Mr. Lipps' Rating:

Starring: For dramatic purposes, the guys have the bulk of the screentime here (hold on, read on). Jamie Gillis has two romantic sceneswith cute Tiffany Clark and a somewhat matronly looking Vanessa Del Rio. Porn vet George Payne has an instrumental role and enjoys the likes of Tanya Lawson, Mary (Marissa)Constantine, Tish Ambrose, and Nicole Bernard. Michael Gaunt plays the bad-bad guy, in a single coercive tryst with Kelly Nichols. Alexis X and Sabrina Vale enjoy a nice lesbian scene. New York porn stalwart Bobby Astyr has an important non-sex role, and veterans Samantha Fox and Michael Morrison also appear only with their clothes on. This is a plot-heavy, acting-heavy porn film. Jamie gets to brood a lot, perhaps a little too much, and both Payne and Gaunt are a little too over the top. Astyr, however, is impressive here, along with Tiff and Vanessa.

Writer-director-producer Richard Mahler was out to make a real movie here, and while the sets are obviously not elaborate, they serve well. The cinematography is moody, and those who want to see EVERYTHING in a sex scene are going to be disappointed.

This is not a porn film per se -- more of a film noir with some very erotic scenes. It is thinking man's porn, rather than a film for strokers, but the story demands very close attention and a little patience. The first scene introduces Williams (Gillis), a legitimate businessman in debt to some sinister and threatening-sounding "partners. " We next see Alan (Payne)arriving in a basement, where he is ushered into a succession of sexual encounters with Tanya, Mary, and Tish. This was Tanya's first film, and even just masturbating she shows why she was a special erotic actress. Alan gets a nice suck 'n' fuck from Mary and Tish, and is rewarded with a briefcase. Turns out that this is the item with which Williams must pay off his "partners," and Alan is holding it for ransom, so to speak. Jamie comforts himself with sweet bedroom coupling with Tiff, but apparently he's hung up on her younger sister, Felicia (Kelly), watching (or fantasizing?) about the younger woman masturbating. Kelly is gorgeous and very hot here. Williams now seeks out Larry (Astyr), his lowlife half-brother, to enlist his aid in finding Alan and recovering his "goods. " Larry leads Williams on a dungeon tour -- featuring Alexis X and Sabrina in a tasty lesbian tryst, and a bizarre S&M scene (with Melissa Strong as the dominatrix) -- and they finally locate Alan engaged in a necrophiliac fuck with a stripper (Nicole) we've seen earlier. When Alan refuses to give up the briefcase, Williams unleashes Larry, then seeks comfort from Erda (Vanessa), a friendly whore. Vanessa looks wonderful here, lush and warm and just the kind of woman who'd put your mind at ease. She and Jamie have a hot, romantic scene. Unfortunately, it's intercut with a decidedly unromantic tryst between one of the "partners" (Gaunt) and Felicia, whom he's kidnapped. The ending, as they say, is a true downer, and we realize finally that Williams has saved his business career by making a deal with the devil -- or, perhaps, the devil within himself. Despite the heavy plot, there are some erotic gems among the sex scenes, especially those involving all-stars Tanya, Tiffany, Kelly, and Vanessa. If you like them you WILL be turned on.

"Corruption" was an early '80s attempt to make a hot film with an interesting plot, a real film with real sex. It features some seldom-seen actresses who were active in the declining years of the New York porn scene, and the more-often-seen Tanya Lawson, Tiffany Clark, Kelly Nichols and Vanessa Del Rio turn in superb performances.

Maybe Mahler's budget was limited, but there are a lot of puzzling passages in the plot where a little more exposition would have helped. For example, the first scene, with Williams and his "partners," jumps right to Alan's descent into the sexual basement. We have no idea of the relation of the first scene to the second sequence until much later in the film. The lighting is a little too moody in some of the sex scenes, though very fitting in others.

As stated, this is not a strokers' video, not conventional porn, but not as unerotic as some would portray. Porn fans who want something a little more cerebral will find this up their alley, especially if they want to impress a friend or lover who scoffs at the possibilities of "serious" erotica. It's far from perfect, but I'll add one point for good intentions. RATING: 6

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

Reviewer's Rating:

Starring: Vanessa Del Rio, Tiffany Clark, Jaime Gillis, Kelly Nichols, Tanya Lawson, Alexis X, Mary Constantine, Sabrina Vale, Melissa Strong, Tish Ambrose, Nicole Bernard, Bobby Astyr (Non Sex), George Payne, Michael Gaunt
Terrible performances by everyone--sadly, including Vanessa del Rio. Not so much because of the performers, but because the director doesn't seem to let them have sex the way porn requires. It seems like this was meant to be some kind of couples tape, but without the good sex it's just a rippoff.
On top of that you have to put up with Jaime Gillis. Geez. . . Keep that fast forward button handy.

It's a sad attempt at making a couples film. The problem is that, aside from teh fact that the sex is boring, the athmosphere of the flick is so darkenned it really does not suit itself for the "couples" genre.
So this means the director wanted to be something of an artsy flick but he failed misserably. It ended up being obnoxious. I'm sorry for Vanessa for having to waste her talents in this flick. She's much, much better.

Absurd! The cumshots themselves are a SHAME! I mean, there's a butt shot, and a vaginal shot--which is more or less understandable. But then there's a cumshot on the HANDS? It gets worse! Sorry, but if that was the director's idea of erotica he must be really pathetic.

The presense of Vanessa del Rio. But even that is spoiled due to the poor directing. What a waste of talent.

The sex was shameful. Either the director thought he was some kind of "revolutionary" by making non-erotic erotica (what a moron if he did), or he was just plain stupid.

A shame and a sham which deserves a low 3 out of 10. Sorry.

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