Wild Goose Chase

Before he stunned the industry with BUTTMAN'S ULTIMATE WORKOUT, and prior to dazzling audiences with his two part FACEDANCE epics, the dirty mind of John Stagliano sent us on an erotic journey with WILD GOOSE CHASE, the multi-award winning feature film which elevated and confirmed his status as adult's most gifted director. A former actor in erotic entertainment, Stagliano first hinted at his filmmaking genius due to his patented "roving camera" techniques first popularized in videos like SURFSIDE SEX and continuing with THE ADVENTURES OF BUTTMAN. Since then, he has built a studio known as the Evil Empire which gives fans some of the most athletic and arousing hardcore ever imagined in a video.

Along with HIDDEN OBSESSIONS and FACEDANCE, WILD GOOSE CHASE is one of a triple crown collection of the finest adult film of the nineties, as well as one of the best pornos ever made. The tongue in cheek storyline is simple, but effective in carrying out the sex scenes, and amuses with a satirical wit (combining, among other genres, a detective story with wrestling, a plastic goose and butts galore) uncommon in films with this level of ambition. Joey Silvera (who is now a member of the Evil Empire with successes like SERVICE ANIMALS #4 under his belt) plays a private dick hired to find a missing girl, in the fine form of Julianne James, a former Vivid Girl known for temporarily taking over the "Brat" role from Jamie Summers during the early nineties. Like a horny Indiana Jones, Silvera (or "Sal" as his character is called) takes the viewer on adventures into the sexual unknown.

Using 35mm cinematography, John Stagliano skillfully combines his gonzo style into a feature film presentation, and loses very little in the technical translation. The look of film gives WILD GOOSE CHASE a visual style and depth of field only recently approached by high definition video. The images on this film are far more pleasing to the eye than the flat look of video. The disarmingly dynamic movements of his camera as it surveys, scans, stops and stares at the female form (particularly on the posterior) gives us a true first person perspective of the action. It's exactly how our eyes would take in the scene as if it were performed live before us.

If nothing else, this film gives generation XXX viewers a chance to watch some overlooked adult talents of yesteryear in all-out hardcore action including Tamara Lee, K.C. Williams and Patricia Kennedy. However, the sequences which truly standout in this leisurely paced flick include a one-on-one office affair with Angela Summers, who makes her first blue cinematic appearance here. Looking glamorously sexy with her big hair, fine figure and pre-surgically enhanced front end, she deep throats and bends over for Silvera in what remains one of the hottest scenes in her short career. A pre-rhinoplasty Candace Hart (who later changed her pseudonym of Caroline Monroe) gets banged by her guy on a couch, but his emaciated form may be a bit distracting to those viewers who are used to the usual muscle-head studs pumped up on iron (and steroids?). Jeanna Fine has a threesome in what is arguably the best scene in the whole film: she gets tag teamed by Sean Michaels and TT Boy, while Silvera gets pinned down by a few X-rated gorgeous ladies of wrestling. Ms. Fine ends up taking Michael's pet snake deep down her throat, which will make even the most jaded viewers wide-eyed and amazed.

And of course, there's the starlet of the movie, Julianne James, who gives a career best performance here. Voluptuously built and packed with more curves than a sine wave, she looks angelic in a tight white dress and white pumps, and Staglano's teasing way of making her work for fellatio is what gives this movie its erotic charge. The overall effect of her scenes, including a movie-ending tryst with Joey Silvera, make this film hotter than a July afternoon in the Nevada deserts.

Though the inherent graininess in the original film is unavoidable, the DVD picture is never looks anything less than above average (and certainly better than many other shot-on-film projects, like those from Vivid), and the image is generally crisp and clean, without the cheesy look you get from non-high definition video. In the ten years since this film was released, I must have gone through two or three original videotape copies which naturally deteriorated due to massive repeat playback. The monophonic audio, while certainly less dynamic than most modern productions, is clear and distinct with intelligible dialogue. The unavoidably dated audio and picture are the only elements which prevent this movie from earning a perfect rating across the board.

Along with the presentation of the main feature, the remainder of this DVD is excellent. Producer Tricia Devereaux has succeeded in getting this film the Criterion Collection treatment it deserves. And at last, having this movie on a single videodisc with director's commentary is something not even laserdisc would dare offer. I won't spoil this entertaining extra, especially since the director is more than open to "tear apart" his film for the viewing audience.

But rather than providing a voice over on a separate audio track running with the film, WILD GOOSE CHASE presents a featurette with the director on camera as he watches the movie on a monitor (much like he and Tricia Devereaux did in FACE DANCE). This method gives him the opportunity to pause and search the flick and tell extended stories, confess admissions of error, and offer refreshingly honest bits of self-criticism. To me, this type of film commentary is more effective and preferable over the standard DVD delivery of a director's discussions, which tend to miss points of interest and don't allow for in-depth details while the film is running. This segment in WILD GOOSE CHASE runs less than an hour and doesn't cover every single minute of the movie, but what we do get is far more informative and interesting than most of the meandering, anecdote-laden chitchat common in special edition DVDs (mainstream as well as adult).

The remaining extras are plentiful and a pornophile's dream cum true. You get lots and lots of well-selected production and behind the scenes stills, which may not satisfy your craving for a "making of..." documentary, but of course, Stagliano's commentary supplements the movie superbly.

What else can one say about one of the finest adult feature films of all time? It's hard to offer any valid criticism to a work as groundbreaking and well-regarded such as this one, especially when there really isn't anything to complain about. WILD GOOSE CHASE stands the test of time, and is the film to get for anyone who has not yet been exposed to John Stagliano's genius.