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Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: 6/30/2006
Director: Various
Cast: Various
Year: Various
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The Movie:
While not as recognizable as Larry Flynt or Hugh Hefner, Al Goldstein is never the less an important figure in the adult entertainment industry, having started the notorious SCREW magazine with his partner and only a few dollars to their collective names. Goldstein built the magazine into an empire but as the internet starting eating away at his readership the magazine started getting more and more political and becoming more and more of a mouth piece for the eccentric publisher rather than the smut rag that it started out as.
Eventually, Goldstein would go too far. He left a message for a former secretary of his who quit without giving notice and on the tape he called her various names and threatened to 'take you down' which she in turn reported as a death threat. Goldstein was hauled into court and his already dwindling empire was subsequently yanked out from under him. He was pretty much bankrupt and his life was pretty much in shambles but during his days at the top of the porno industry trash heap he had his own X-rated public access show on New York City cable TV. He's since made a bit of a comeback and, in a way, so has Blue Underground as many fans assumed that their Midnight Blue series was going to end with the fifth release which chronicled Goldstein's rise and fall - not so. Al and crew are back, this time with the Porn Stars of the Nineties (as opposed to the Porn Stars of the Eighties who graced us with their presence in Volume Six) along for the ride.
But enough cutting and pasting from my review of the last entry - let's get to the meat and potatoes of this silly, smutty collection of neurotic nuttiness. Things start off interestingly enough with an interview with the (at the time) lovely Ms. Teri Weigel, who really does look quite enchanting here. She talks about how she got her start in Playboy magazine and how disappointment with the way she was treated there after some time lead to her entry into the world of hardcore pornography. Some nice shots from her pictorials pop up here to emphasize Goldstein's lecherous comments about her appearance as Weigel talks about her life with her man and how she feels about working as a porno movie actress. From there we hear from Veronica Vera who also fills Goldstein in on her work, what she likes about her career, which leads into an amusing sacrilicious bit in which Goldstein plays a preacher and, behind a cross and a Star of David, yells at the audience to give him all their money.
After that, things get weirder as we talk to Holly Ryder and her boyfriend (and one of Goldstein's former college pals), Mr. E.Z. Ryder, an out of shape biker guy who quite his corporate job to ride Harley's and, apparently, Holly too. We get some clips of their work together as Holly tells Al all about how much she loves her life and how proud she is of her work - and then we learn about how she pulled a Lovelace and turned on the industry that made her famous, blaming it for ruining her life and yadda yadda yadda.
Viper's up next as she talks about her life, her tattoos, her piercings, and her 'freakshow work.' Some interesting clips of her accentuate the bizarre as Goldstein sits in front of the camera looking rather puzzled by all of this. It's an interesting interview, however, in that you quickly realize Viper was way ahead of her time in terms of her shaved, tattooed and heavily pierced body. At this point in the adult movie game, this was definitely the exception and not the rule, but not so much anymore. Al takes on the remarkably buxom Christy Canyon next, as he picks her brain about her work for Vivid and what she likes about working in the adult film industry. Christy seems pretty intent on promoting her film, A Portrait of Christy, as she plugs it a few times but otherwise gives Goldstein a pretty honest interview.
Moving right along we're privy to Al's talks with the seemingly eternally youthful Tom Byron, here in full on 'surfer dude' persona, the intelligent and sexy Sharon Kane, and then fine Jeanna Fine, who explains her theories on anal clits and what it's like to be a famous porno star. Jeanna's a bit out there but she's a fun interviewee, as is Al's next subject, Ashlyn Gere, who talks about her work and some of the rougher scenes she's been featured in. Nikki Dial, Randy West and Tiny Tami round out the stars featured in this volume, each following the tried and true Midnight Blue interview format by talking about how they got into the business and what they enjoy about it.
Interestingly enough, Goldstein states unequivocally in this volume that It Happened In Hollywood, a XXX movie in which he starred, did feature work by none other than a young Wes Craven, something that Craven has attempted to distance himself from. Of course, this volume, like all of the others in the series, features a ton of great vintage commercials that aired during the original broadcast of the series. Look for spots advertising various escort services, phone sex hotlines, and long gone New York City video stores. Often times, these advertisements are just as interesting as the feature content itself.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Taken from the original ¾ inch master tapes, Blue Underground has done a decent job of trying to clean up this material but precedes the episodes with the warning that 'you can't shine shit.' All things considered, this material looks okay. It was shot on video and so it's very soft looking and a lot of the fine detail is lost forever in the murkiness of the tape but the colors come through alright and the image is at least stable enough that you won't have any problems watching the material. There's a bit of flicker here and there and some images are a little more washed out than others but the episodes are at least watchable and the fact that this material has made it to DVD at all in the first place is a miracle in and of itself.
The audio is on par with the video quality. Again, this material is taken from old ¾ inch tapes and as such, the limitations that existed are made all the more obvious by the DVD format, but if you turn the volume up a bit and ignore some of the background hiss you won't have any difficulty understanding the interviews of the strange commercials peppered throughout the content. There are no subtitle options or closed captions provided and everything is in the original English language as it was presented in the first place.
The main extra feature on this release is a Trivia Track which, when enabled, will pop up on the screen with 'extra facts and info' about whatever happens to be being discussed at the time. It works sort of like the Pop Up Video show that used to air on VH1 a few years back. This is a very active track and it does a really good job of filling us all in on what's happened to a lot of the performers since their appearances here, most notably Viper whose disappearance is rather mysterious (wanna read more on it? Click here for our interview with her former beaux, Bill Margold). It's a great way to brush up on your porn star trivia and often delivered with a welcome sense of humor.
Three quick featurettes are also included on this DVD, the first of which is Ron Jeremy's Guide To Cunilingus, a quick bit in which Ron talks to us about how to eat a girl out for maximum effect. Annie Sprinkle's Titty Cupcakes is an odd piece in which one of porndom's most enduring icons appeared at the Manhattan Video Club store and poured eggs, flour and sugar all over her famous bazooms while Al Goldstein's Fuck You To Jenna Jameson is just that, Al telling off the girl who would go on to become one of the most famous porn stars of all time for standing him up for an interview.
Animated menus and chapter selection are also included and hooray for Blue Underground using more great Danny Hellman art on the packaging.
The Final Word:
If you've enjoyed previous Midnight Blue entries, you already know you need this one and if you haven't been enjoying previous Midnight Blue entries, well you should have been. Collect'em all and trade'em with your friends! Here's hoping Blue Underground dips back into the well a few more times with this line, which always proves to be as fascinatingly bizarre as it is humorously entertaining.