Mondo Porno

While there are plenty of other adult directors out there who have the ability to film sex with just as much talent as director Antonio Passolini, perhaps no one in the adult industry is making films with sharper wit or more overall "watchability" than he is. The man who has brought us such notable (and award-winning) titles as Raw and Unreal brings us another quality movie in Mondo Porno, a title that pokes a lot of fun at the adult film industry.

Chances are, the more you know about the adult film world and its history, the more you are going to enjoy Mondo Porno. Passolini hires the always-reliable Joel Lawrence to play adult star-turned director Al Prazolamb, who is a guest on a show named "Mondo Porno", which is hosted by the lovely Tina Tyler (in, unfortunately, a non-sex role).

As Joel tells about his career in the industry, we get to see "clips" from his work, starting with his first appearance ever with Chloe. The scene between Joel and Chloe is supposed to be from the 1970's, so not only do we get some "bad dialogue" and Joel in a huge afro, but the scene itself has intentionally been made to look like it is vintage footage - with plenty of "dirt" and defects put into the picture by director Passolini.

Next up is a classic "80's" scene featuring redheaded Ruby and Chris Cannon, which also has the look and feel of 1980's porno. The two play a pair of archeologists searching for "The Missing Link" (wait until you see who it is!) who are starving in the wilderness. Chris offers up some of his own "protein" so Ruby can survive...and you can probably guess what this entails!

My favorite scene in the film is one in which Nikita Denise plays a jewel thief who gets caught by two policemen (Tyce Bune and Pat Myne...doing their best to cover every cop cliché in the book!) and barters her way out of the situation by luring the men into a sexual encounter. Nikita is wearing a black body suit that reveals only her breasts and crotch...and made me wish they'd fire Cameron Diaz and hire Nikita as one of Charlie's Angels! Those expecting a wild scene with Ms. Denise should be more than pleased by her performance here - the second half of which contains plenty of double penetration action and a pair of nice facials to finish off the segment.

A glimpse of Joel's casting couch comes next, as we see him "audition" Mia Smiles for a role in a film. This is a fairly standard sex scene, but fans of Mia shouldn't be upset by what they see here. Mia sucks on Joel's cock and then gets it in the missionary, reverse cowgirl and doggy positions before Joel climaxes on her ass.

If there's a weak point in Mondo Porno, it's with the film's only lesbian sequence, which takes place between Tawny Roberts and Nina Ferrari. Oddly enough, Joel's character bookmarks this scene by stating how lesbian scenes fail to turn him on - and we certainly get one here that failed to turn this viewer on as both women (while attractive) just seem to be going through the motions in their coupling.

Those who enjoy a good gangbang should have fun watching the "mini-gangbang" that occurs between Mercedes Ashley and a jail cell full of prisoners, played by Kyle Stone, Guy DiSilva, Pat Myne and Jay Ashley in Mondo Porno's next to last scene.

Mondo Porno concludes with the screenplay taking a few "shots" at the gonzo industry, and then providing a spoof of a gonzo scene with Chloe playing a "just-turned-18" virgin having sex "for the very first time"! She's paired with Kyle Stone and Steve Hatcher, and of the two Chloe scenes in the movie, this was my favorite - probably because of the double penetration she gets toward the end of the scene!

With such a solid movie, I'm surprised that VCA didn't put more into the bonus features on this disc. We do get a behind the scenes featurette, but it's just some raw footage of a cameraman walking around during the shoot, rather than a more-developed behind the scenes featurette that interviews all of the cast members and tells about how the film came about and was developed. There's also no director's commentary on the DVD, something that I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at, since Passolini hasn't provided commentary on any of his other DVDs, either. Other bonuses include cast bios, a trio of trailers, a slide show and the option to watch a "wall to wall" version of the film - which means you get to see the sex scenes only.

If you've enjoyed Passolini's work in the past, you're probably going to enjoy Mondo Porno. The script is sharp and witty, and the sex is quite enjoyable and should hold up to repeat viewings. So although I wish a little more had been offered in the way of bonuses, Mondo Porno still gets a solid recommendation.