Malice In Lalaland

In a spectacular sensory overload, Malice in Lalaland breaks out of the box built by mainstream pornography over the last twenty years, entering a chamber of intense psychological stimulation. Absolutely breathtaking from the very beginning, this film is an onslaught of vivid colors, creative cinematography, incredible sex, and intelligent writing. From this point on, pornography will never be the same.

Opening on Malice (Sasha Grey)'s escape from her room in the Asylum, we watch her find her way out thanks to a little help by the Rabbit. Huddling behind the pipe work of the boilers she fights the security guard, Jabbowski (played by the legendary Dirty Fred), and eventually slides down the Rabbit Hole, which in this case may be a garbage chute.

Out into the barren desert away from the Asylum she drops, wearing only a robe and bunny slippers. She follows her Rabbit friend out into the horizon while back at the Asylum Mrs. Queenie (the incredible Andy San Dimas) participates in deeply erotic BDSM to a "Guttermouth-meets-a-pyschobilly-Jon Spencer Blues Explosion" soundtrack. The music here is excellent, intense, and nervous; perfectly fitting for the sex and emotion presented in this scene.

As the film unfolds one thing becomes increasingly apparent; they spent a hell of a lot of time on this film. While many of the 'Big Budget Releases' over the last year have shown the obvious touch of a director that started out strong and then ran low on time, Malice in Lalaland is in all sense a perfectly polished product. The attention to detail is outstanding, the sex is phenomenal, the costuming is superb, the locations are stunning, and above all the camerawork is crazy good.

When it comes to big releases I have seen it all, and usually they're all hype with terrible filler inside. Malice stands out, away from the crowd. This is an excellent, near perfect, comic book-meets-pornographic-fairytale, piece of fuck-fiction. With spectacular sex, great music, and seriously ingenious plot work, this is the kind of film you can jack-off to alone, or show at a gathering of intellectually-minded perverts. If you don't see it soon, you're gonna be late to the party!

Dr. Chauntelle does not use a rating system. Five stars is a default setting only.

Oh man - when I first heard about Malice In Lalaland (2010), a cracked out porno-style take on Alice in Wonderland, I was intrigued. I got super excited about Malice when I saw some still shots of the elaborate, almost-too-eerie-for-me costumes and animation. And when I came across a copy of the film a couple weeks ago, I totally thought I had scored!!

But after I actually watched the film, all I have to say is... meh.
Here's the gist: Malice (Sasha Grey) is being held in some sort of mental institution-looking place. Rabbit subsequently helps her escape from Dr. Queenie (Andy San Dimas) and her orderly/lackey Jabbowski (Dirty Fred).

For the duration of the film, Malice has all sorts of mis/adventures and interacts with a series of pornofied Alice in Wonderland characters, all while being chased by the increasingly agitated Jabbowski. In the end, Jabbowski has Malice cornered in a café, and Queenie shows up with a shot of something psychedelic that turns her and Malice into cartoons... only she's not Queenie anymore, she's a red devil; and she's not Andy San Dimas anymore either, she's Jenna Presley... for a second. The last five minutes of the film make very little sense.

Now I know that this film has gotten great reviews already, so maybe I'm missing something. The character of Chester Katz (Keni Styles) and the scenes centered on the Mad Hatter's party - a series of doors, each leading to an interesting snap of sexual delight - are rather clever takes on Alice.

And speaking of Chester Katz, I loved Keni Styles in this movie. He was hilarious and unsettling as a human porno Hunter S. Thompson-like Cheshire cat. Plus, he did a masterful job in a boy-girl with Sasha Grey and in a three-way with Julez Ventura and Sadie West - way to live the dream for the Asian dudes, brother!! And the Kagney Linn Karter/Alan Stafford scene was interesting - they fuck in the back of a station wagon, and the way it's shot gives you a feeling of spying (oooh... voyeurism!).

But still... meh! The sex really wasn't all that great, especially given all the hype Malice and Miss Lucifer have gotten in that respect. Sasha Grey doesn't really do anything very Sasha Grey-like. Maybe it's wrong of me to always expect something crazy from that girl, but I do... especially when she's wearing an Alice costume. And, honestly, I felt a little cheated out of some Jenna Presley - the box art makes it seem like you're going to get to at least see her in all her devilishness, but you don't... not really.

So I don't know about you, Malice In Lalaland... maybe I had too high of hopes, but I can honestly say I preferred Tim Burton's take over Lew Xypher's.

Recommended for: bunny aficionados, people who want to see Asian guy talent awesome with an English accent!!, and those rare few who appreciate deep east Palmdale scenery.

Within no more that the first 30 seconds of Malice in Lalaland, it becomes abundantly clear that what you're watching is something unlike any porn film ever made.

Hurtling at you with a psychotropic maelstrom of animation, live action and a growling bass track, it delivers right off on the promise of its fantastical, ultra-slick box art, and just gets better from there. And yes, it is a film, maybe or maybe not the last full 35mm one this industry will produce, but either way, one that utilizes the format to more bravura effect than just about any other this critic can recollect in his 20-plus years of porn viewing.

Sasha Grey is Malice, a patient in a gloomy mental facility who after sustaining a nasty round of shock treatment, follows a midget in a Donnie Darko-esque rabbit suit down a hole in the basement, which transports her to the warped desert land where she spends the rest of the movie fleeing Jabbowski (non-sex actor Dirty Fred), sycophantic henchman to the sanitarium's warden, Dr. Queenie (Andy San Dimas).

Soon Malice hooks up with the Hunter S. Thompson-modeled Chester Catz (Keni Styles), who helps her stay one step ahead of Jabbowski in exchange for letting him snap a few Polaroids of her ... which quickly leads into one of the most authentically impassioned fuck sessions we've seen Grey perform.

As the odyssey continues, more updated versions of Lewis Carroll's celebrated characters appear: there's "Matt Hatter," porn-directing brothers "Todd and Ted Tweed," and for a Caterpillar surrogate, titty bar proprietor Ron Jeremy.

It's a commonly held (though not all that accurate) perception that the sex in features - especially artistically ambitious ones like this - leaves something to be desired. Not the case here. Aside from the aforementioned Grey/Styles bout, there's a scorching four-way to open the picture with San Dimas, Chayse Evans, Chris Johnson and Danny Mountain; an even hotter three-way toward the end with Styles, Juelz Ventura and Sadie West; and an all-girl three-way between Grey, Alyssa Reece and Kristina Rose that includes an inventive daisy-chain-like stint in which Rose bangs Grey in spoon with a strap-on while Grey does the same to Reece. Oh, but there's more: Kagney Linn Karter works up a pouring sweat in the back of a car with Alan Stafford, and Phoenix Marie gets tag-teamed by Tommy Gunn and Billy Glide, anal throttling including.

Director Lew Xypher proved his chops with his striking, AVN Award-nominated debut release, Hell Is Where the Party Is. With this, only his second effort, he breaks through as a downright prodigy of the craft. The only shame is that thus far, Europe-based Miss Lucifer Productions has only released Malice in the PAL format, so here in the States, it's only viewable on a computer. Still, the packaging alone, with its hardbound covers and attached 20-page booklet of storyboards, still photos and more, makes this an instant collector's item. Here's hoping as many people get a hold of it as any justice would demand.