The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 69

Sex Z Pictures

Genre: Feature

Director: Kurt Lockwood

Cast: Monica Mayhem, Samantha Ryan, Kurt Lockwood, Eve Lawrence, Alektra Blue, Naudia Nyce, Venus, Matt Bixel, Eve Mayfair, Mario Rossi, Alexis Amore
Non-sex Roles: Sharon Mitchell, Pat Myne, Tim Connelly, Sunny Lane, Charlie Lane, Ron Jeremy, Johnny Hill, Ed Webb, Jeff Mullen

Length: 90 minutes

Dates of Production: 8/24/2005 to 8/26/2006

Extras: The best extra was easily the 32.5 minute long Behind the Scenes feature. Unfortunately, it was for another movie and not the one in hand. To me, that kind of sucks and makes me wonder what kind of genius planned out the DVD release in the first place. Granted, I liked seeing some major hotties naked and having fun but should I expect to see the BTS for this DVD on that release? The ending credits listed Bobby Manila as handling the BTS feature so I'm kind of curious as to where the BTS for the movie went that it had to be replaced by one from another movie. One interesting extra was a selection of garage band songs, presumably by Kurt's band including; Let's Rock, She Kills, Strip, EZ Action, Sing Angels, Rock N Roll Resurrection, Lipstick Killers, and Apocalyptic Nymphomania. To be fair, I've sat through worse songs in small clubs by bands with dreams of hitting it big so these were no worse on the ears. There was also a photogallery, some trailers, and a link to the company's video on demand website.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 69 was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in by director Kurt Lockwood for distribution by Sex Z Pictures. The fleshtones were generally accurate even though the lighting varied a whole lot from scene to scene in terms of quality. The raw footage seemed relatively okay for a brand new director possessing zero experience but the way it was edited and the pacing of the sex scenes left much to be desired. I didn't see any compression artifacts but the composition of the shots generally did not favor the ladies or enhance their looks. The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English, sounding like the vocals were mixed too low compared to the music. Since this was a musical documentary of sorts, I feel compelled to note that the music (provided by the now defunct band Not the Ramones) wasn't bad for a garage band though the lyrics probably won't interest anyone and the cadence of the tunes did not seem to work all that well with the sex as edited. On a related note, there were times when you could clearly hear the directions given to the ladies from off camera, weakening the moment more than a little bit.

Body of Review: Kurt Lockwood is best known as a male performer in contemporary adult movies (typically called pornos). He has tried his hand at a number of endeavors and stuck with something he's reasonably good at, one time aspiring to make it in mainstream Hollywood movies or in the music industry. Last year, as part of an attempt to further his career and serve his musical muse, Kurt gave directing a shot as he tackled a project using all the musical talent he could muster in The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 69. The movie was basically a chance for several adult companies (Zero Tolerance, 3rd Degree, Red Light District, Sex Z Pictures, Suze Net, Anabolic and others) to contribute to the AIM Healthcare Outpatient program by means of a concert put on by the industry band, Not the Ramones, as covered by AVN magazine. The sex scenes were interwoven into the bits of the band rehearsing and otherwise getting ready for their big night, with the concert taking place at the King King in Hollywood. It was for a good cause so I gave the DVD a look and here's a quick breakdown of the scenes by cast and action, noting no condoms were used:

Scene One: Monica Mayhem, the redheaded gal from Australia, cute blond Samantha Ryan, and Kurt Lockwood were up first after the first song was rehearsed by the band. The gals gave him head and rimmed him before taking turns getting vaginally screwed by him. There was some toy use and the gals took great delight in fingering his ass but even the toy use (dildos and strap ons) didn't do much to make the scene anything more than a generic romp. Kurt eventually dropped a small load into Samantha's mouth that was than swapped to Monica.

Scene Two: Eve Lawrence, a very curvy gal with huge implants, was up next as she masturbated on a bed with a moderate sized dildo. The action followed an interview where she seemed somewhat bitter but thankfully the eye rolling, over the top solo scene (where whispers could be heard directing her) was saved by the introduction of Samantha Ryan. I suppose the scene would've appeared more spontaneous had the ladies not been strictly following orders but this happens in better porn too (we just aren't privy to hearing the director in those). Once the two gals went at one another, it was a pretty basic lipstick lesbian scene with licking, toy sticking, and faked orgasms.

Scene Three: Alektra Blue, Naudia Nyce, Venus, Matt Bixel, and Kurt Lockwood were up next in the pre show orgy. Alektra was a bit out of it as she sucked both men off; Nadia assisting by tossing Kurt's salad and fingering him but the ladies seemed to maneuver around the different partners as they pursued an oral assault. There was no structure to what took place and the men were getting especially sweaty as they screwed the ladies vaginally; especially Kurt. Venus proved to be the extreme queen of the scene when she took the DP well but none of the ladies actively rode cock except using their mouths. The gals took mouth shots that were cumswapped to close out the scene but it looked more like a home movie with really bad editing than anything else.

Scene Four: Eve Mayfair, a black gal with an interesting hair style, was up next on the big night as she blew Mario Rossi. The music was too loud and didn't work with the slow pacing of her oral but a hummer is a hummer if you're the one getting it. This was edited into Samantha, Naudia, and Venus having a quick lesbian scene but it was all fingers and tongues on the red leather couch.

Scene Five: The final scene consisted of most of the previous sexual participants along with Alexis Amore (Samantha, Alektra, Naudia, Matt, Kurt, and Mario) having a "big orgy" back at the hotel room. Orgies have long been one of the toughest things to properly capture in a porno and I really can't fault those involved here with falling short. It included oral and vaginal sex with the ladies taking the mouth pops and swapping them. The editing was pretty bad here too but if there was more than a single camera used, it wasn't readily apparent and I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I liked the scene even if it was a bit chaotic.

Summary: The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 69 ended with director Kurt Lockwood musing that in the future "there will be no difference between mainstream celebrities and porn stars" as well as suggesting that porn will be more accepted and shown on network TV. While all of those predictions may come true within the next 50 years or so, I'm not going to hold my breath given recent developments in the industry. As far as the movie goes, it was a decidedly mixed experience for me to watch and listen to. Keeping in mind that the internet hype surrounding the release was pretty high, I really didn't think Lockwood could make the transition from performer to director very well on his first attempt. Directing is a learning game and while he handles his role as performer quite well and formerly successful musicians_turned_porn_performers like Barrett Blade who have far more experience have been marginal at providing a cross over experience (as in Rockhard) that fuses rock and porn to any degree worth mentioning. Still, if you're a huge fan of the cast and don't mind all the beginner mistakes that were made on the movie's creation, you might see fit to think of it worthy of a Rent It. AIM is the industry healthcare provider of sorts and if a benefit concert or two can finance a bed to help detoxify a substance abuser, by all means I am supportive. My advice to Kurt would be to continue learning under the tutelage of a veteran director more before the next attempt and maybe the results will prove to be better. Still, it wasn't the worst first effort I've seen in the last 25 years.