Watching Samantha

Wicked Pictures

Genre: Feature

Director: Michael Raven

Cast: Stormy Daniels, Randy Spears, Avena Lee, Steven St. Croix, Courtney Cummz, Lee Stone, Kirsten Price; Barrett Blade (bonus scene only)
Non-sex roles: Mike Anthony, George Kaplan, Julia Ann, Veronica Hart; others uncredited

Length: 104.5 minutes

Date of Production: 10/2/2005

Extras: For most of you, the best extra will be the bonus scene between Stormy Daniels and Barrett Blade from the movie from Neighbors. I described it below and it was well worth watching, even if you've seen it before. I also appreciated the 22.5 minute long All Access: Behind the Scenes of Watching Samantha by Mark Stone. It was fun, had some extra sex footage, and stands up as a solid production that added value to the DVD release. I also liked the audio commentary with Michael Raven, Stormy Daniels, Randy Spears, and Kirsten Price. Stormy and Randy seemed to spend the lion's share of the track discussing various aspects of the movie and the making of it with Michael chiming in from time to time (Kirsten was far too passive most of the time and left early). There were also a number of photogalleries and star statistics, a classy cardboard protective sleeve, two promotional reels, DVD ROM materials like Wicked Awards and Nominations, company profile, and desktops, a DVD catalog, some spam, and trailers to shows like Eternity, Camp Cuddly Pines, All About Keri, Sold, Secrets of the Velvet Rings, Road Trixxx 3, and others.

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: Watching Samantha was presented in non-anamorphic widescreen color with an approximate aspect ratio of 1.85:1 as originally shot by director Michael Raven for Wicked Pictures. Michael used various lighting effects to achieve the artistic vision set out for him by star and screenwriter Stormy Daniels. The colors were accurate, the grain was slightly less than usual, and the composition of the shots tended to be quite favorable to the cast, using shadow and lights in a manner that you'd expect from a mainstream movie costing much more. There were no compression artifacts or video noise that I saw and the visuals seemed just fine to me. The audio was presented with a choice of either a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English, a Dolby Digital 2.0 German track or a 2.0 Dolby Digital Spanish track (all with optional Italian subtitles). I listened to the English track and while I didn't hear any appreciable separation on the audio, it was nicely put together. I got the impression that it was actually recorded in 2.0 but later remastered with a 5.1 signal given the lack of separation but I could be mistaken. The music was better than usual too and balanced at a lower level which really worked a lot better than usual where the vocals and music compete for attention.

Body of Review: Michael Raven is the contract director at Wicked Pictures known best for his artistic montage scenes rather than features. This isn't to say he can't handle the story based work (he's made numerous features of great quality in the past) but with Brad doing the big budget titles so well, Jonathan handling the comedy par excellence, and David making the better intimate stories, there really isn't a lot of room for him to differentiate himself at the company these days. Well, his latest flick, Watching Samantha, is poised to change all that. The movie is a showcase piece for the lovely contract babe Stormy Daniels (who also wrote it) as a women seeming to be undergoing an emotional and mental breakdown since she gets paranoid about seeing shadowy figures stalking her. The drama and mystery elements of the movie proved Raven's technical skills nicely but the sex was what I'd expect of a top flight cast too. That said, I don't want to spoil the fun for you so here's a quick breakdown of the scenes by cast and action, noting that condoms were used:

Scene One: Stormy Daniels, the lovely blonde contract superstar seen on the front DVD cover, was in a black dress and wanting to make up for her impulsive comments towards partner Randy Spears. This led to the dup jumping onto the bed upstairs where he went down on her lovingly, causing her to react favorably given the manner in which her nipples stood erect and kittenish moans emanated from her throat. Beside being one of the best actresses in the business, besides being a major hotty, and even besides having a great body that men would love to play with, she's a talented vixen in the sack and showed her skills here. Her hummer was too short this time but she aggressively bounced on top of his cock like she was possessed, proving yet again that she is more than just a contract performer turned screenwriter. The camera loves her and the balance between the intimate moments and passionate moments was handled nicely enough (even if some of Randy's dialogue was a bit wooden).

Scene Two: Avena Lee, a foxy little brunette with an all natural body, was up next as she laid back while partner Steven St. Croix administered to her needs. The scene was largely shot in a more voyeuristic manner, employing less light than I typically care for but coming across more naturalistically too. She was a better knob slobber this time than Stormy was in the previous scene (though Stormy can usually hold her own in such contests of wills) and for those of you who wonder how active a gal can fuck in doggy style, watch this one to see what a gal can do. The oral and vaginal aspects of the scene were well handled, ending when she sucked his dick as though it were a "meat straw" according to Raven in the commentary. Unlike the last scene's crotch pop, she took it to the face, both working fine for me but I know some of you have preferences.

Scene Three: Courtney Cummz, a hot and "filthy little trollop" as Raven stated, was up next in another scene at night, this time in a storage room with the massive Lee Stone ("action figure Lee" according to the commentators). He gave her some oral loving that really worked but she provided an incredible blowjob that even impressed the commentators as she jerked him, spit on him, and passionately did him orally before the couple screwed in a chair. It was a great fuck with the two getting all sweaty (as in real life) with her jerking him off to completion into her mouth at the close. It's no wonder that Zero Tolerance signed her up (I wish Wicked had done so) and the goof at the end was cute.

Scene Four: Stormy Daniels, looking great in the see through shower, reminded me of how great see looks all wet, before she enjoyed a romp with the massive Lee Stone. While the two moments were separated by a lot of dialogue (curiously interesting at times dialogue at that), he provided services beyond what the usual gardener is supposed to by going down on her pussy and ass. She reciprocated with a rich gal blowjob (not the best though her two fisted corkscrew technique was appreciated as always) that included some titty fucking and handjob friction too. Her two vaginal cowgirl positions showed her to be back in solid form, impaling herself nicely on his giant wad. The PTM wasn't captured all that well due to the positioning of the camera (a thematic element needed for the story portion of the show perhaps?) but she would've had me at two pumps; tops! It ended with her BJ to her mouth, giving her a large load to play with orally.

Scene Five: Kirsten Price, a fetching young lass now under contract to Wicked Pictures with a sweet and all natural body, was up last with Randy Spears on the couch. Of the entire cast, she's the least experienced in the industry but she had obviously blown a number of men prior to shooting this scene. I would've liked to have heard her perspective of the scene but she had left the commentary long before this one though she was notable for a decent scene where it looked like she was trying to emulate some of Stormy's moves (for her part, Stormy claimed to have taught her some stuff). While she's on the thin side, she showed some solid potential during the scene and I hope she continues to improve though she was good within the confines of the action. It ended with a pop shot to her lovely ass cheeks.

Bonus Scene: Neighbors: Stormy Daniels, this time looking more frantic, goes to new boy toy Barrett Blade, after dumping her old boyfriend as he tried to make up with her. There had been a very short scene between Exotica and Voodoo, then a catfight between her (Exotica) and Nicole Sheridan, which in most porn would've led to a great scene but that was but one of the missed opportunities here. Regardless, Stormy and Barrett went to the kitchen and had some very sweet oral before boning (again at night). When I see a performer only doing night scenes, I tend to think she's hiding something (just as camera angles can do so, light is used similarly) but the cinematography was well done and my general suspicions allayed for the most part as the couple energetically did their work. With an almost erotic quality, the fine scene ended a decent, if couples oriented, movie.

Summary: Watching Samantha was advertised as an Erotic Thriller and suffice it to say, it proved to be both erotic and a thrill to watch. Even if you aren't a big fan of Stormy Daniels (all five of you), the movie succeeds on several levels. If you're looking for a gonzo bone-fest or a circus act extravaganza, you'll be out of luck but if you'd like to watch a movie covering the couples market and still maintain a high level of strokability, Watching Samantha should be on your short list. The ladies were great, the extras the usual solid package that Wicked Pictures provides, and aside from some very minor slips that most of you won't notice, the plot, sexual situations, and other aspects of the movie were very well done with some nice replay value; nice enough to score a rating of Recommended from me. To sum it up, there's good reason to believe that come awards time, a lot of people will be Watching Samantha walk away with some nods to the cast and crew.