Babes Illustrated 18: Collector's Set

Metro Interactive/Cal Vista

Shawna Lenee and Missy Stone

Genre: Lesbian

Director: Anton Slayer

Jessica James and Puma Swede

Cast: Shawna Lenee, Missy Stone, Jessica Jaymes, Puma Swede, Lisa Ann, Jayden James, Devon, Jenaveve Jolie, Melissa Lauren, Mya Nichole

Length: 113:45 minutes

Lisa Ann and Jayden James

Date of Production: 9/11/2008

Extras: The best related extra included on the first disc of the two DVD set was a 13:55 minute long Behind the Scenes feature by Shelley. It had a combination of interviews, extra sex footage, material about the ladies getting ready and some cast material, making it a pretty solid little effort as far as I was concerned. There were also some minimal text biographies, some trailers, spam, and website banners, the box itself a fold out model with some nice pictures of the ladies. The second disc provided something unrelated to the movie in the form of eight older award winning scenes from the archives called The Cal Vista Collection #2. The bonus scenes were from movies like Les Vampyres 2, Taboo 17, Carnal Witness, Red Vibe Diaries, and others.

Mya Nichole, Shawna Lenee, Devon, Melissa Lauren, and Jenaveve Jolie

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Babes Illustrated 18 was presented in a nicely enhanced 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color as shot by director Anton Slayer for Metro Interactive/Cal Vista for release in 480i resolution using the MPEG-2 codec. The majority of action took place inside the house with a little tease outside by the pool so the lighting was typically decent, eliminating the usual shadows, grain, and video noise indicative of porn. The camera angles and editing were capably handled as well with the ladies being showcased nicely in most scenes, their best sides focused on from what I could tell (and minimal amounts of time spent on implant scars, stretch marks, and other physical flaws). The fleshtones were accurate and the bitrate hovered around the mid 4.8 Mbps area most of the time but I did not see a lot of compression artifacts on the big screen and the bitrate varied a lot. Most scenes began with some tease before the regular motion sex kicked in, the music kept light in the background of the tease for the most part but the colors overly saturated and the occaisional loss of focus a pain. The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo English in a 192 Kbps and 48 kHz sampling rate offering, never really adding much by way of aural stimulation but the ladies were easy to hear on those occasions when they were using dirty talk. The music was generic and not offensive, thankfully limited in scope for the most part.

Body of Review: Anton Slayer has worked both sides of the camera in porn for awhile now, his latest efforts directing for Metro Interactive/Cal Vista showing he can provide a wealth of heated scenes between attractive ladies when called upon to do so. His latest movie is Babes Illustrated 18: Collector's Set, the sequel to Babes Illustrated 17 that so many of you found worthy of your time, money, and seed so I was looking forward to seeing what Anton had to offer this time as well. This is the company's signature line for the gal on gal action that many men enjoy, comparing favorably to series from other companies that have won as many awards, so I was interested in seeing how Anton would do given such a mixed variety of ladies. Here's a brief look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were used nor any genetic juice splooged on the ladies by parolees for those still interested:

Scene One: Shawna Lenee, the cute blond spotlighted on the center of the front cover, was up first with Missy Stone, the brunette on the far left side of the cover. They were inside the large home and climbing up the staircase in their underwear (bras, panties, and stripper shoes) while touching each other gingerly, the look of desire from each of them displaying some chemistry. They went through a change of clothing for some reason, caressing and kissing each other as they accomplished the feat, the usual lesbian sex ensuing as a result. I thought Shawna was the better of the two sexually this time but it was not a bad scene, looking more "gay for pay" than true passion most of the time. Still, from the box eating to the titty play, to the vaginal penetration with fingers and toys, it was easy on the eyes as far as I was concerned. Shawna was the more vocal of the ladies too so fans of hers might want to add a few points to my rating.

Scene Two: Jessica Jaymes, a sultry brunette, and blond Puma Swede were up next on the staircase, wearing similar outfits with sexy stockings as they followed the formula from the stairs to the couch below. I'm not a huge fan of Puma (she's okay, just not someone that turns me on) so I relied heavily on Jessica to make this scene worthwhile. As far as strokability is concerned, she did a decent job elevating the dynamic too, the gals looking more at home with each other than many in the movie. Jessica looked like she had dropped a lot of weight here and that bugged me somewhat, the oral and toy flavored sexuality being expressed in such a manner that I'd have jumped in on a dare but not without encouragement. The generic music did not help either as they went at one another, the pair having little personal chemistry even if they were suitable for lesbian scenes. By the end of the taste testing and penetration by tongues, fingers, and toys, I was hoping the cameraman might have rubbed out a load of population pudding for them to share but it never happened.

Scene Three: Lisa Ann, the curvy star of Who's Nailin' Paylin and long time hotty, was up next and one of my main reasons for picking up the title as she engaged in lesbian antics with attractive Jayden James. The pair started off in the bathroom wearing undies, much like the others wore except without the stockings, some cameltoe observed as much as butt munch. In terms of the sexual exploits they provided, it was much like the other scenes except for the additional polish provided by Lisa as she guided Jayden. It was playful with a hint of extra heat, the ladies appearing to like each other as they assisted with changes in attire, little laughs as they posed showing more of a friendly attitude despite some spanking. Their probative tongues, light touches, and hand holding all helped to establish their desire well before they went onto the large bed, the rest of the sexual action similar in terms of acts with each other, just slightly better in terms of their attitudes. The toy use and strap on dildo use was better too but the formula made the scene weaker than it could have been by providing freer rein to the ladies to explore.

Scene Four: Devon, Jenaveve Jolie, Melissa Lauren, Mya Nichole, and Shawna Lenee, were up last in an all girl lesbian orgy on the couch in the living room, some of the ladies pairing up but rarely sticking with the same partners for long. For example, Shawna, Mya, and Devon did each other orally while Melissa and Jenaveve savored their clams, the titty play and underwear removal leading to some spanking and box eating as they had some fun. The scene was kind of playful but Devon, the performer with the most longevity out of the entire batch of hotties here, seemed tragically passive compared to her better scenes elsewhere in the past. The emphasis this scene was on toy use by the ladies and taste testing, the toys licked clean and the juices from the biscuits lapped up with a modicum of flair even if not all the gals were performing at their peak powers. Shawna and Melissa seemed to be the most in spirit of the action (Devon the second gal from the left on the cover, Jenaveve the second gal from the right) so while there was something for all lipstick lesbian lovers like myself, it did not generate as much sizzle as I had wished for this time.

Summary: Babes Illustrated 18 by director Anton Slayer for Metro Interactive/Cal Vista was not a bad showing of lipstick lesbians in action, just limited in several cases due to the strict adherence to a set formula that deprived them all of enthusiasm for lack of a better term. The movie appeared to be shot with a single camera and the colors were overly saturated too, so while the technical matters were not bad at all, they were not the best Metro has had to offer in recent times. I eventually decided to rate this one as a Rent It though fans of the ladies, particularly Lisa Ann and Shawna Lenee, might want to consider it well worth their time, money, and seed. In short, Babes Illustrated 18: Collector's Set might be another title that needs the high definition enhancement I observed in Babes Illustrated 17 to make it shine the best but give it a look if you like gal on gal action.