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Released by: Pink Flamingo Entertainment
Released on: 6/1/2010
Director: Shaun Costello
Cast: Veronica Hart, Jamie Gillis, Tiffany Clark, Annie Sprinkle, Ron Jeremy, Carter Stevens
Year: 1981
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The Movie:
Directed by Sean Costello for porn producer extraordinaire Rueben Sturman in 1981, the lavishly shot Pandora's Mirror follows Veronica Hart in the titular role as a young woman living in a big city where she discovers a large and ornate antique mirror in an antique store. Intrigued by the piece, she tries to buy it up but the owner (Frederick Foster) won't let her buy it. Eventually she convinces him to let her take it home, which she does, completely unaware that it's more than just a mirror. The reflective glass actually shows her glimpses into the past, where she's able to watch a few different sub-stories play out and the film then takes on a journey from the American Revolutionary War of 1776 through to early eighties New York City where the film climaxes, if you'll pardon the pun, in a massive orgy that takes place behind the closed doors of the actual Hellfire Club.
As far as the sex in the film goes, it's definitely above average thanks to a few interesting highlights. Not every scene catches fire like you might want it to, though hats off to Jamie Gillis for really getting Sandra Hillman in the mood in the scene that they share together. There's a lot of good fondling and foreplay here and while Gillis never gets too rough as he does in some films, he slaps her around lightly a few times and it only seems to get her hotter for him. It's absolutely the best sex scene in the movie, and Costello shoots it in a very interesting way so as to accentuate what she's feeling while it plays out. With so much porn focusing on the man getting off, it's always interesting when that card is flipped and we get to see it from the other perspective, particularly when it's got a bit of kink as this one does (and on top of that, the score might sound familiar to some).
The production values on display in this picture are as good as anything else in the adult film industry of the time outside of mega-productions like, say, Caligula or maybe the Mitchell Brothers' Sodom And Gomorrah. Like that Mitchell Brothers' film, sometimes the art direction, set design and costume work overshadows the sex but more often than not the film does manage to find a nice balance. If there's one flaw in the film, really it's that the gorgeous Veronica Hart is only really used in one sex scene, the last one of course, where she takes on George Payne and Jerry Butler. It's a good scene if you're into male-heavy three-ways and, like Gillis' tryst with Hillman, it's very well shot and psychologically interesting for what we see Hart's character go through as she gives herself over. There's also an interesting scene in which cute Hillary Summers (who looks an awful lot like Drew Barrymore, doesn't she?) performs solo, with the aid of a toy, in front of the mirror to some more interesting musical selections. A microphone in front of her broadcasts her moans and groans to the audience, made up of two women (Kandi Barbour and Celeste Bon) who get it on with one another. When Ron Hudd walks onto the stage with Summers, the film does an interesting job of putting us on stage with the two of them and in the audience next to our two favorite lesbians of the hour.
The scene inside the Hellfire Club is interesting more so than it is arousing. Here the camera moves around quite a bit, as Annie Sprinkle, Diana May and Merle Michaels appear alongside the likes of George Payne (in a leather suit), Ron Jeremy and even Carter Stevens. (who gets serviced orally by Sprinkle and Michaels at the same time while a young, and still thin, Ron Jeremy pounds Michaels' orifice). As the orgy plays out, the disco lights strobe on and off and the bongo drums on the soundtrack swell up louder and louder. It builds well and make use of some nice cinematography as well as that typical early eighties soft light look that was so popular for a while.
All in all, Pandora's Mirror shapes up to be a pretty solid mix if sexual fantasy and psychological mind fuckery. It's trippy in spots, kinky in others and while it may not be the greatest acted film of all time, the cast all do fine with the material. There's a naturalness and a sophistication to the sex scenes that makes them stand out and the strong and willing cast and notable production values make this one fairly lavish porno movie.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Pandora's Mirror has been transferred from the best available elements, but those elements consist of a tape source. Thankfully it's a decent tape source, though there is a tracking line near the top of the screen (the overscan on some sets might hide this) at the beginning of the movie which goes away a couple of minutes in. The film was released domestically by Cabellero and that disc isn't readily available to compare, but it's hard to imagine, given Cabellero's track record, that it looks any better than this disc - in fact, it's probably a safe assumption (though let's stress that it is an assumption) that it looks worse. Generally, this disc from Pink Flamingo, which presents the picture in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio, is quite good when you consider the source. Some of the darker scenes get a bit murky and of course the detail and clarity levels are below what a good film sourced transfer could offer, but the image is, if nothing else, consistently watchable.
The English language mono soundtrack does have some hiss and background noise present in a few spots (and for whatever reason a character's last name is bleeped out with a car horn sound effect) but these problems are minor and you won't have any problem understanding the dialogue. Levels are fairly well balanced and if there's a bit of distortion present in the high end, it's easy enough to look past it. Optional subtitles are provided in Danish, Norwegian, German, French, Dutch and Swedish.
The best extras, almost all of which are text based, are the interviews, the first of which is with Costello himself and covers most of his career. Conducted by Nicolas Rioult, it's a pretty solid read, as is the second interview with Maryse Alberti, who worked as a still photographer on many porno movies shot in New York City during the seventies including a few of those made by Costello. Costello contributes an essay entitled Hooked On Sleaze which describes in lurid and extremely readable detail how he got into the business before sharing some stories from his time in the trenches. Rounding out the extras on the disc is a slideshow of pictures of Costello from his porn directing days (0:30), a slideshow of stills and posters showcasing different Costello films (0:50), a recipe for a Forced Entry cocktail (!), animated menus and chapter stops.
Inside the keepcase is a full color booklet of liner notes from Nicolas Rioult that give a solid overview of Costello's career from the early days up to the present day and which discuss the impact his films had and some of the performers he was known to work with.
The Final Word:
Very lavishly shot and benefitting from very good production values, Pandora's Mirror is a fairly classy golden-ager. It's not only pretty hot stuff, sexually speaking, but it's got plenty of historical value thanks to the excellent cast, impressive visuals and fairly interesting storyline. Pink Flamingo's DVD isn't perfect, but it's the best presentation of the movie out there and the only one authorized by the director himself.