Tales From The Crack

Okay, I totally dropped the ball on this one. Tales From The Crack has been sitting on my review pile for a few weeks now, but I'd heard no "buzz" around the industry to indicate that this was a title that was in need of my immediate attention. I knew it would be decent - few titles from Evil Angel are truly mediocre - but nobody told me this was the best Evil Angel release we've seen since The Fashionistas. I'm not being dramatic either...Tales From The Crack is quite simply the best porn DVD I've watched since that brilliant masterpiece from director John Stagliano.

Stagliano didn't direct Tales From The Crack, but he did executive produce it and had a lot of say in the direction the title would take (as can be seen on the quite impressive bonus disc in this set that details virtually every aspect of production). Instead, he hired two newcomers to porn - directors John Howard and Scott Philips - whose only real claim to fame prior to this movie was some low-budget mainstream projects and a comic book entitled "Horny Biker Sluts" which caught Stagliano's eye. Looking to take the "Biker Sluts" concept and Staglino's own "Buttman Comics" ideas (which can be seen in a glossy magazine that Evil Angel periodically publishes) and turn them into a full-fledged adult movie, Tales From The Crack isn't the first time that porn has tried to combine erotica with comics, but it's certainly the most successful effort to date.

The movie opens with "biker slut" Belladonna (who has perhaps never looked more appealing in a movie) entering a bar being tended by Steve Hatcher and including patrons Tommy Gunn, Travis Knight and Taylor Rain. The guys in the bar note how familiar Belladonna looks, and they quickly realize that she is the model for the erotic comic books that they like to read. As Steve goes through the comic book at the bar, the movie enters each of the book's fantasies - starting with a vampire scene starring Jayna Oso, Haley Paige and Evan Stone.

You have to give a lot of credit to directors Howard and Philips for what they bring to each scene. Most porn movies forget about the story when the sex scenes are taking place, but to their credit, the directors manage to keep each of their actors in character -as Jayna plays a vampire, Haley plays a diner waitress and Evan plays a vampire hunter. The scene takes place in an alley by a dumpster, and proves to be a quite erotic threesome. Included in the fun is Evan giving anal to both girls - including Haley getting double penetrated, with a purple dildo in her ass and Evan's cock in her pussy.

The next vignette takes us into a doctor's office, where blonde Alicia Rhodes and brunette Mason Storm are playing two very busty nurses who need to tend to some anal troubles that patient Shayna Knight is having. After some hot lesbian fun between the three women, they are joined by "Dr." Claudio Meloni, who takes turns with the girls - usually while the other two are busy in some girl/girl action with each other. There's more anal action in this scene (both with Claudio's cock and with toys), and the fun ends with Claudio jerking onto Mason's face - who then has it licked off by Shayna, followed by a three-way kiss between the girls.

Back at the bar, everyone's pretty worked up by now - most notably sexy slut Taylor Rain who decides to strip down and let both Tommy Gunn and Steve Hatcher have their way with her. Anyone that's seen Taylor in action before knows what a love of anal this petite girl has, and rest assured she gets a good workout from both men during her scene - which ends with a pair of facials.

In the next fantasy sequence, Tiffany Mynx and Roxy Jezel play a pair of cowgirls who heard up Brandon Iron and a few other men and take them back to their ranch...but not before they hog-tie them and rub their asses in their faces (some of the men here are older extras, whom I surprised didn't have a heart attack when the women started rubbing their naked snatches on their faces!). Once back at the ranch, the two girls drag Brandon into a barn, where they essentially have their way with him...perhaps paying Mr. Iron back for all those videos in which he dominated female performers!

Of course, we finally get to see Belladonna in action in the final scene, as she gets it on with Steve Hatcher and Travis Knight. Sitting on a bar stool, she allows Travis to lick and finger her pussy from behind, and then stands up on the bar as she allows him to continue. Eventually she gets down and moves to a pool table, where she allows both men to take turns with her - usually sucking one off (if anyone gives better "wet and sloppy" blowjobs than Belladonna, I don't know who it is!) while the other guy is fucking her. Naturally, we get to see plenty of anal penetration here - including Travis sticking a long black baton into Bella's ass early in the scene.

Evil Angel has gone all-out with the bonus material on this release - starting with a commentary track on Disc One that features Belladonna, Tiffany Mynx, Tricia Devereaux and David Crawford. The first DVD (which holds the movie) also includes filmographies, a cast list, and bios for the Evil Empire, Buttman Magazine and John Stagliano. Those willing to search will also find a cool Easter Egg that takes you to a number of clips featuring Evil Angel director Jonni Darkko. Just for the record, the video transfer of Tales From The Crack is one of the sharpest I've seen in a while (although sadly, Evil Angel chose to shoot in the full-frame format) and the audio is also quite spectacular - giving viewers the option of listening in either 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby.

Over on Disc Two, viewers will be treated to a 50-minute Pre-Production featurette that includes the first meetings between the directors and John Stagliano, as well as the casting sessions for the movie (you'll be surprised by who auditioned and didn't get cast!). There's also an equally-impressive 43-minute Making Of featurette that details the various days of shooting. Also on Disc Two are 7 ½ minutes worth of bloopers; an extended Taylor Rain tease; a directors interview; 5 slide shows; and a fetish menu that allows you to view some of the highlights of the movie. There are also at least two Easter Eggs to be found on this second disc - one which shows some stuff from the shoot, like guys trying to lasso stuff and Roxy Jezel yawning while on set; while the other Egg gives us "The Evan Stone Show" as he tries to explain "the dirty" to the home viewer!

Usually studios build up their upcoming "big" releases with a lot of fanfare and press, but someone must have forgotten to send me (and others) the memo on Tales From The Crack. Regardless, it has now claimed a spot on my DVD shelf as one of "the best of the best" in adult entertainment. Top to bottom, it's one of the best porn DVDs I own, and hopefully it will start to bring in the attention and "buzz" among porn viewers that it deserves. Don't hesitate to pick up a copy today...you'll thank me for it!

Style, hot women, hot sex, and creative vignettes that will keep any porn fan glued to the screen! I had a feeling I was about to witness a masterpiece right from the opening moments, and I was not disappointed. I am not a big comic book fan, but I love comic book art and that type of atmosphere incorperated into films (Pulp Fiction springs to mind, and Tales From the Crack feels like a very Tarentino-like porn flick which is part of why I love it so much). All five sex scenes are mind-blowing and memorable in their own special way, and there are plenty of funny and entertaining moments between the sex to make this a trophy in any porn collection that is worthy of many many repeated viewings. I didn't even get to Disc Two yet, where we witness just about every aspect imaginable of putting the actual film together, as well as a fetish menu, photo galleries, and bloopers.