Ass Collector, The

After recently watching Rocco Siffredi's great performance in The Fashionistas, I decided it was time to go back and look at 2002's other film for which Rocco was getting great praise, The Ass Collector - which Rocco also directed. And while I didn't like the film quite as much as The Fashionistas, there's little doubt after watching the two why women who enjoy porn tell me that Rocco is one of their favorite performers - the guy has screen presence, and he is also one of the better actors in the adult business.

The appeal of The Ass Collector comes not so much from its overall story (which seems to lose its way towards the end of the film), but with the fact that it's unlike almost anything we've seen in adult before. Borrowing themes from such mainstream hits as Kiss The Girls and The Cell, The Ass Collector is one of the "darkest" adult movies I have ever seen, and it doesn't shy away from a mixture of violence and sex...something so many other studios are afraid to explore.

The film begins with Rocco (playing a cop) on the trail of a serial killer (played by Chris Knight...no, not The Brady Bunch guy!). He's finally tracked him down to an abandoned tower, but at the last minute, the killer gets away. We discover that Chris has been capturing victims and keeping them in an underground lair, where he has hoses hooked up to them that presumingly make them all part of his collective mind (kind of like Star Trek's Borg...but not quite).

Meanwhile, Rocco is so obsessed with finding the killer that he too seems to be drawn into the killer's mind, fantasizing about degrading and having sex with one of the victims, which he gets a blowjob from, has ride him anally in the reverse cowgirl position, and then unloads onto her face.

A police psychologist played by Melinda Casta is called in to help Rocco with the case, and he decides to send her undercover into a fetish club that may have some attachment to the killer. Once there, Melinda walks by an assorted array of kinky sex - including both a bit of gay action and sex involving older women (I'm just warning viewers...lest they be turned off by this few seconds of kinkiness). She makes her way to the back of the club where she gets involved in a mini-gangbang with about five other guys. After the sex is over, however, the killer arrives to capture Melinda and has her taken to his lair.

But Rocco is on the move and chases down Chris Knight (who is riding a motorcycle) with his car. However, Chris isn't giving up the location of Melinda or the other female captives, so Rocco finds himself taking Chris to a scientist who apparently has been experimenting with a device that reads peoples thoughts - and this is apparently where Chris got the technology that he is using on his female prisoners (the movie is less than clear about the connection).

So, in a group of scenes that seem to be taken straight out of The Cell, Rocco and Chris are hooked up to the scientist's equipment, where Rocco enters the mind of Chris for a number of fantasy sequences, including one where we find out that a young Chris saw his mother being fucked by three other guys - followed by a reverse gangbang scene where Rocco is lathered up with oil and taken control of by almost a dozen women.

Of course, Rocco finally finds out where the women are and rescues them, but there is more than a hint that he has been forever changed by his experiences. The movie closes with a scene that takes place two years after the events of the film - and one in which a masked Rocco gets kinky with Melinda and two other women.

Evil Angel has gone out of their way to provide some nice bonus material for this DVD set. In addition to the main disc (which contains a chapter selection, fetish menu, photo gallery, 5.1 Dolby sound, two trailers and a cast list), the title comes with a second DVD loaded with bonus material including a lengthy "Making Of" featurette, extended sex scenes, filmographies and more. The DVD set also includes a separate CD soundtrack from the movie.

The Ass Collector represents exactly the kind of features that the adult industry should be trying to make. It's bold, it's daring and it doesn't fail to arouse when the time for the sexual action comes in the course of the movie. It's not the best adult film I've seen, but it's one of the most original - and for that, I highly recommend it as must-see viewing.

Looking past the hype is never easy with big budget productions. In fact, many times the hype itself often kills a movie by building audience expectations that can never be fulfilled. Coming from Rocco Siffredi, I'm not at all surprised that The Ass Collector rises above all this, delivering the best feature I've seen in the last few years. The story borrows heavily from mainstream films like Silence of the Lambs and The Cell as Rocco plays the diligent detective who takes it upon himself to enter the mind of a psychopath, played to the hilt by Chris Knight. While the story seems a bit like your usual mainstream-to-porno retread, the cast and crew pull everything together in a credible manner, creating a serious tone from the opening minutes and maintain it throughout.

There are nine sex scenes in all, but they aren't spooned out in the predictable pattern seen in most contemporary features. Instead they flow from the story. Such is the case in the first scene where Chris Knight gets friendly with one of his latest catches, played by Jazmin; you may remember her as Szabina, the 18 year old from Buttman's Big Tit Adventure #5. Anyway, this scene marks the first moment the audience gets to see the Ass Collector's lair; a large industrial-like setting with twelve tables each adorned by a naked girl. He may be crazy, but at least he has good taste! Later, Manuel Ferrara (Rocco's partner) is tasked with taking statements from three gorgeous girls (Barbarella, Ludmylla and Mia Stone) but is understandably sidetracked when they begin flashing him. This is a pretty hot scene with plenty of anal, some A2M, and an equally dispersed pop shot at the end. Next, there's a brief scene between Tiffany and a masked man in a tower; the same tower seen in the movie's dramatic opening.

In one of the more memorable sequences, Rocco convinces a criminal psychologist (Melinda Casta) to infiltrate a rave in hopes of uncovering the identity of the Ass Collector. Dressed in nothing more than a black rubber dress, the camera follows Melinda as she walks through the bizarre collection of ravers. Eventually Melinda's presence draws the attention of Franco Roccoforte and a few of his colleagues. This results in a great gangbang scene. After plenty of groping and requisite sucking, Melinda eventually opens her petite little ass for some backdoor prodding. The scene concludes as the guys fire off their loads in succession, mostly splashing her in the face.

Although I enjoyed each scene, Rocco's fantasy sequence with ten girls has to be my favorite. Rocco's no stranger to the reverse gangbang concept, but this scene takes a more stylized approach than his previous gonzo efforts. It starts off with one girl, but the numbers keep increasing until he's totally surrounded by flesh. Things go from great to incredible when the girls each pull out their own bottle of oil and begin squirting it onto Rocco and themselves. The mere sight of this many oiled up bodies in close proximity to one another is simply amazing. It's immediately unclear who Rocco touches and who he doesn't, but there is a fair amount of penetration including some intense anal with Petra Short. While Rocco doesn't get around to each girl before spilling his load in Petra's ass crack, the eye candy of naked bodies bordering the action at all times is still an amazing sight to behold.

The remaining scenes never quite top the incredible visuals of the reverse gangbang, but they're still great scenes full of hot action. In the slaughterhouse scene, Chris Knight is joined by Manuel Ferrara, Dana, Susa and Laura. The action is nicely framed here offering a nice mix of wide and close shots as Manuel and Chris pound their way through some prime ass. The same is the case for the following scene where Chris crowns Melinda as his queen, by thoroughly defiling her ass and performing an unusual but symbolic pop shot. The last scene is the most removed from the storyline, but it's still a welcome sight. It involves Rocco, Melinda, Monik, and Viki. Although shorter than most of his gonzo efforts, Rocco still manages to fill this scene with plenty of ass slamming action, with Monik and Viki on the receiving end.

Sure, the sex is great, but that's expected with any Rocco production. What really puts this movie over the top are the stunning production values and innovative visuals. Let's face it, how many pornos have flying helicopters, multiple locations, choreographed fight scenes, and car/motorcycle chases? These aren't whimsical additions, but rather significant elements carefully implemented to propel the storyline. Equally impressive is the camera work, handled by veteran Jack Remy. As covered in the supplementary behind the scenes footage, this wasn't an easy shoot. Working with extras, environmental factors, and intense personalities is never easy, but the crew improvised to make each scene look just right. Their efforts paid off in a big way, resulting in one of the best looking features of the year.

There's no doubt the high production values help sell the story, but so does the surprisingly good acting. In addition to fulfilling his porn star duties, Chris Knight turns out one of the best acting performances in recent memory. Like the screenplay, his cross-dressing character is a composite drawn from a long lineage of cinematic psychos. Still, he brings a unique spark to the title character and craftily avoids the pitfalls of pushing too far. In retrospect, his performance is even more remarkable due to the fact that the movie's credibility hinges on his ability to pull off the role. Knight inhabits this role as well as (if not better than) most mainstream actors. It'd be shame if he were forgotten when the awards are handed out in the next few months.

Speaking of awards, the DVD for The Ass Collector is bound to draw some attention as well. Originally captured on BetaCam, the video was then digitized for editing and left in the digital realm for the DVD transfer. The result is a crisp image that approximates the quality of film, without the inherent downside of graininess. The DVD also marks Evil Angel's first foray into utilizing the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround format. Most adult DVDs that feature true surround sound never exploit the full potential of the format. But this DVD offers a wide range of sounds readily heard in each surround channel. Secondary sound effects like echoed moans, dripping water, and passing helicopters can be easily heard in the periphery. For the most part, the mix is about as good as something you'd hear in a mainstream release.

Like some other recent big budget productions, this DVD comes packed with extras in a two-disc set. The centerpiece is an amazing 78-minute behind the scenes featurette. This covers just about every aspect of the on-set production process, showing the cast and crew at work on each of the major sets. It's not until after watching this that you'll truly begin to appreciate the amount of work that went into making this feature. On top of that great extra, there's also about 30 minutes of bonus footage taken from a few of the sex scenes. Rounding out the discs are the usual fetish menu, photo galleries, filmographies and bios. But most striking of all is the addition of a third disc containing the movie's soundtrack. While I probably won't be adding this to my CD changer anytime soon, its inclusion helps establish this as one of the most complete DVD packages yet produced by any adult production company.

The Ass Collector delivers on all its promises while raising the bar for all future features. Some hardcore Rocco fans will probably flee on sight of any semblance of a story, but those who stick around will be treated to a number of nasty encounters worthy of the Italian Stallion's name. If that's not enough, the DVD presentation is outstanding, earning high marks in all categories, resulting in my first perfect score for any DVD I've reviewed thus far. I know it sounds cliché, but this is about as good as it gets.

After reading the reviews of The Ass Collector, I purchased this DVD to see what the hype was about. I'm glad I did since this is an excellent flick. Normally, I could care less about a plot in an adult movie. And while Clint Eastwood's fame as Dirty Harry is safe, Rocco did a decent job acting as the cop pursuing a psychotic "ass collector" in the movie. The quality of the video is top notch. The movie does an excellent job of drawing the viewer into the world of the "ass collector," a guy who lost his marbles a long time ago. The sex scenes are definitely hardcore with anal and plenty of quality facials. The women are hot and the sex is fantastic, so get this disc!

I'm not a fan of Rocco and usually not a buyer of features (I prefer gonzo), but frankly this is one of the best productions I have ever seen. Forget the helicopter, the guns and all other big budget accessories - the storyline and, above all, the sexual action makes this movie a must-see!

This will be a classic, for sure. The story is great and the sex is out of this world!