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THE WITCHES OF SAPPHO SALON
Male nerds can be cute, but they aren't ever hot...at least not in real life. 99% of erotic titles I've seen portray the nerd as being hot...an adonis rock hard with muscle and trendy pretty-boy looks - a pornographic Clark Kent hiding behind a pair of wire-rims. Trust me guys, we aren't hot. That kind of misrepresentation of my kind annoys the hell out of me. Us true geeks have about as much a chance of scoring women like those in Tony Marsiglia's THE WITCHES OF SAPPHO SALON as Bush Jr. does at getting re-elected.
Produced by Michael Beckerman
Directed by Tony Marsiglia
Written by Bruce G. Hallenbeck
Director of Photography - Dang LenawaeJanet - Elizabeth Grace
Tanith - Brigitte Eves
Bridget - Elina Bellbrook
Leon - Uncredited??
As much as I hate to say it, that's the biggest criticism I can lay on Tony Marsiglia's THE WITCHES OF SAPPHO SALON...even in fantasy films I've got to be reminded that us ugly guys can't score if our life depended on it. Only "hot" geeks can make it in the movies.
Damn you Marsiglia.
All kidding aside, Marsiglia is arguably the best director Seduction Cinema currently has under their wings. His earlier 2003 release, DR. JEKYLL & MISTRESS HYDE has been called the best title SC has ever released and his SIN SISTERS isn't doing too badly in the review department either.
Marsiglia's recent work has a professionalism and visual style not found in many of the other SC directors. That's his stock in trade, good-looking movies. Director's like Terry West worked with story, LEGEND OF THE G-STRINGS and WITCHBABE both had their comedic elements placed in the spotlight and unfortunately suffered visually. SAPPHO SALON suffers verbally, but looks damn nice. Perhaps Tony should direct one of Terry's scripts.
Before I go on, I want to give you readers a quick history lesson which SAPPHO SALON scribe Bruce Hallenback is smartly aware. In ancient times, Sappho was a poet who grew up on the island of Lesbos. Later in life, Sappho created a school for girls that catered to poetry. Sappho is known for her sexual appetite for both male and female partners. From the word "Lesbos" we get the modern term lesbian. Today's pagan lesbians use Sappho as a cultural icon blending old world religion with modern day sexual freedom. She's a symbol especially fitting Seduction Cinema's trend toward lesbian action.
If you're still not getting it, "sappho" is "code" telling the aware viewer that they are in for "erotic lesbian" action without the words "erotic" or "lesbian" actually being in the title...a common trend among SC titles.
The action isn't as plentiful as some other SC titles, but there's more plot to make up for it. Hallenback does a fair job of plotting his erotic horror tale (which I was positive was inspired by another much older erotic title with "sappho" and "witches" in the title but ultimately couldn't find any mention anywhere on the net), and the results could have been a product as well received as MISTRESS HYDE, but unfortunately Marsiglia doesn't push his actors until they get the feel of the scene down correctly. The moments and beats feel off, and sometimes downright false - especially those of the geek/stud Leon, a man out to save his would-be girlfriend Janet from a trio of horny witches running a beauty salon. Just because a guy looks sexually appealing doesn't mean he's a good enough actor to play a 25 year old geek virgin. There's just no way I can suspend my disbelief for the full 75 minutes.
Internet research informs me that SAPPHO SALON was lensed in the summer of 2001, perhaps the time between this and MISTRESS HYDE allowed Marsiglia to hone his directing skills to work with actors more effectively. Compared to MISTRESS HYDE, SAPPHO feels like a step in reverse for Marsiglia. With MISTRESS HYDE he proved he can pull credible performances from those he works with.
The girls are on par with many of SC more popular starlets, not Playboy actress enhanced, but girl-next-door natural like Seduction regulars Darian Caine or Ruby Larocca. As actresses, they act circles around their male counterparts and are able to bring a sense of strong-willed sexiness to their roles that make them all the more enticing.
While not Marsiglia's best work, with THE WITCHES OF SAPPHO SALON he proves that he's able to better the majority of Seduction titles, such as the effortless productions VAMPIRE'S SEDUCTION or CARESS OF THE VAMPIRE 2.
Continuing a trend that Seduction Cinema's parent company EI Cinema started with SC's sister lables, the SAPPHO SALON dvd comes with a second bonus movie dealing with the theme of witchcraft, Eric Black's THE WITCHING...a movie I've wanted to see for 10 years ever since it was first mentioned on early issues of Alternative Cinema. With any luck, EI will be able to release many more of those older catalogue titles to compliment their modern counterparts and illustrate just how far we've come in terms of the respectability and the technology surrounding the world of shot-on-video cinema.