Night Trips

NIGHT TRIPS was a landmark movie when it first appeared back in 1989, and it still holds up today. There are many elements which make this gorgeously shot-on-film production a must for every blue film collector, even if this DVD edition by Caballero (taking over David Entertainment's production) is somewhat disappointing. It really is no better than the initial David Production, which was no better than the original laserdisc release. Still, it's good to have NIGHT TRIPS available in the best available video, even if the DVD deserves a "Criterion Collection" type of packaging. I do regret that Caballero could not see fit to add more extras, such as the cable TV cut of the movie (which in fact, has shots taken from different angles and additional action [like Tanja and her beau engaged in some prolonged tongue-kissing]). It's extras like that which would go a long way with customer appreciation, but oh well...

Over a decade ago, NIGHT TRIPS thrusted lead actress Tori Welles into the superstar limelight, and introduced director Andrew Blake as one of porn's most prominent film-makers. Since that time, Tori has gone on to legendary status despite her somewhat limited appearances in other movies (for some of her best work, I heartily recommend VCA's THE CHAMELEON). Andrew Blake, of course, has gone on to greater fame with fantastic works such as LES FEMMES EROTIQUES, HIDDEN OBSESSIONS, PIN-UPS 2 and so forth. But even ten years later, this film still stands out as one of the all-time best.

Plot-wise, the film borrows the familiar "virtual reality/dream" device which has always been a common theme used in the history of porn movies. But the difference here is the presence of dark-haired, Latino beauty Tori Welles, who is not only stunning to look at, but also performs with more heat and passion than even the best porn starlet working today. She is in three of the movie's six scenes, and while the other non-Tori scenes are uniformly excellent, her work is never less than superb.

Fortunately for the viewer, Andrew Blake's camera captures every inch of her amazing body, as well as every action and reaction in her energetic sex scenes. Her lesbian tryst with Porsche Lynn and the beautful Jamie Summers is incredibly passionate, and there is nothing more erotic than to see her kiss her two partners alternately with an intensity that will make you sweat. Tori and Peter North share a darkly-tinted scene where the two fuck in every position imaginable, and Tori engulf's his cock with her pussy and her mouth as though she were a predator. Their scene ends with a perfectly aimed facial which is filmed spectacularly in slow-motion. Mr. North literally cums in buckets (after all that action with Tori, who can blame him?) and he sprays all over her lovely face like a geyser. It's an incredible sight that will take your breath away. However, Mr. Blake manages to generate even more heat in her last scene, where Tori gets her way with "Doctor" Randy Spears. Here, we get a close-up side shot of Tori slowly unbuckling Randy at crotch level, her glamorous hair flowing down to her shoulders, her sultry eyes teasingly stealing glances up at her partner, and her luscious mouth pouting in anticipation. With the utmost calm and ease, she casually places his relaxed cock into her mouth and proceeds to give the best blow-job ever captured on film --- slow and playful at first, then fast and hungry as he gets harder. The camera never moves or breaks away except when panning in for super close-ups, and then out again to capture Tori's lovely face. After some manic missionary position fucking, Randy cums on her face for a completely satisfying ending. The real problem with this movie is deciding which scene will be your all-time favorite!

As for the rest of the scenes, Tanja DeVries makes it with her average-sized partner in the film's opening sequence. Victoria Paris shares an interracial outdoor scene with Ray Victory, and "Doctors" Randy Spears and Porsche Lynn play doctor on a couch. Tori is an observer to all the vignettes, and she looks sexy as hell as she touches herself while all the action is going on. This is one of those movies where every scene is worth watching for Tori alone. All the production are in place for this movie: the minimalist "New Age"-type music is perfectly scored for each scene, the alternating black and white and high contrast color photography adds depth to the action, and of course, the star of the movie makes it all a simply fantastic 75 minute viewing experience.

Now, here's the kicker: as great as this movie, is, I found NIGHT TRIPS 2 to be even better and it remains my all-time favorite porno of all time! Starring Paula Price and featuring the incredibly beautiful Lauren Hall, this DVD is also available from Caballero and should be purchased together.

Believe me, assuming you can sustain the physical energy, you won't regret watching the NIGHT TRIPS series in its entirety. For the main features alone (and discounting the lack of extras), there is no other pair of adult DVDs out there that I could recommend more highly.

WARNING: This DVD is incomplete. Scene 2 (one of the best) is cut off before the "ending". If you want to see the complete movie, which I highly recommend, you should only purchase the Video On Demand download version.

Tori Wells smokes in this flick! Along with Jamie Summers, Victoria Paris and a handful of other hot 80's chicks, Tori sizzles with her typical brand of all-out "rock the jock" sex. Her coupling with Peter North has always been one of my favorites. Despite the great sex scenes, Caballero dropped the ball when it came time to put this flick on DVD. The chapter selection is very limited and the transfer is very grainy. This was one of Andrew Blake's hotter earlier sex flicks but it lost quite a bit when it hit DVD. Hopefully someone will one day do this film justice and put it our properly so we can enjoy it in all its original glory. It still has just enough spark and sizzle for me to recommend it to couples though; just don't expect crystal clear images and forget about jumping from one scene to another.

I want to recommend this disc. I really do. But Caballero has dropped the ball, big time.

The heart of the problem is the encoding of the disc. Each DVD works on a concept of titles and chapters. The movie, on a normal disc, is a single title, usually title #1, and then is broken up into chapters that you can then skip through using your remote. This disc, however, was not encoded that way. Each chapter is encoded as its own title. This is a bad thing. It means you cannot simply use the skip button to jump to the next sequence. You must either fast forward through each title to get to the next one, or go into the menu, select one of the titles from the menu, and then fast forward through that title to find the scene you're looking for, as there is usually more than one sex act on each title. This is substandard work. You expect the need to fast forward with VHS, not with DVD. You might as well be watching a videotape. There is also the added insult of a freeze in the video each time it transitions from one title to another.

On top of that problem, the video quality itself is fairly bad. The packaging indicates that the film has been digitally remastered, but if that's the case, I'd hate to see what it looked like prior to the remastering. Everything looks murky.

The film itself is very good, one of Blake's best; though I find the storyline annoying at times, I can't deny that the sex is fantastic. Still, I recommend this disc solely for those die-hard Blake fans that are compelled to own all his releases.

Perhaps, one day, the rights will come into the hands of Studio A, who could surely do the disc a finer justice than it has received thus far. In the meantime, enjoy it for the subpar release that it is.