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Dark Chambers Review
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Dark Chambers Review In honor of Marilyn Chambers' birthday today (she would have been 63), I decided to view a movie in which she starred that I hadn't viewed before. Dark Chambers happened to be one of her final x-rated features. Released in 2000 by VCA, it was directed by Veronica Hart. This will be the first of hopefully many reviews of x-rated features on this blog. It should be noted that I share the<b> philosophy </font></b>of Burt Reynolds' character in Boogie Nights, a director of x-rated movies who wishes audience members to continue watching his films even after they've reached climax. In my opinion, a good x-rated movie should have a plot that keeps viewers engaged along with the hardcore sex. That is, the sole draw of the movie should not be the sex. There are clips-a-plenty if that is a viewer's purpose. With that being said, my reviews will be based on ten criteria: story, set design, ensemble sexual performance, ensemble acting performance, wardrobe, lighting, sound, directing, media type (i.e. film or video), and artistic merit. As this is a review, the following are my subjective opinions. I welcome any discussion or questions. The story of the movie is rather flimsy and as it progresses it seems to make little sense. The surprise ending falls flat because throughout the movie I simply took it as being a series of vignettes. Plot didn't seem to service linking scenes well at all. Story Grade: D. Set design works best if actual locations are used rather than sound stages. Such was the case in this movie. The sets looked cheap and uninteresting. However, the scenes in the shop on Melrose Avenue and those in the mansion in the hills looked far better. Set Design Grade: C. For the most part the sexual performances by the performers were good, especially from Marilyn Chambers and Erica Boyer who really seemed into it. On the other hand, Bianca Jordan seemed to be asking herself, "why am I here?" the entire time. Plus, Lauren Montgomery didn't seem to enjoy that anal scene. Sex Grade: B-. With such a weak storyline, good acting was hard to come by, even with someone like Herschel Savage in the cast. Still, it wasn't horrible. Acting Grade: C-. I'm throwing make-up in with costumes/wardrobe, even though they are separate things. Yes, I realize this is a "porno," but I think some of the make-up was overdone here. Some of Ms. Chambers' wardrobe choices also were not terribly flattering. I'm also not into latex, so points off for one of Erica Boyer's outfits as well. Asia Carrera looked pretty good throughout as did Bianca Jordan, despite her lousy performance. Wardrobe Grade: C. Scenes were lit appropriately and the outdoor scenes looked great. Lighting Grade: A. Sometimes voices sounded a little tinny, but audio was clear. During sex scenes, audio moans didn't always match lip movement, which happens frequently in x-rated features, but I nevertheless find it distracting. Sound Grade: B. Veronica Hart's overall direction was good. One of the early scenes with Herschel Savage and Marilyn Chambers seemed to be off-center, which I found to be an odd choice. Directing Grade: B. This is one production that did embody artistic merit, but again, I think the weak writing weakened what could have been an excellent piece of work. There were probably budget restraints that also played a role. Artistic Merit Grade: B. One interesting point of note, Marilyn Chambers' character is named Ivory, referring back to her days as the Ivory Snow detergent model. Overall Grade: B-. |
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