Sweet Summer Sex Kittens

SUMMER SEX KITTENS was directed by Jim Holliday --- which means plenty of bright, colorful scenes of VCA contract girls having sex professionally, if not mechanically, for the sake of yet another eccentrically themed video. If you've seen SORORITY SEX KITTENS, PART 3, PERFECT SMILES, CAR WASH ANGELS or whatever else Jim has had his hands on, then you'll know exactly what kind of video your getting with SUMMER SEX KITTENS...and you'll either embrace or avoid it, depending on how you feel about the work and obnoxious appearances of this bespectacled, bearded, self-proclaimed porn historian. Long-time sidekick Jill Kelly is easy on the eyes whenever they are together, usually talking about some sort of nonsense in a desperate attempt to be offhanded and witty, or else merely setting up the scenes which mercifully take us away from Jim's on-screen ego (Is there a reason why he feels compelled to show himself in every one of his videos? A cameo appearance a la Alfred Hitchcock would be tolerable, but everywhere I scan on this DVD, he shows up, as if to haunt me).

Of eight sex scenes on this disc, one-half are lesbian affairs, with the other four being straight guy-girl encounters. Rest assured, that there is absolutely no build-up or foreplay of any sorts in Jimmy's straight scenes. We start off with a hummer, and merge into little cunnilingus and butt-licking (just to be different), then dive some pretty athletic sex in various positions, and end with a cum-shot that lands as far away from the girl's face and mouth as possible. And if you just love seeing latex in your fucking scenes, then you'll be happy to know that there are condoms on each and every hard-on. I have no idea why Mr. Holliday believes that a tired premise or theme (car washing, sororities, cheerleaders, blah, blah, blah...) is enough to build atmosphere or tension for a series of sex scenes, but for some reason he relies completely on novelty as the basis for the rather uninspired fucking and sucking. And apparently, his videos sell like hot cakes! Go figure...

Tabitha Stevens who is known for her hard body and rather large teeth, performs in two guy-girl scenes, neither of which are anything spectacular. Other than the tan lines on her body (which probably came from a tanning booth), there is nothing to indicate that her scenes have anything to do with the climate, despite the title of the movie. She takes on anal sex without a hitch, and gives head like a pro, and even performs the unusual act of licking at her toes after a guy cums all over her foot (a "feet" performed much better by Tiffany Mynx in SODOMANIA: TALES OF PERVERSITY). But her scenes are indistinguishable from almost any other Jim Holliday directed straight scene. The same goes for Jill Kelly, who thankfully performs with some guy other than the former Mr. Paula Price. The direction, lighting, and camera angles are virtually the same as in any guy-girl scene, and quite frankly, the end results can be awfully dull. Sometimes, a superior sex starlet like Inari Vachs, Misty Rain or Shayla LaVeux can overcome a movie-maker's lackluster direction, but not in this movie. In fact, because of a nearly complete lack of creativity on Mr. Holliday's part, Inari's usual fiery talents are somewhat subdued in her threesome with Violet Love and Devin Wolf. When a sexual dynamo like Inari is relegated to a ménage a trois that draws almost no reaction from the viewer, then something is definitely wrong with the movie.

On the other hand, the lesbian scenes are generally well done, and feature lots and lots of rim-jobs executed with aplomb by VCA's best contract girls. There really isn't much a director can do to ruin a lesbian scene (though many other videos have tried and have been successful), especially when the women are as attractive as Shayla LaVeaux who does a great, end of movie threesome with Gina Ryder and Allysin Chaynes. Up until their scene, I was ready to give up on this release, but Shayla knows how to please the viewer as well as she pleases her partners. Although a little more prolonged mouth-to-mouth would have been nice, these girls absolutely burn in their "ménage a twats". The other girl-girl scenes feature Gina Ryder, Charmane and Violet Love, and a Felicia and Chloe tryst, both of which are shot outdoors. Dildos, vibrators, fingers and tongues explore all the nether regions of each of the girls' bodies, with the camera perfectly focused in on the action.

Throughout the video, each scene is introduced by Ms. Kelly or Mr. Holliday, as they go from place to place in a pathetic attempt to establish a type of Seymore Butts-Shane/Taylor Hayes/Alisha Klass travelogue exposition. Thank god for the chapter selection function, which allows you to go directly to the sex scenes and bypass their not-so-witty repartee. However, if you are actually amused by their chemistry-less interaction, then you will probably enjoy the extras, which include a "Jim and Jill Show" where they talk to each other like a Regis and Kathie Lee from hell (or rather, a deeper depth of hell). The Jill Kelly interview is mostly a discussion about her director/mentor, but we get to see excerpts of her scenes from the main feature (which are always highly watchable). The Behind The Scenes featurette is a mish-mash of documentary style clips and outtakes from other Jim Holliday features (notice how most of the scenes look just like another scene from a differently themed movie). Finally, the multiple angles feature (which I hate because of that damn on-screen icon) is used frequently throughout the movie, so if you would rather use your right hand to fool around with the buttons on your remote, this DVD can't be beat.

The best thing about this disc is the picture and sound quality, which are absolutely up to VCA's standards of excellence. There are no other DVDs on the market which have the clean, sharp look of a VCA release, and makes the viewing experience an absolute aesthetic pleasure.

SUMMER SEX KITTENS is not the worst Jim Holliday release I have seen, but that is about the highest compliment I can give it. Maybe the sequel will be better...