Heidi Fleiss: Secrets of the Hollywood Madam 2

Phoenix Releasing/Cinemaplay Entertainment

Genre: Vignette

Director: Jim Steel

Cast: Violet Blue, Tommy Gunn, Jayna Oso, Mika Tan, Mario Rossi, Michelle Lay, Randy Spears, Poppy Morgan, Tory Lane, Jassie, Selena Silver, Evan Stone, Tyler Knight
Non-sex role by Heidi Fleiss

Length: 102.5 minutes

Date of Production: 11/1/2004 (box); 10/26/2004, 10/27/2004 (credits)

Extra's: There were no extras at all in this two disc set. Essentially, the second disc was a copy of the movie with one offered up in 480i and the other in 720p. Disregarding the technical terms for a moment, that means if you have the proper equipment, you should be able to see a better picture on the second disc. Personally, I didn't see a difference though.

Condoms: Yes

Video Quality: Heidi Fleiss: Secrets of the Hollywood Madam 2 was presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 as originally directed by Jim Steel for Phoenix Releasing. The back cover suggested it was filmed in high definition with the sticker added to the front offering up that one disc was in 480i HD while the other was in 720p HD. I'm not big on labels so calling something high definition or indicating the superiority of a filming method means little to me when the end product looks weak. Such was the case here as there were problems with the focus, heavily saturated colors, lots of video noise and grain, and lighting that appeared to attempt something stylish but easily fell far short of the mark. I'll be the first to admit that my exposure to directing movies is limited but the scenes here looked very much like a home movie most of the time (and anyone that has watched a dozen or more pornos will be able to see that). On top of the technical limitations for quality, the artistic limitations weighed heavily too with the composition of the shots rarely making the most effective use of the cast. From too many close-ups to camera angles that simply didn't work, I wondered what happened (I had similar issues with Heidi Fleiss: Volume 1). There were some compression artifacts and even spots that pixilated here too so don't expect the best that director Jim Steel is capable of if you get this one.

Audio Quality: The stereo English audio track was another point of contention for me as the really droning music drilled into my skull and the rare verbal comment outside of a moan was suppressed accordingly. The only presence of Heidi Fleiss in the movie (outside of a picture of her) was a narration that was so unremarkable as to make me wonder if maybe the next time the company does something like this, they'll have the director listen to the comments and perhaps ask for more detail. I challenge anyone to truly listen to the narration and compare it to the scene presented and see anything even remotely similar in terms of content (the whole idea of the movie is to present recreations of Heidi's stories).

Body of Review: Those who keep up with not-so-current events might remember that there was a gal who was known for offering sexual services to wealthy and famous clients in Hollywood called Heidi Fleiss. Her name in the press was The Hollywood Madam and much was made of her threat to reveal her black book of names that had a list of all the power brokers and their kinks. Being a society driven by gossip and a fascination with such things, the press had a field day as a few names were given up but the majority of them stayed a secret, making many of us yawn as much as we did when Geraldo Rivera opened up Capone's safe. The potential for some juicy stories was enough to interest me in seeing the latest offering by Phoenix Releasing however, called: Heidi Fleiss: Secrets of the Hollywood Madam 2. Having reviewed the first episode of the series, Heidi Fleiss: Volume 1, I was hoping for a better set of scenes to enjoy. How tough could it be to glean a handful of stories from Ms. Fleiss and translate them into hot sex scenes? Apparently, it was tougher than I figured since the second volume was just as bad as the first. Here's a look at the scenes by cast with some commentary at the end of the review, noting that the men wore condoms and the sex was far weaker than most porn on the shelves (at least that I've seen in the last ten+ years):

Scene One: Violet Blue, a brunette that's been in porn for years, may not have had the "wholesome, innocent girl" look that Heidi Fleiss claimed her customers wanted but I'm sure she's acceptable to most men in terms of looks. She was dressed in a flimsy outfit with cherries on it as she macked out with studly Tommy Gunn in a chair by the fireplace in his lap. The fruit theme went so far as to include grapes on the nearby table but this was straightforward porn, not high concept art so they got right down to business as she disrobed him. Initially slobbing his knob, she took her time and offered up a sultry bit of head rather than a balls to the wall blowjob. He returned the favor by going down on her and then they boned in two positions with a condom before he rubbed out a load on her lower back. The oral was okay but the rest of it was kind of mechanical.

Scene Two: Jayna Oso, a lean little Asian gal with an all natural body, and curvier Mika Tan, a gal with the opposite type body, were up next as they played with Mario Rossi on a bed in an expensive looking room. The gals got in some licks on one another as Jayna's sexy white lingerie contrasted with Mika's black PVC outfit nicely. Mario got in some oral loving too before the gals double teamed his dick (and offered some salad tossing by rimming him). Mika then donned a strap on dildo and plugged away at Jayna with Mario joining in for some technical DP action after that. It was funny seeing a condom on the dildo but I guess it's more sanitary that way. As a generic porn scene, this one worked better than the last scene but the verbal overacting by the gals and limitations of the scene dragged it down. To give you an idea of the limitations, there wasn't even a pop shot at the end.

Scene Three: Michelle Lay, another brunette but this one looking a little rough, was up next as her maid outfit sought to appease Randy Spears. I like maid attire as much as anyone and she wasn't ugly here but the scene had a very short blowjob and the boning action looked like it was done using an egg timer in terms of the positions. He finished it off by jerking out a moderate load to her face but that seemed to last forever. In short, there wasn't a lot to appeal to me here (and I'm pretty good at finding something in every porno worth watching).

Scene Four: Poppy Morgan, Tory Lane, and Jassie were up next in a lesbian tryst that started off slowly as the gals primped and posed in lingerie next to one another before taking a bath in the large tub. Most of the action was the gals kissing, rubbing and fingering one another but towards the end, they each grabbed a toy and masturbated. Why they didn't spend a lot of time using the toys on one another was a style choice by the director but I felt like the potential of the scene was never lived up to in any meaningful manner.

Scene Five: Selena Silver, the Australian wonder, was up last as she engaged in sex with Evan Stone and Tyler Knight in the fancy house, Initially warming her up by the staircase, they worked her over top and bottom as she appeared to enjoy their attention. Say what you will about Selena but she has proven to have few sexual limits in the last year so the interracial aspect of Tyler boning her wasn't anything special and the swapping out between the men from oral to vaginal sex seemed forced and without any natural rhythm (maybe it was the editing that killed it). The scene ended when they both unloaded on her face but the pop shots were minimal and the scene was far weaker than it should've been.

Summary: Heidi Fleiss: Secrets of the Hollywood Madam 2 was easily a Skip It to me. The technical matters could've been partially overlooked if the sex were handled better but it wasn't and even some of the most reliable performers in the business let me down this time. Much of that blame could be laid at the feet of the director and producer, Jim Steel, but how about the rest of the crew? The lighting was bad and that hurt the rest of the technical matters, the DVD mastering job was third tier by the looks of it and there were no extras outside a second disc of the same movie, supposedly done in a better format. Other than using Heidi Fleiss' name as a marketing tool and including some brief comments that were probably obtained long ago in an audio interview with no bearing on the scenes offered up, there didn't seem to be a connection. I like creative marketing as much as the next guy but this was just crazy. In all, the best thing about this DVD set was the fact that it wasn't as lengthy as most pornos seem to be these days and if it gets you off, I can't wait to hear how you receive some of the better titles I've reviewed.