The A Line

Elegant Angel

Genre: Anal

Director: Thomas Zupko

Cast: Lena Juliette, Brian Surewood, Tyla Wynn, Sasha, Cailey Taylor, Brandon Iron, Jayna Oso, Roxanne Hall, Dick Tracy

Length: 136 minutes

Date of Production: 5/1/2004

Extra's: The extras were pretty solid this time with a 14 minute Behind the Scenes look at Jayna Oso (although I'd have liked to see the others too), some trailers, a bonus scene from the Big Wet Asses series, ten minutes of extra tease footage from the lovely and talented Roxanne Hall, 4.5 minutes of alternate openings, and 4 minutes of bloopers. There were also a few trailers and spam but few people really care much about that type of thing. In short, the extra footage was decent and the bonus scene (although much of the extra stuff was labeled "bonus scene 2" complete with spelling error) good but I like extras to be made exclusively for the release.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: The picture was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color that it was shot in. I thought some of the moody lighting and effects were bothersome as they added far more grain than they were worth but fans of Zupko's previous works (primarily at Extreme Associates) will know exactly how quirky his direction can be. The rest of us can remain content that the sex was usually good enough to cover his choices up fairly readily in terms of heat and energy. I didn't see a lot of compression artifacts but the slow motion was worse, making me wish he took a more elementary style of direction up instead. The audio was presented in the standard stereo English with minimal, if any, separation between the channels and limited dynamic range. The vocals were not a big factor here and the music certainly different than what I've come to expect from porn (not particularly good though) so don't buy this one for its audio aspect, if you know what I mean.

Body of Review: I've long held that there is a market for just about anything in porn, from the couples features to the circus act sex and everything in between. This being the case, a review tends to assist those seeking out something different as much as keeping marketing folks honest in what they try to pawn off movies as (admit it, haven't you been burned by covers advertising one thing and giving you something completely different, and lame?). Elegant Angel, a company that spawned a number of others over its lengthy existence, including Evil Angel, has tried many things in its quest to find a niche. From the early years to recent events, it has had a number of people walk through the doors only to leave for greener pastures once they gained the skills needed to compete elsewhere. For that alone, the company, and its main man, Patrick Collins, should be given kudos as a training ground of sorts for porn (an industry known for fly by night firms and ever changing employment). The company's latest release is The A Train, a stylish series of vignettes that all take place in a train station underground, with a premise revolving around a stranded gal trying to gain passage by giving up some of her talents. Directed by the infamous Thomas Zupko, the movie is a darker look at the sexuality so many fans seem to want these days with tons of anal sex to get off to. Keeping in mind that Zupko has a long history of using weird special effects in his features (mostly at Extreme Associates) that he used far too often in this release as well, here's a quick breakdown of the scenes by cast:

Scene One: Lena, portraying a tramway trollop, had the first scene with Brian, playing a crack fiend inhaling on a pipe. I know that sounds about as appealing as rubbing your dick on a broken bottle but let me finish, okay? She crawled around with her ass in the air, a great sight by the way, until walking in and teasing him a bit. He responded by putting down the pipe (yeah, sure it would happen like that) and giving her his flesh pipe to smoke. The scene then cutaway to a bench in the subterranean station where the couple started all over again, sucking on each other's privates and fucking with abandon in a scene that included the usual anal. I thought she looked fabulous and the action was fair (solely due to the special effects) but for all her energy, the couple had no chemistry going on. It ended with her taking an eye shot during the facial.

Scene Two: Tyla, a blonde with some killer curves and tossed hair, was up next in a scene with Sasha in the poorly lit station. She verbally degraded herself before her partner, with him dressed as a macabre clown, came up and boned her without warning as she bent over. She then showed why her oral skills have been reported as awe inspiring before he started screwing her pussy in all the usual positions. There was a lot of energy here too but the chemistry was lost to the special effects (slow motion, smoke, camera angles), thereby reducing the fun factor by at least half. I didn't see any clear anal here, although it could have been anal when he initially took her, so don't expect a completely satisfying experience from this scene if that's important to you.

Scene Three: Cailey, a blonde with large implants and winning smile, had the next scene that followed the formula of crawling on her hands and knees before getting to work with Brandon, dressed up like a businessman. Keeping in mind that I'm used to seeing her in well-lit, nicely shot scenes, I think she showed more potential than the others (it didn't hurt that Brandon has done all kinds of perverted things over the years to upscale gals and gotten away with it on her personality alone). He was firmly in charge as he offered her his cock in exchange for the ticket she so wanted. By the end of the scene, she gave him PTM, ATM, a lengthy bout of vaginal and some of the best anal I've seen out of her to date. I still didn't like the visual and audio effects but the energy and chemistry were both present in spades this time, making it a good scene to watch with lots of replay value.

Scene Four: Jayna, the hotty featured on the front DVD cover, showed why she was picked for that honor in a scene with Brian. She was dressed up like a typical well off gal and he was in some weird mask (shades of Darth Vader) with a black, flowing cape. Her character set out to give the train, or those on it, salvation but all she ended up doing was giving him a wild ride with her mouth, pussy and ass. Her energy levels were outstanding although the garb he wore killed any connection between them (lose the artistic crap next time please), making this a very good, if not as good as it could have been, scene. My other complaint about it, aside from the direction, was that she wore dark sunglasses in the darkened space they screwed in. While I like the song "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night" as much as the next guy lost in the 80's, it detracted from her lovely face; a face that should be seen in all its glory whenever possible.

Scene Five: Roxanne, the veteran performer who narrated the show as a sort of train engineer, had the final scene with muscular Dick, a guy playing the conductor. Unlike some out there, I enjoy seeing older women proving they still have what it takes to please an audience so I'm pleased to report that she was in top form here with the lighting working to her advantage. The scene focused primarily on oral and anal, with the anal very well handled by the couple. Yeah, she did the ATM that the others seemed to put up with, and there was some spanking for fans of the rougher edge action but it was her enthusiasm that I enjoyed watching the most. I admit that after the first couple of scenes, I was thinking the movie was going to suck ass but it saved itself over the last three scenes quite nicely.

Summary: The women were all attractive in a variety of ways and each possessed the skills needed to effectively milk a nut onscreen. The production values dragged down the heat, as did some of the director's other choices, but in the end, a rating of Recommended is in order for those of you looking for something a bit different than the usual gonzo. I still prefer his Big Wet Asses line (well, at least volume 1 since I haven't seen the others) but with some getting used to, I could possibly learn to like this one more too. If you're not familiar with his earlier works, you might want to rent this one first but I still think it's worth checking out several times, something a rental won't work for.

Note: You can see recent candid shots of several of these performers by visiting: My Photo's and read about their antics at 2004 AEE Show.