Miles' Rating:

Starring: One of the landmarks of porn, Gerald Damiano reworks the themes of the "Story of O" to create at stylish gothic story of one women's sexual awakening at the hands of a self-loathing aristocrat played by Jamie Gillis. Terri Hall is the naive Joanna who under goes a series of degradations until she's strong enough to stand alone from her controller.

Shot in 1975 after "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones" made porn acceptable to the mainstream, this has all the style and mystery of a Euro horror film. And Gillis and Hall are top notch. This is where Jamie perfected his women-hating bit.

Scorching. Hall's journey is slow but increasingly kinky affair, from her first passionless fuck with Gillis to the bondage bit that likely made audiences uncomfortable in '7

Hall makes it work. The scene where Gillis makes her service three men at once is a classic. Though we've seen hundreds of scenes like it since, you'll flinch as one guy prepares her ass for penetration, all because it's done with such intimacy.

It moves too slow for most porn hounds, and the scene where Gillis receives a blow job from his butler, Zebedy Colt, will make your skin crawl. What was supposed to shock 25 years ago still does.

A 0. That's for the quality of the film, not the video reproduction, which is too dark and has poor sound.

Posted By Miles, www.excaliburfilms.com | 10/12/06 1:58 PM