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LUST CONNECTION
Produced by Jim Wynorski
Directed by J.M. Blueberry (a.k.a. Jim Wynorski)
Written by Thaddues Wickwire (a.k.a. Jim Wynorski)
Director of Photography - Claude MoomerSusan/Jenny - Glori-Anne Gilbert
Rick - Frank "Chip" Harper
Detective Blake - Jay Richardson
Sasha - Julie Smith
Molly - Chasey Lain
Cora - Avy Scott
Beth - Monique Parent
As a thriller, LUST CONNECTION isn't very good. It's simplistically written and short on story. As a softcore erotic opus, it's takes Seduction Cinema to a whole new level of pushing softcore to its limits. LUST CONNECTION is about a money shot away from full-on, chubby-pounding porn.
The story is wall to wall sex. Only about the final five minutes are skin free, and Wynorski uses that time to wrap up the simplistic storyline that's barely as excuse to get the parties naked. Well-to-do doctor, Rick, is the scum of the Earth. Barely a day has gone by since he's been married that he hasn't cheated on his beautiful wife, Susan. Thanks to the internet, Frank meets singles and swingers setting up appointments for erotic escapades. To him, the sacred vows of marriage mean absolutely nothing, and that's never more exemplified then when Rick sneaks one of the vixens into his home to bang while his wife is downstairs preparing lunch. Susan dotes on Rick hand and foot while he places his hands and feet (among other things) all over other women. As a viewer, how are we supposed to sympathize with a protagonist so morally reprehensible?
We don't. We aren't supposed to. LUST CONNECTION is the type of film that is meant to entertain on a different level than other, more high-profile Hollywood, erotic thrillers such as BASIC INSTINCT or SLIVER. In those movies, the nudity was incidental to the plot. Here, the nudity is the plot, or at least the point of the movie. We don't sympathize with degenerate protagonists because we're supposed to be preoccupied with the bevy of luscious women parading around naked. Trust me when I say this, there's enough luscious women parading around naked in LUST CONNECTION to distract you from more than complex character dynamics. By diverting viewers attention elsewhere, directors and screenwriters are able to explore the seedier side of humanity.
The women include hardcore pornstar Chasey Lain, a girl so gorgeous that The Bloodhound Gang wrote a song about her; Julie Smith, of Andy Sidaris fame and Wynorski's Go-To Girl for first-rate skin action; and the lovely Monique Parant, never looking more beautiful than she does now as a redhead.
The scenes range from the tasteful and beautifully done, such as the encounter with Monique in a wooded locale, to the carnal, tasteless, and poorly filmed, such as the Lain's showcase where she stares into the camera and mugs for the audience while loverboy Rick drills her from behind.
The thinly veiled plot is a whodunit where Rick tries to clear his name after his wife is murdered. He goes through his list of lovers from his singles website and recounts the encounters. He's sure the murderer is one of this past sexcapades. Is there really someone who couldn't share the paunch that is Dr. Rick, or is Rick really the killer and is only trying to send Homicide Detective Blake on a wild goose chase?
The ending you see coming. The sex scenes you see coming. LUST CONNECTION is by the books formula sexploitation that's delivered with enough gusto and wallop that it doesn't matter if you've seen the same story a thousand times before because the sex is delivered with so much gleeful gusto.
But the gusto is distracting from what's really important about Wynorsky's movie. It's an exploration of what makes a selfish man even more selfish. After his wife is murdered, Rick doesn't mourn her death as much as he mourns the lose of his "good name, " and his first instinct is to clear his name. He's selfish in his sexual appetite, hoarding all the sexual encounters that he can, but when faced with losing everything he's acquired over time, his sense of self-preservation takes over. No rest for the wicked, eh?
The dvd contains a commentary with Wynorksy and Gilbert, and the two never loose sight of the truth, that what they've made is little more than a skin flick. Wynorsky discusses his thoughts on the actresses and what they mean for the biz while Gilbert often comments on the sexiness of the encounters.
Also found on the disc is a Retro-Seduction Cinema stag loop as well as a gigantic Seduction Cinema trailer vault. Delivering more bang for the buck, viewers will also find a second feature included on the disc, the Everette Hartsoe directed NIGHT VAMPS, one of the first shot on video reviewed on B-Indi.