The Dark Side of Memphis

Hustler Video

Genre: Vignette

Director: Axel Braun

Cast: Memphis Monroe, Lacie Heart, Mya Luvanna, Memphis Monroe, Scott Nails, Jennifer Dark, Jay Lassiter, Anna Nova, Chris Charming, Memphis Monroe

Length: 109.5 minutes

Date of Production: 11/27/2006 to 11/29/2006

Extra's: The best extra was the 20 minute long Behind the Scenes feature. It started out with Lacie Heart explaining how she left Vivid (not mentioning the company by name) and then went on to provide a lot of interview and sex material with Jennifer Dark. I was kind of surprised that Memphis was not featured here and the lack of the other gals also seemed curious so your mileage may vary as to the quality of the show. There was also a 2.5 minute Gag Reel showed Memphis flubbing her lines that was cute. This was followed by a photogallery, some trailers, spam, and a free 15 day trial membership to the Hustler website.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: The Dark Side of Memphis was presented in a letterboxed 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color as shot by director Axel Braun for Hustler Video. For the most part, the use of light and dark seemed to work out nicely with minimal grain or video noise; the darker theme of the movie (as mentioned in the title) catered to fairly well. The fleshtones were accurate and while there did appear to be some edge enhancement and a handful of compression artifacts observed, they were not all that noticeable. The compression rate varied a bunch but appeared to hover around the mid 5 Mbps range and the composition of the camera angles enhanced the look of the ladies in most cases. The editing was a bit weak here and there but nothing so bad that more time wouldn't have allowed it to be better done. The audio was presented in the usual Dolby Digital English with the standard 192 Kbps bitrate. The vocals were easy to here but the music seemed far too generic, mixed fairly well but lacking the dynamic range and separation of higher end efforts.

Body of Review: Axel Braun has been directing for some time now, his parental lineage allegedly tracing back to one of the modern founders of porn to hear the rumor mill. As such, it is not surprising that he shoots movies for Hustler Video; an empire that turned weaker adult fare in the 1970's into a race that resulted in some companies adapting far better than others (thanks to Larry Flynt). His latest movie is a showcase piece on the cute company contract gal, Memphis Monroe, in the form of The Dark Side of Memphis where the gal's fantasies were to be explored. If you enjoy the physically appealing young lady, you'll want to skip the rest of my review in favor of picking up a copy right now but if you're undecided, I can tell you that it was not her strongest effort to date. That said, here's a quick look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were used:

Scene One: Memphis Monroe, sporting her darker colored hair and decked out in black lingerie, was up first with super cute Lacie Heart, who was wearing a red ensemble. Each gal had their own dynamic going on, serving to enhance their appeal as they roughly tore each other's clothing off in the jailhouse setting. They kissed, fondled, and spent plenty of time eating each other out before using a red double headed dildo together. Fans of toe worship will appreciate the nod they got and Memphis provided a fair amount of dirty talk as they continued to pleasure each other nicely.

Scene Two: Mya Luvanna, playing a bikinied captive, was up next in an Egyptian setting (complete with two sarcophagus) in a cage as Memphis Monroe tormented her. Memphis sported a lengthy wooden rod to act like she'd beat the broad up with but the deal was Mya might get freed if she sucked off Scott Nails. The outstretched cock worked wonders on her attitude, the gal slowly sucking him as though savoring the taste of his meat. Memphis then took over to suck and be fucked by the guy, leaving Mya with a serious case of cock envy before she was given a second chance to work him over too as Memphis commanded her. Mya was actually a more active ride than Memphis but each of them would be welcome wherever they went given their physical and skill oriented attributes. The scene ended with Scott jerking off to Mya's face and mouth, Memphis sharing the population pudding with her by licking it off.

Scene Three: Jennifer Dark, an all natural gal with a lean body and dark hair, was up next in what appeared to be a bricked warehouse on a ladder as she masturbated. The performance was kind of fake and seeing as how she was stuck working with third tier moper Jay Lassiter, I did not expect it to get much better. They both did the oral well enough and the pounding anal sex was as mechanical as the solo action, the couple having no chemistry at all. He did most of the work and her salad tossing did not help her appeal to me at all. The boring scene ended when he came in her anal gape. Yawn!

Scene Four: Anna Nova, a German anal expert with lightened hair and big curves, was up next on a couch with countryman Chris Charming and Sascha. The scene started off with her sucking Chris and getting vaginally pounded by Sascha while she was in her black fetish corset; forgetting that a build up and/or tease can elevate the heat of any scene. The lack of tease alone did not ill the scene for me though since she was so aggressive in displaying her sexuality. Her oral was heated and the mechanical penetrative sex included a lot of DP material though she was far better when actively riding one cock in her pussy and the other in her mouth. The scene ended with her taking both loads to her chest and licking some of it off; not her best work but okay for a stroke session or two.

Scene Five: Memphis Monroe, wearing a black two piece outfit in a blank white room, was up last as she took on both Scott Nails and Sascha. There was again no warming up or tease; the gal on her knees to suck both men off in alternating fashion. She did a fine job of the oral, aggressively inhaling meat pipe ike it were her first such meal in weeks, taking each man one at a time as they boned her cookie soon after. Watching her titties bounce was a lot of fun but she let them do most of the work except when she was on top. For me, it was a better scene than the last one though as the appeal of a cutie like Memphis acting whorish was undeniable. There was no DP and the roughest it got was her getting a spanking or using her dirty talk before they launched their wads onto her face at the close. It wasn't enough to save the movie completely but it was a scene indicative of her appeal in many ways.

Summary: The Dark Side of Memphis by director Axel Braun for Hustler Video was a title with numerous inherent flaws built in. The pacing was off, the gals were sometimes elsewhere mentally, and the scenes ranged from pretty decent to substantially lame. Still, for fans of Memphis Monroe, my rating of Rent It may seem too low so adjust your personal rating accordingly. In all, The Dark Side of Memphis did manage to display why Memphis is so appealing to her fans but her use in the flick was far from what it should have been, making it a weaker effort than expected.