Debbie Loves Dallas

Debbie Loves Dallas marks Vivid's second release on Blu-ray, and their first release from the Vivid Alt. line, a movie directed by Eon McKai and starring such fan favorites as Charlotte Stokely, Cassidey and Dana DeArmond.

I reviewed the standard DVD version of Debbie Loves Dallas, so I feel I'm in a pretty good position to compare and contrast the two titles, and let potential buyers know whether the Blu-ray version is worth investing the extra porn dollars. In my humble opinion, unless you're a huge fan of Eon's work, it is not...and let me tell you why.

Eon McKai's style is just not made for high definition. Is the picture here sharper than standard DVD? Certainly. But McKai's tendency to soft-light some of his sex scenes; shoot other scenes with a dark, grainy look; and over-saturate some of his other visuals just doesn't translate well to the Blu-ray format. The soft-light scenes come off looking no better than standard DVD; the grainier scenes really show the grain; and when McKai amps up some of the colors, what looks neat on standard DVD becomes almost overbearingly brighter in high-definition. So it's not so much a bad transfer as it is evidence that some movies just don't really benefit from going hi-def, and I think the kind of work McKai does is a good example. It would be interesting to see what he'd do with a title only intended for high definition, but Debbie Loves Dallas is just not that movie.

While the picture quality is solid, although - as noted - not really much of a jump up from the standard version for the reasons listed above, the audio here is simply unacceptable for Blu-ray standards. Like the DVD version, the audio here is only presented in 2.0 Dolby, taking absolutely zero advantage of Blu-ray's capabilities when it comes to audio. Like the DVD, this version also includes the feature-length commentary track with Eon McKai and other members of the cast and crew.

As far as the rest of the extras go, the Blu-ray contains exactly the same features that were on the 3-disc standard set, with the exception of the music soundtrack and an promotional piece for "The Doll Underground", neither which appear here (although there's certainly enough room to include them). So the bonus material consists of the music video for "Play Time"; a one-minute short film entitled "Clean Hands Dirty Photography"; a photo gallery; and six Vivid Alt. trailers. I'm happy to report that, like the movie itself, all the bonus material has been transferred in 1080p hi-def.

And the movie itself? Well, you can read more about each individual scene in my standard DVD review (appearing below), but this is a pretty entertaining McKai flick, that I enjoyed for the sex and the visuals, even if I didn't always understand what was going on (as I note in my standard review, McKai seems to be the new Jim Holliday when it comes to quirky dialogue). Highlights include a studio recording room mini-orgy involving Dana DeArmond, Pixie Pearl and three guys; as well as a blowjob-only scene where Cassidey and Charlotte Stokely see who does the best job of blowing a security guard.

If you love "alt" movies and can afford the upgrade price, you should be happy with the Blu-ray version of Debbie Loves Dallas. However those who already own the standard version or don't want to pay the premium price should know that they're not really missing out on anything if they can only afford the standard DVD.

Somewhere in Porno Heaven, Director Jim Holliday is smiling. His legacy of making fun, fluffy porn featuring beautiful women has been passed on to the next generation - and the next generation's name is Eon McKai.

That's not to say McKai's style is like Holliday's at all...it isn't. While Holliday was into more glamorous look for his female talent, McKai's calling card is the grunge look, or "alt porn" as it has come to be known. But when I hear his actors spouting lines of quirky dialogue in scenes that even David Lynch would have trouble figuring out the meaning of, I can't help but think of Holliday, who used to get his jollies having his female stars saying things you'd never hear them say in any porno other than his own.

McKai's latest movie is the highly anticipated Debbie Loves Dallas, and this one was worth the wait. Instead of following the theme that most of the other Debbie Does Dallas sequels and remakes have in the past, this time around "Dallas" doesn't refer to a city or a football team, but instead a popular group, the lead singer of which all the girls want to fuck.

The two leads of Debbie Loves Dallas are played by Vivid Girl Cassidey (playing "Debbie") and frequent Vivid Alt star Charlotte Stokely (playing "Bambi"), who spend most of the movie working against each other to see which one of them can get into Punky's (the lead singer of Dallas, played by Alex Gonz) pants first.

The other female leads are played by Dana DeArmond and Pixie Pearl, and as the movie opens, all four girls have just come off a video shoot (playing cheerleaders, of course) when they make a visit to Tommy Pistol, who is giving out hot dogs (among other things) out of the back of his van. Dana stays behind to have sex with Tommy in Debbie Loves Dallas' first of seven sex scenes. We get to see Dana take it up the ass doggy style here, and she gets a nice facial at the conclusion.

Like most of Eon McKai's movies, the progression of the story has a lot more to do with visuals and style than it does to do with plot. But as the story progresses, we get to see action between Pixie Pearl and James Deen (on a couch while Cassidey watches); and a wild studio recording room mini-orgy involving Dana, Pixie, and male performers Julius Ceazher, Daniel and Icarus Corpse.

There's a hot blowjob-only sequence when Cassidey and Charlotte both try to get into see Alex, but have to blow the guy guarding the door (played by Justin Syder) so he can decide which one of them sucks the best (this scene ends with a very nice pop into Charlotte's mouth, which she spits onto Cassidey's chest). This is followed by an equally-hot lesbian threesome between Cassidey, Charlotte and Vivid Girl Monique Alexander, who is playing the "original" Debbie from the classic film.

As the movie wraps up, both girls get their wish of being with Alex Gonz's character, starting with Charlotte...although she only gets to blow him, and doesn't even get to stick around long enough for a pop-shot. Cassidey's scene is much more satisfying, as she goes one-on-one with Alex in a hotel bedroom, although I was disappointed that the cumshot was onto Cassidey's feet instead of her face or chest.

Debbie Loves Dallas is a 3-disc set, with the first disc containing the movie (presented in anamorphic widescreen with 2.0 Dolby) and a feature-length commentary track with Eon McKai, Dana DeArmond and some other members of the cast and crew.

Disc Two contains the majority of the bonus material, including the music video for "Play Time" (4 minutes); a short film entitled "Clean Hands Dirty Photography" (1 minute) which is just footage from the movie of a photographer taking photos of a dead body; "The Doll Underground," an 8 ½-minute softcore featurette that's basically a promo for one of Eon McKai's upcoming (and still seemingly shrouded in mystery) projects. Disc Two also contains 6 Vivid Alt trailers and a photo gallery of pictures taken by Eon himself.

Disc Three isn't a DVD at all, but rather a CD containing 6 tracks of music from the movie. "Play Time" is once again included here as one of the musical selections.

I'm not going to say I understood everything going on in every scene of Debbie Loves Dallas, but there's more than enough hot sex and bonus goodies on this set to make this title part of your collection.