Sex Pix

Red Light District

Genre: Feature

Director: James Avalon

Cast: Sunny Lane, Kelly Wells, Isabella Stanza, Evan Stone, Hillary Scott, Staci Thorn, Gia, Luccia, Mr. Marcus, Tee Reel, Dominica Leoni, Tyla Wynn, Alektra Blue, Manuel Ferrara, Haley Paige, Veronica Jett, Erik Everhard, Brett Rockman, Kurt Lockwood
Non-sex role by: Veronica Hart, Chris B., Tin Reed, Marley Cortez, Jasper Night, Aaron Roche, Casey Courtleigh, J.L.A., Vee, Wendy, Michael Palancia, Deborah Lay, Nadine, Dimonico, Bobby Vercetti, Erzsebet, Aspen Stevens, Sir Nik, Ethan Cage, Samantha Ryan, Lexi Lamour

Length: 161 minutes

Date of Production: 6/6/2005 to 6/9/2005

Extra's: The best extra for me was the Director's Commentary with director James Avalon and lead performer Sunny Lane. Unlike far too many commentaries these days, they each contributed and had something to say (and more than once every five or ten minutes too). There was also a value enhancing, 24 minute long, Behind the Scenes feature that had the cast in various stages of nudity and having sex as often as not. That was followed by 5.5 minutes of Bloopers, three photogalleries, trailers, and a foldout case with cardboard protective sleeve. Sadly, the advertised bonus scene would not play on any of my home DVD players or even my two computers so it added no value for me at all (the best I could get out of one machine was to see a fishnet stocking on a gal's chicken leg that looked like Veronica Jett).

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Sex Pix was shot in HD (high definition) anamorphic widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. I thought it looked better than most of the big budget releases of the last several months, if not most porn shot in recent memory. The fleshtones were accurate, the focus sharp, and the composition of the shots extremely well done in most cases. There were a couple of moments where the picture broke up a touch into some square blocks but they were few and far between (very far) and some grain but the story aspects showed a lot of promise for future releases and the sex parts proved that James could handle them all on his own (unlike Darkside where he had Vince Vouyer step in for them). In short, it was visually interesting in a manner that I appreciated more than most would given the generic nature of most movies I get to see. The 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo English audio track was well handled and the music a cut above the pack. The vocals didn't seem to have any separation between the channels and the bass wasn't tight at all but given how weak most audio is in porn, consider that I took time to comment on one small aspect of it (with the rest being way better than average, especially for a 2.0 track).

Body of Review: As Red Light District continues to try producing feature porn as a sideline to their extremely popular gonzo, they have found an appreciative audience. I suspect that will always be the case as long as they keep a lot of hardcore sex inside the movies and make the movies appealing to the mind as well as the crotch. Such was the case with Sex Pix, the second of three initial efforts but director James Avalon that started with Darkside. To quote a famous songstress, "I don't like flashbacks in movies; I like the story to proceed…" I was hesitant when first watching the movie to get into it but it literally sucked me in as I watched with a growing enthusiasm. The sex was on par with the usual Red Light District but the complex nature of the story was good as mental floss too. Rather than bounce around from present to past, it handled scenes in reverse order in a linear fashion. This made it easier to keep track of the story while providing some heated sex along the way. That said, here's a look at the scenes by performers and actions, noting that no condoms were worn by the participants:

Scene One: Sunny Lane, the cutie on the front DVD cover, Kelly Wells, the well known bleach blonde with few, if any, limits, and attractive Isabella Stanza, were up first in a bedroom scene with the mighty drunk (and wounded) Evan Stone. He was abusive as only a drunk can be and suffering from an abdominal wound bleeding all over the place, but after manhandling the women in a way that'd make Mason proud, they reverted to form and took good care of his sexual needs. Initially blowing him in tag team style with some measure of vigor, Kelly and Isabella held Sunny down as Evan boned her with his mean on. A mean on is like a hard on that you use during a grudge fuck (and if you don't know what that is, forget about it). It was a messy, sloppy scene in all respects with taste testing (PTM mostly), streamers, with Kelly and Isabella taking anal with all the trimmings like the sex workers they pretend to be. It eventually ended when he popped on Kelly's crack and in her ass; with Isabella sucking it out to share with the gal. Yikes!

Scene Two: Hillary Scott, Sunny Lane, Staci Thorn, Gia, Luccia, Mr. Marcus, Tee Reel, and Dominica Leoni, were up next in a veritable orgy of twisted kink. The music was a bit overdone here but it had a slight twang that I found appealing as the gals moved to and fro handling the needs of the guys as dear old Veronica Hart watched from the back of the room. The setting was a large bordello living room (at least that's what it reminded me of) and the primary focus of the action was a whole lot of oral but there was a fair amount of screwing, including anal (Hillary was especially good) too. At some point, it almost seemed like a depravity contest between Hillary and Staci in terms of how extreme they got (with DPs for instance) but there was a lot to enjoy here, giving it some great replay value.

Scene Three: Tyla Wynn and Alektra Blue were up next in a sex show on stage in a large shower. I found this to be perhaps the best use of a shower in modern porn with a lot of erotic content that enhanced the sex the two gals had together in what started out as a lesbian scene. One of the cameras was placed under the glass floor and that worked really well at capturing the moves of the gals as the water sprinkled down on top of them. The sex was good enough, in fact, that they were soon joined by Manuel Ferrara who gave then plenty of meat to work with. The oral, vaginal, and anal with ATM was sweet here and the gals showed some passion and chemistry that elevated the value of the scene in my mind. It ended when he jerked off into Alektra's mouth only for the semen to be swapped to Tyla for a heated close. Keeping in mind that I don't generally find myself attracted to either gal under the best of circumstances, the scene was a surprising hit.

Scene Four: Haley Paige, a hotty, and skinny brunette Veronica Jett, were next up in a dungeon scene at the local sex club with Erik Everhard and Brett Rockman. The males were dressed up like fetish bodyguards and the gals as submissive sex toys, with Haley getting the better end of the deal initially. The sex including almost everything you'd care to see (with the exception of DPs) and Sunny watched the two gals get pummeled for all of two seconds before she ran off. I had hoped she'd join in but it wasn't meant to be. The scene was interrupted again when Kurt Lockwood and Veronica Hart passed through but this quartet kept up the pace as though nothing was happening around them. With anal and a cum swapping finish, the scene ended just fine and I must admit that it worked for me just fine. Yum!

Scene Five: Sunny Lane, looking better here than in any other scene (largely due to the reverse order of the scenes), was up last as she and Kurt Lockwood engaged in more traditional porn sex. By that, I mean there were no circus acts or extreme forms of kink, just a good solid boning after each got some oral from the other. It was a pleasing scene on a few levels, not least of which was the part of me that likes to see a gal enjoy herself with a warm glow and chemistry befitting a couple that like each other rather than a set of porn performers trying to outdo one another. It ended with a facial where much of the goo went into her mouth and nicely closed out the sexual portion of the movie.

Summary: Sex Pix was worth a rating of Highly Recommended for the way it fused so many elements in a solid movie without losing the big picture that it was a porno. Too often, such features skimp on the sex in favor of the story (like the recent Devil); a curious idea since it's a rare thing for a porno to be able to compete with even a grade B movie on aspects outside of sex. The women were a good selection, the writing and acting worked for me more often than not, and the technical qualities were a cut above the pack with some great extras to boot. I just wish the bonus scene had played for me but the choice of Sunny Lane as the lead here was inspired and I applaud Red Light District for trying something new yet again. Will Avalon's next flick, A Bustful of Dollars, be as good? I sure hope so!