Taboo 23

The original TABOO (directed by Kirdy Stevens and starring Kay Parker) is rightfully considered a classic in adult cinema. With it's Oedipal complexes, dramatic storyline and tension-filled sex scenes, this 1980 film titillated and aroused, to say the least. Director Stevens made six "sequels," and then the title was taken over by several prolific directors, who made competent, but unmemorable follow-ups having little to do with the original. It wasn't too long before the series lost simply its edge and became just another shot-on-tape franchise, losing almost all pretense to the exploitation of sacred sexual topics.

I was very pleased, therefore, to see that TABOO 23 marks a close return to form, thanks to the impressive script by former pornstar (and Adult DVD Empire staff member) Melissa Monet and solid direction by Anton Slayer. If prior volumes are as good as this one, then I have some catching up to do. It isn't exactly "daring" nor is it "controversial, but then again, today's mainstream pornographers can't be quite as carefree (or is that careless?) as the smut-makers of the seventies when it comes to tackling certain topics. However, TABOO 23 does present an emotionally involving drama involving rough sex and domination fetishes and ranks with some of the better adult features.

Penny Flame, whose natural curves and girl-next-door sexiness are displayed to great effect throughout, plays Kaitlyn, a young woman in search of her sister Tina (played by busty brunette Richelle Ryan) who has apparently gotten involved with the wrong crowd. In a series of events perhaps borrowed from mainstream films like HARDCORE (a seventies flick where a father goes in search of his daughter in the porn world) and 8MM (a laughable Joel Schumacher travesty about a snuff film), Penny Flame stumbles upon her sister's involvement in a "sexual underground" with a man named Joshua, played impressively by Evan Stone.

As we follow Penny's quest, we stumble upon some episodic sexual encounters. The film begins with Richelle (dressed in fetish gear, including fishnet stocking and a blindfold) and Evan having sex in some dark, dungeon-like setting. Even without anal or even an oral cumshot, the scene works because of Evan aggressive conduct and Richelle's willingness to submit. Penny visits her sister's home, and encounters Steven St. Croix who leads her to Joshua. He runs a club which is more than just your average striptease and lapdance, and Penny bears witness to a fantastic foursome featuring Victoria Sin, Sammi Rhodes, Mya Luana and Audrey Bitoni which takes place centerstage. Lesbian scenes in most feature films are usually after-thoughts and thrown into the mix as part of an obligation to the viewer. However, this ménage a quatre is action-packed and features a healthy dose of deep tongue kissing and plenty of cunnilingus and dildo play to please all fans. Victoria Sin stands out with her anal performance, as all girls deftly wield glowing dildos in all openings. The creative make-up, lighting, production design and videography in this scene and elsewhere demonstrate that a little imagination can give a good film a big budget look.

Later, we follow Miss Flame back to her sister's house, where she finds a VHS tape. (For those not familiar with ancient technology, VHS was the home video format of choice before images were digitized on a spinning disc). She watches some hardcore action being displayed on a flat-panel television (the incongruity of a plain vanilla videocassette exhibiting an anamorphic image will probably ruffles the feathers of some technophiles), and begins to get pretty excited herself. Close-ups of Penny licking her nipple and burying her fingers deep into her quim are just a few of the excellent shots (and I am not at all partial to solo masturbation scenes), but the fun ends when she suddenly discovers that the girl in the video is her sister. (I hate when that happens.)

Back at the club, we take a break in Penny's quest as Gina Lynn and Shyla Styles (who look as striking in the movie as they do on the excellent box cover) entertain Ben English onstage while Evan and Richelle watch and fool around on a couch. Gina Lynn has always proven herself to be a dependable performer, but Shyla steals the show with some excellent backdoor work performed in reverse-cowgirl and a cumshot to the mouth which is swapped onto Miss Lynn's tongue.

Penny Flame returns back to the club with some assistance from St. Croix. Once there, we are treated to another threesome with Sandra Romain being sandwiched between Marco Banderas and Alex Sanders. Sandra is ravenous in this scene, and the anal and double penetration action is just wild. The dual popshot to her mouth ends the scene on a nasty note, yet even further thrills are to come when Penny Flame finally gets to strut her stuff. A confrontation with security personnel played by top-heavy and slender blonde Nikki Benz leads into a cat-fight and then into a scorching lesbian scene. For awhile, I was wondering when we were going to get to see Penny show off her talents, but the clit-lapping, dildo-pummeling, pussy-slamming one-on-one is well worth the wait. Even better, Miss Flame barely gets a chance to catch her breath when Evan Stone has his way with her in an equally well-done straight scene which is full of heat and chemistry. The only regret is the money shot which lands on her butt after they finish a round of cowgirl fucking, but Penny is to be applauded for delivering two consecutive scenes.

A final encounter between St. Croix and Richelle leads into the "shocking conclusion" which doesn't involve (yes, I admit, I was kind of hoping for a big finale between Tina and Kaitlyn characters), but does focus on motivation along with the final fate of Penny's sister. Surprisingly, the dramatic scenes and accompanying dialogue go just a wee bit over-the-top, crossing the line between the dramatic and the satirical, but it doesn't seriously affect the film. Indeed, all the actors are in fine form most of the time, and Penny does a great enough job (with only a few over-acting stumbles here and there) to warrant an industry award-nomination for her action.

When it comes to their videos, Metro/Cal Vista has produced titles with quality ranging from excellent to appalling. Their release of the classic CINESEX starring Leena was superbly packaged, but terribly transferred on DVD, with erroneously cropped images and eye-straining video quality. Likewise, their Blu-ray release of ZAZEL seems to have suffered a similar fate. Fortunately, this Blu-ray title looks and sounds good, though the picture is a bit soft and the music score sometimes buries the dialogue in the audio mix, which is presented in plain stereo. The Behind The Scenes featurette is presented in standard definition, and it shows. Directed by Jade Marcella, her annoyingly shaky camera captures a couple of quickie interviews, but the colors looked washed out and pixilation and other digital artifacts show up often. Other bonuses include trailers for BABES ILLUSTRATED 7, MORE THAN A HANDFUL 17, CHOCOLATE MILF 3, and TEXAS VIBRATOR MASSACRE. All are presented in widescreen high definition with solid images, but the TEXAS VIBRATOR MASSACRE seems to have been cut short and ends abruptly (which I don't believe was intentional).

Good, solid feature films are becoming more of a rarity in adult, so it's gratifying to watch an ambitious video like TABOO 23, which meets the high expectations for quality hardcore and lives up to the title's legacy. Highly recommended.