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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: June 2017.
Director: Kemal Horulu
Cast: John Leslie, Tina Marie, Joanna Storm, Joey Silvera, Anna Ventura, Ron Jeremy, Sharon Mitchell
Year: 1983
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The Movie:
Kemal Horulu's final film stars John Leslie and Tina Marie star as Dan and Lisa Alexander. This hip and happening couple live together in a fancy Manhattan apartment complete with their own arcade game! Their marriage, on the surface at least, seems to be pretty strong but, sadly, there's more to their vows than meets the eye. See, not only does Dan have a thing for Natalie (Joanna Storm) the sexy next door neighbor but their tendency to head out to Plato's Retreat and fuck strangers has led to lovely Ms. Lisa developing a thing for Dan's business partner, Mark (Joey Silvera).
After a particularly tepid night at the swingers club (where Ron Jeremy gets it on with Tigr in a pretty neat and seemingly custom made fuck brace of some sort), jealousy starts to rear its ugly head. Dan is ok with Lisa playing around, so long as it isn't with people they really know - like Mark. Lisa feels the same way, and as such, isn't so stoked that her husband has been porking the neighbor, even if she can recognize that Natalie is a stone cold fox. As husband and wife strive to control their urges and solidify their marriage, things get…. complicated. Before it's all over there's a BDSM party and seriously dramatic repercussions for all involved.
Well-paced and nicely directed by Horulu with as much emphasis placed on the storyline as on the various scenes of people fucking, Never Sleep Alone is a really solid mix of dramatic storytelling and hardcore sex. It's a pretty engaging film that tells an interesting story with a solid emphasis on character development and emotional ties, but it never forgets that its chief reason for being is to titillate. As such, while the dramatic aspect of the story plays out with the right amount of drama, in between these bridging scenes we're treated to some seriously solid sex scenes. If couplings between the noted principals listed above weren't enough, we also get Sharon Mitchell going at it with Alan Adrian, George Payne and Tina Marie enjoying some quality alone time and an impressive three on one where in Leslie is teamed up on by Honey Wilder, Sharon Kane and Tiger. Poor bastard. We all feel really sorry for him by the time it's over!
The whole thing is nicely shot and fairly glossy in terms of its production values. We get a solid selection of musical cues used to emphasis the drama and the heat (some of which will sound familiar to 'Henry Paris' fans) and Horulu was clever enough to ensure he had some decent 'upper class' sets off of which to stage all of his action. The story is clever and keeps you wondering where it's going even while various characters are fucking one another, the ending is a pretty serious twist that you probably won't see coming. All involved do a fine job in front of the camera, giving their all in the plentiful sex scenes and handling the dramatic aspects of the storyline quite respectably.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Never Sleep Alone is presented anamorphic widescreen in a standard definition transfer taken from a new 2k scan of the original 35mm negative and framed at 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen. Generally speaking, the film looks great, offering strong detail and clarity throughout. Additionally, the film is also pretty clean and shows little in the way of print damage. Great colors, good depth and texture, strong black levels - no complaints here.
As to the audio presentation, Never Sleep Alone gets the English language Dolby Digital Mono treatment. Clarity is just fine in the film with the music used in the feature sounding nice and clear. Balance is fine, dialogue is clean, crisp and clear. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided.
Aside from menus, chapter selection and a still gallery the disc also includes an interview with adult film actress Joanna Storm conducted over the phone by Casey Scott. The audio quality is a bit iffy here but the content more than makes up for any shortcomings. This seventy-eight minute talk covers a lot of ground with Ms. Storm how she became aware and subsequently involved with the adult film industry of the day, a few of her career highlights and what it was like to work on various adult film shoots, some of the co-stars she appeared alongside (both male and female) and quite a bit more. Storm has a pretty sharp memory and is fairly fearless when discussing her past while Scott, who clearly knows his stuff, asks her interesting questions to keep her engaged in the discussion. This basically plays out as an alternate audio option over the feature and it's well worth taking the time to listen to.
The Final Word:
Never Sleep Alone is a really strong mix of sex, drama and character development that takes its story in some interesting and unexpected directions. It is stylish, smart, sexy and intriguing. Vinegar Syndrome's DVD looks and sounds quite nice and features a genuinely interesting interview with one of the picture's female starlets. Those with an interest in early eighties smut where story matters as much as sex would do well to check this out.
