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Released by: Shock-O-Rama/E.I.
Released on: 10/3/2006
Director: Joe Sarno
Cast: Isadora Edison, Andrea Davis, Chelsea Mundae, A.J. Khan, Tina Tyler
Year: 2004
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The Movie:
Joe Sarno gets behind the camera to direct again after a two-decade absence with this feature produced by Seduction Cinema. While it's a low budget affair and it's shot on video rather than on film, Sarno proves that he's lost none of his penchant for clever dialogue, interesting characters, and steamy sex scenes.
The film follows Laura (Isdora Edison), an attractive woman who makes her living in New York City as an 'art model.' When she learns that her Aunt Cynthia (Tina Tyler) is having a torrid love affair with one of her ex-boyfriends, Nelson, she figures now would be a good time to take some time off from in front of the camera to head back to her hometown to see just what exactly is going on and why.
When Laura returns home she finds that the small town she left behind has become ripe with steamy happenings. In fact, Laura's sister, Winifred (Chelsea Mundae), employs a woman named Louise (A. J. Khan) as her secretary who knows just exactly what everyone is up to and who everyone is in bed with. Louise decides that there's enough steamy material here that she can cash in on it if she plays her cards right, and so she decides to write a tell all book. Laura's unexpected arrival cause things to get even more complicated as she gets reacquainted with old friends and acquainted with some brand new ones for the first time. Complicating things further are the schemes of Nelson's sister, Judith, who will stop at nothing to break up her brother's romance.
Playing out very much like an explicit soap opera, Sarno's ode to randy suburbanites is fairly engrossing stuff. The plot plays out nicely and if it's a little overlong in spots, keep in mind that much of the running time is actually made up of some skillfully shot and genuinely erotic scenes of folks gettin' it on. The film doesn't move quickly but the tension does build fairly effectively and Sarno shows that no one can stage a softcore scene with quite as much class or intensity as he.
In terms of the performances, however, the film is wildly uneven. While Isadora Edison proves perfectly capable of carrying the film, Chelsea Mundae is completely uninspired in her performance and delivers her lines with all the enthusiasm of a lump of coal. A.J. Khan falls somewhere in the middle, she smoulders during the appropriate moments and doesn't do a bad job with her part, really she's memorable more for what she does when not actually acting - wink, wink. Tina Tyler's not half bad, and she shows she has some genuine talent as well as good looks.
In the end, Suburban Secrets isn't Sarno's best work but it's certainly a very good film for those who appreciate his unique brand of sexy melodrama. The script is intelligent and interesting, and the plentiful scenes of copulation are well shot and kinky enough to have impact. The film has style to spare despite the low budget production values evident in a few scenes and for the most part, things work really well here. Hopefully Sarno's got a few more in him yet…
Video/Audio/Extras:
Suburban Secrets arrives on DVD is a nice 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. The film was shot on a fairly low budget and sometimes this does show but for the most part the transfer is sharp and clean. A little bit of mpeg compression is here if you want to look for it but it's minor and not overly distracting. Skin tones look lifelike and natural and there are no issues with dirt or debris.
Likewise, the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track isn't going to blow your mind but it certainly gets the job done. Music and dialogue are balanced nicely and there are no issues with hiss or distortion at all.
The first disc contains a reasonably interesting behind the scenes documentary entitled Inside Suburban Secrets which runs roughly ten-minutes in length and which features comments from Sarno and most of his cast members in addition to producer Michael Raso. This segment does a really good job of explaining how Raso convinced Sarno to come back to the world of filmmaking and how the two of them collaborated on this project. It's also an interesting look at how the finished version of the film could have turned out based on casting decisions and what not.
The second disc starts off with a featurette entitled Lake Placid Film Festival wherein we're treated to some footage of the festival and the various events that took place there around the premiere of the film. A second featurette, simply titled Behind The Scenes, is just that, a look at how things went on set with Sarno and his cast.
The main supplement on the second disc is the alternate 'Hot TV Cut' of Suburban Secrets. Considerably shorter than the director's cut and missing a fair bit of the more risque material as well as some of the more interesting bits of characterisation, this version, trimmed to fit the standard TV movie running time, simply isn't as interesting and therefore isn't a good. That said, it's nice to see both cuts included here for the completists out there.
Rounding out the extra features is a Joe Sarno trailer vault which features previews for many of the film's he has made over the years, most of which are currently available on DVD from E.I.. Inside the keepcase is a booklet of liner notes which detail the history and the significance of the film and which feature some interesting behind the scenes and promotional photographs.
The Final Word:
Suburban Secrets doesn't quite match Sarno's best material but it's a surprisingly strong and well made comback effort that proves the man still knows what it takes to craft an intelligent softcore picture. Seduction Cinema's two-disc looks and sounds nice and the supplements are more than just standard promo pieces, they're actually quite interesting. Sarno fans should definitely enjoy the man's return to form.