PORN CLUB is like a book club for porn nerds. Each month, PinkLabel.TV‘s offers a selection of titles in its new adult film review review series seeking to encourage discussions about porn as an indie film genre, with reviews of classic and contemporary titles available on our streaming network. Topics span technical aspects of how a movie was made, directorial influences, perceived social or historical impact, and other aspects of interest to the reviewer.

In our first edition, we kicked off the series with Radley Metzger, also known for his hardcore films under the pseudonym Henry Paris, with three of his earlier titles, CAMILLE 2000 (1969), The Lickerish Quartet (1970), and SCORE (1974). In this second edition, we follow SCORE’s star Cal Culver who was better known by his alias Casey Donovan to his work with Wakefield Poole in Boys In The Sand. Thus our series continues with Wakefield Poole’s BIBLE! and Bijou.

Boys in the Sand

The All-Male classic that started it all, Boys in the Sand spins three fantasy-infused stories on Fire Island and features a star turn by Casey Donovan. Boys in the Sand is a landmark American gay pornographic film released at the very beginnings of the Golden Age of Porn.

“After Wakefield Poole’s films, mine are unnecessary and a bit naïve, don’t you think?” ~ Andy Warhol

Surprisingly, none of our Porn Club reviewers chose to complete a review of Wakefield’s most infamous film. Moving on…

BIJOU

Bijou concerns a construction worker who, after witnessing an accident and pocketing the victim’s purse, finds an invitation to a club named Bijou. There, he enters a strange world where dark fantasies become reality.

“Bijou is less of a structured, narrative film and more of a living, breathing sensual and sensory experience.” – Heather Drain, DangerousMinds.net

PORN CLUB Reviews

Bijou is slow and pretty. While there is plenty of action in the film, there is no furious pounding nor prolonged closeups. Considering Poole’s background as a dancer prior to his career in filmmaking, it’s fitting that the sex looks like a study of the whole body in movement. It’s anonymous, affectionate sex. It seems obvious that Bijou was fueled as much by a love of sex as a love of filmmaking.

— Ms Deeviant

Once the audience discovers what Bijou is, it’s hard to look away. Once Bill Harrison’s character enters Bijou, it’s easy to feel like you’re on a trip. Once inside, I watched a room full of yes. I watched a room balanced with exploration, desire, and natural intoxication. There was no drug/alcohol use in the flick, but everyone in Bijou seemed intoxicated with primal arousal. (I also loved the juxtaposition of the laissez-faire gatekeeper.) It’s always a pleasure to see actors enjoying their fucking work. I was into the entire “dark room” scene.

This isn’t a scripted, man meets man, sort of lust story. Instead, this adventure is like a surreal experience for the main character. The imagery on which he focuses during his (early) masturbation scene, ultimately, leaves him unsatisfied. (Note to self, try jacking off to Led Zeppelin in the future. It worked musically well in Bijou.) It’s easy to see that he’s searching for some unnamed experience. A friend once spoke about what constitutes a story. A character goes through some significant change and there you have your story. Bill Harrison’s character experiences change once his fantasy is fulfilled. The first time we see him smile, we know that the jewel that is Bijou was exactly what he needed in that moment to bring him joy that rounds out his story.

Would I recommend it? Fuck yes! Why? Watch it for the pleasure. Watch it for the surreal fantasy. Watch it to watch people enjoying their fucking work. But, watch it. I’d especially recommend this one to any CisHet man who has never felt comfortable talking about their pleasure out loud. Arousal and pleasure can be plain to see no matter how you feel about the characters on the screen.

— Jet Noir

Wakefield Poole’s BIBLE!

Three Bible stories with strong female characters are given sexual twists in this visually stunning and sensually charged masterpiece of the erotic avant-garde.

“One of the more mysterious and infamous films in the history of erotic cinema, Wakefield Poole’s Bible! earned a reputation upon its release as an ambitious, pretentious flop, a smear leveled primarily by those expecting a hardcore epic and instead getting an anthology art film. There’s a tremendous amount of nudity, not surprisingly, but what Poole delivered was something wholly different from the norm, a personal pet project closer in spirit to the works of Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington.” – mondo-digital

PORN CLUB Reviews

Attempting to re-imagine Biblical scripture for perverse purposes is an audacious idea. Moreover, twisting scripture to fit one’s own sociopolitical agenda is a daring stroke. However, taking a story and re-casting a tragic Biblical figure as an arrogant cocksure simpleton outwitted by a fierce, yet peace-loving prostitute-queen? That’s as astounding as it is empowering and worthy of applause. Blend in some Blaxploitation film essence to taste, and it allows “Wakefield Poole’s Bible!” to remain an impacting, important cinematic moment.

— Marcus K. Dowling

This month, we’re watching Wakefield Poole. I chose Bible! (1974), which is barely x. Gaspar Noe’s Love is more explicit. I also watched Take One, a totally different kind of movie – gay, xxx, set in SF where we see Poole making men’s private fantasies come to life, a bit like Erika Lust’s XConfessions with touches of Kenneth Anger, elevated by Poole’s signature gorgeous cinematography. In all his films, you see his background in dance shine through. There is an elegance to how everyone moves (slow, and intentional in Bible!) and every frame is a celebration of the human form. His vision of the male body is sculptural and sensual. What’s funny about posting about this film is that the opening Adam and Eve sequence – tender guileless, sun-dappled, beachy lovemaking – is the most Insta-censorship prone bit, though so full of innocence. When they finish, Eve announces that she’s hungry, and we’re thrown into scenes from a civilization full of discontent, hunger, violence and frustration, all worn lightly, mind you. When Bathsheba fails to catch her husband’s attention, she decides to bathe and catches the attention of King David. It’s a Benny Hill-style farce, and a pleasure to see Spelvin do comedy after the despair-tinged The Devil in Miss Jones (1973). In the most beautiful sequence, we meet Samson and Delilah, the aesthetics of the vignette call to mind Anna Biller’s gauzy, surreal Fairy Ballet. Eve’s hunger is a sort of punchline for the film, as though Poole is rejecting the idea of innocence before the fall, how the slightest intrusion of need ruins the fantasy of innocence, of sex ”before” it became … complicated. Poole is a visionary filmmaker. Cinephiles, do yourself a favor and watch the doc about him: I Always Said Yes. It’s streamable on PinkLabel.TV, too.

— Saskia Vogel

Is the Bible sexy? Are it’s protagonists sensual and erotic? Can its feminine archetypes be seen as strong and autonomous? Wakefield Poole seemed to think so. Stepping away from his X-rated roots, the famed pornographer had high ambitions for this release. To make a beautiful pornographic film with a box office appeal. Just four years prior, Radley Metzger had attempted to do the very same thing.

The success and subsequent controversy that stemmed from the popularity of “Deep Throat” prompted Poole to make “Bible!”.  It sought to take three stories of the Bible (Adam and Eve from the Book of Genesis, David and Bathsheba from the Book of Samuel, and Samson and Delilah from the book of Judges.) and turn them into a softcore porn with the female characters taking a strong lead.  Wakefield says: “In the Bible the women are always the culprits. They’re the evil ones. They’re the ones the make bad things happen.” and thus decided to turn this narrative on it’s head.  He had hoped the result would be polished and fit for most normal movie-goers at the time, but instead it was a flop, leaving many people confused and outraged. The film was given an X rating despite no instances of penetration. This also angered fans of Georgina Spelvin (Bathsheba) and of Wakefield’s previous films for the lack of hardcore sex scenes.

— Voodoo

Poole’s cinematic vision is spectacular. The shots are magnificent, with elegant lighting, dreamy sets and creative makeup. It’s pure art-film eye candy through and through.

This is a 1970’s era porn, so keep in mind that Poole didn’t have the same sort of freedoms we enjoy today. Pornographically, “Bible!” features simulated sex and nudity only. It certainly makes you appreciate the diverse and explicit pornography we are privileged to enjoy today.

— Patrick Parker, XCritic

PORNCLUB Wild Card!

If interested in another film, reviewers could choose to pull a wild card and pick anything from the site. Here’s what two writers decided to review.

FORBIDDEN DREAMS (Bijou)

Also known as “Twice a Virgin,” this vintage ’80s porn video follows the bisexual sexploits of beautiful blonde trans woman Shannon (aka Catherine Crystal). Though sometimes slightly dated in language and approach, this was a unique release of the 1980s in its depiction of a trans woman’s sexual experiences.

The movie begins with attractive star Shannon, perched on a desk in business attire, pitching her life story to a “famous author” in hopes of having him write about her. What follows is Shannon’s explicit detailing, by flashbacks, of her amorous adventures — a hot solo followed by a threesome with a couple of sexy women, and paired up with her seductive female physical therapist, a man her therapist considers “the best she’s ever had,” and a hunky male author — with sex scenes filmed both before and after her gender affirmation surgery. Skilled in the erotic arts, Shannon repeatedly delights her many admirers as they discover the stunning blonde star’s sensual appeal!

PORN CLUB Reviews

Director Drea directs this glam, light and hot 1984 feature starring gorgeous blonde trans star Catherine Crystal as she tells her sexual life story as part of having a book written about her. We get to see her before and after her gender affirmation surgery and both ways, she is a hottie who stands the test of time.

— Holly Kingstown, Savor Excellent 1980’s Trans Fun in “Forbidden Dreams”, Fleshbot

Un Chant D’Amour

Un Chant D’Amour is a silent film.

Cult Epics is proud to present Jean Genet’s Un Chant D’Amour, the only film made by the French novelist Jean Genet. Visually reminiscent of Jean Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet, Belle et la Bete and Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks. The story, set in a prison with three main characters, a guard and two prisoners, is a voyeuristic, confrontational, poetic masterpiece. Forbidden in France upon its release, and only available in the US in censored form and through underground distribution, Un Chant D’Amour is now released from its obscurity and is presented in its complete version.

“Un chant d’amour (1950) was banned from public exhibition in France upon its initial release, and has won only sporadic screenings since, often in censored form. It is semi-pornographic, featuring full-frontal male nudes playing with their hard-ons, and fetishistic close-ups of sweaty feet, armpits and thighs… Its erotic content is unparalleled even by modern gay porn – which is bleached and robotic.”
— Senses of Cinema

“Ahead of its time – undoubtedly. Pornographic in its day – definitely. A landmark in gay cinema – a resounding yes. For in spite of being only twenty-five minutes in length, filmed in black and white and silent throughout, this avant-garde piece is unapologetically GAY.”
— GayCelluloid

PORN CLUB Reviews

In Un Chant D’Amour, Jean Genet manages to do a lot without showing very much at all. Modern pornographers could learn a lot from viewing what he did in this film. His only huge shortcoming, in the eyes of this reviewer, is the ending. This reviewer won’t reveal what happens at the end; however, this reviewer feels the short film would have been far stronger had the very end been cut entirely as it lessens the intensity that Jean Genet had kept strong throughout the rest of the short film. Un Chant D’Amour is well worth watching as both an erotic short film and as a view into the past of adult film making.

Un Chant D’Amour is a fascinating early gay short film from writer and director Jean Genet. Un Chant D’Amour doesn’t have much that can be considered even close to hardcore but is laced with innuendo, and it is easy to see why the film was so controversial when it came out. Un Chant D’Amour offers the viewer a better story than would later be available in the far more hardcore short films and loops to come. Cult Epics has done a nice job with their streaming-only edition of Un Chant D’Amour on PinkLabel.TV with better than expected video quality.

— Flash, AdultDVDTalk

PORN CLUB is an adult film review series presented by PinkLabel.TV. Tune in next month for our next set of reviews, spanning classics to contemporary.