cum shot onto Sammy's belly. Another novelty, quite pointed in its inclusion, is Wolf (even in his fantasy -he being simply masturbating in bed and thinking about this match-up with Sammy) fingering her clit vigorously after the money shot, to let her get off as well. I can visualize Candida Royalle presenting some award to like-minded Noelle for this touch.
Next porn sequence is 20 minutes, not quite as padded, as Alia visits Dane's bedroom next morning to apologize for her rather mean words before, and they stir up some very satisfying mixed combo action together. Alia has not become a star despite her natural beauty, but I think fans would be pleased to see the real thing on screen here.
Nat Turnher, I'm confessing he's well named but miscast as a university professor, is helping young Sammy get a position at his school. She rewards him with some more mixed combo sex lasting 19 minutes. Nat's large arm tats bely the Reconstruction Era setting, and he seems to be going through routine porn paces as opposed to the rest of the cast's believable simulated passion.
Sean travels to Rayvenss's home to give her news of her kids, and the two rekindle their long- ago romance with a bang. This 27-minute mixed-combo set-piece concludes the feature, and unfortunately Rayveness overdoes the fake porn-actress-ecstasy tropes, bringing us back to 2010 reality and spoiling the mood.
Since the main plot thread has been left hanging (Black matriarch Deluxe in a non-sex role going off on an unspecified mission), the video's "To Be Continued" end card is most unsatisfying. Especially since Noelle and her company seem to have ended their experiment in Victorian porn with this half a loaf. In fact, searching for a sequel or followup in the series all I could find were Gay Tales of Victorian Lust -quite a switcheroo.
Looking beyond the obvious faults (though costuming is fine, the settings and lighting fail to create the intended mood and aren't helped by shooting on video), we have here three attractive and completely natural leading ladies for a change, and with breast sizes Large (Sammy), XL (Rayveness) and XXXL (Alia). That satisfied my prurient interests,.
Canadian firm from femme director Nica Noelle started with another classic A MAN WITH A MAID, and then released this ambitious mixed-combo epic. I wasn't overly impressed watching it four years ago, but a recent viewing revealed promise, as well as serious artistic flaws.
Concept is to merge the period atmosphere & lingo of the Victorian Era with modern porn content, the added wrinkle being to take it all seriously without the silliness and slob-humor of today's porn. There is also an attempt (it failed in my estimation) to cling to a "porn realism" that's been gone with the wind since gonzo took over -namely to present sexual couplings as if real people, not pro performers, were having sex, perhaps harking back to the groundbreaking work of Joe Sarno so long ago. Pros & cons of this approach will be discussed below.
Set in the late 19th Century (time & place are not specified, however), tale deals with two families: one white and one black, who used to live together on an estate until the Black breadwinner (Sean Michaels) became a successful writer and established his own spread in a nearby town.
Narration introduces the hard times befallen on the white family; patriarch has died leaving them in debt, and the mother (Rayveness) sends her two kids to stay with Sean's family. First ten minutes of FAMILY SECRETS literally plays like a movie for the Hallmark Channel, with fully-clothed folks conversing intelligently, no skin and no sex. I liked it but suspect today's porn audience will be hankering for action.
At this point director Noelle switched to the porn mode, but very impressively stresses tease and an equal time inclusion of soft-core content, even after hardcore explicit sex had begun. This was most novel, but unfortunately she chose to graft her quality approach onto some of the wrong-headed clichés of 21st Century porn.
After excellent teasing by mammoth natural-breasted Black actress Alia Starr vs. her childhood white friend Dane Cross who's peeping at bedtime, film launches into a 27-minute fantasized coupling of the mystery man Wolf Hudson (is he a mulatto or isn't he?) and visiting white beauty Sammy Grand. Sammy's thick bush is a clue to what's different about this retro project, but Wolf's dramatic arm tattoo is out-of-place for the period,.
Video has the strange conceit of each character bearing the same name (at least familiar stage name) as the actor, a gimmick I didn't appreciate. Perhaps Noelle wouldn't have opted for this if some of the cast had peculiar contemporary monikers like Moon Unit or Blue Ivy but who knows?
During this way overlong (but conforming to current vignette porn content) sex scene the action plays out in seeming real time, which is tedious despite multiple cameras providing edited multiple angles.
Noelle scrupulously avoids the gynecological closeups or artificial posing that make regular porn so fake, but I would have thought a 4-minute or at least under 10 minutes approach would have worked far better. Even so, there is the inevitable cum shot onto Sammy's belly. Another novelty, quite pointed in its inclusion, is Wolf (even in his fantasy -he being simply masturbating in bed and thinking about this match-up with Sammy) fingering her clit vigorously after the money shot, to let her get off as well. I can visualize Candida Royalle presenting some award to like-minded Noelle for this touch.
Next porn sequence is 20 minutes, not quite as padded, as Alia visits Dane's bedroom next morning to apologize for her rather mean words before, and they stir up some very satisfying mixed combo action together. Alia has not become a star despite her natural beauty, but I think fans would be pleased to see the real thing on screen here.
Nat Turnher, I'm confessing he's well named but miscast as a university professor, is helping young Sammy get a position at his school. She rewards him with some more mixed combo sex lasting 19 minutes. Nat's large arm tats bely the Reconstruction Era setting, and he seems to be going through routine porn paces as opposed to the rest of the cast's believable simulated passion.
Sean travels to Rayvenss's home to give her news of her kids, and the two rekindle their long- ago romance with a bang. This 27-minute mixed-combo set-piece concludes the feature, and unfortunately Rayveness overdoes the fake porn-actress-ecstasy tropes, bringing us back to 2010 reality and spoiling the mood.
Since the main plot thread has been left hanging (Black matriarch Deluxe in a non-sex role going off on an unspecified mission), the video's "To Be Continued" end card is most unsatisfying. Especially since Noelle and her company seem to have ended their experiment in Victorian porn with this half a loaf. In fact, searching for a sequel or followup in the series all I could find were Gay Tales of Victorian Lust -quite a switcheroo.
Looking beyond the obvious faults (though costuming is fine, the settings and lighting fail to create the intended mood and aren't helped by shooting on video), we have here three attractive and completely natural leading ladies for a change, and with breast sizes Large (Sammy), XL (Rayveness) and XXXL (Alia). That satisfied my prurient interests,.