Made in the USA

Wicked Pictures

Genre: Vignette

Director: Michael Raven

Cast: Kirsten Price, Barrett Blade, Anna Mills, Steven St. Croix, Carmen Hart, Tommy Gunn, Kylee King, Eric Masterson, Carie Banks, Lux Kassidy, Lauren Phoenix, Van Damage, Derrick Pierce; Randy Spears and Chris Cannon in the bonus scenes only)

Length: 102 minutes

Date of Production: 1/29/2006

Extras: For most people, the two bonus scenes (one from Rendezvous and the other from Duality) will be the best extras. I detailed the first of them and the other had Kirsten Price and Chris Cannon; both providing some additional value if you don't have their respective movies. For me though, the 21 minute long Behind the Scenes feature by Mark Stone was the best related extra for the show. The ladies and Mr. Raven got some interview time and there was more of the warm up I like to see as well as some photoshoot material. There were the usual photogalleries and star statistics, trailers to movies like Camp Cuddly Pines, Hook Ups 9, Eternity, All About Keri, Sold, and others (though surprisingly not one for The Visitors, two promotional reels, a Wicked Pictures DVD catalog, an Awards and Nominations list, a company profile, some desktop backgrounds, a true double sided DVD cover and a cardboard slipcover for the DVD case.

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: Made in the USA was presented in 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 his artistic vision. The colors were accurate, the grain was less than usual, and the composition of the shots tended to be quite favorable to the cast. There were no compression artifacts or video noise that I saw and the visuals seemed just fine overall. The audio was presented with a choice of either a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English or a 2.0 German track. I listened to the English track and while I didn't hear any appreciable separation on the audio, it was nicely put together otherwise. 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.

Body of Review: Michael Raven is one of the most talented directors in porn and his home at Wicked Pictures seemed tailor made for getting the most out of his skills. He generally sticks with erotic vignettes these days (though his latest feature The Visitors was a very good example of what he's capable of) and his latest is called Made in the USA. The idea was to present a number of vignettes with light sex that addressed some stereotypical fantasies for an audience of couples and newcomers to porn. In many ways, he succeeded and here's a quick look at the scenes by cast and action, noting condoms were all over the place:

Scene One: The Rock Star: Kirsten Price, the hotty on the front DVD cover and new Wicked Pictures contract star, was up first playing a groupie to rock star Barrett Blade, her real life partner. Set to look like a bed on top of a large auditorium's stage, she showed off her wonderful oral skills before he went down on her. They screwed vaginally in a couple of positions and he dumped his load upon her face, making me wonder if they have more chemistry in real life. I ask this because it seemed woefully mechanical to me and I have found both to be talented performers in the recent past.

Scene Two: The Secretary: Anna Mills, looking like a nebbish secretary in professional attire, went into the office of her boss (played by Steven St. Croix) where he took charge of her by pushing her on the desk and undoing her blouse. He went down on her from behind (where her asshole looked like it was pushed out from overuse) and she showed him how much she enjoyed his attention by giving his cock a tongue bath. The blowjob was nothing special and while she was definitely a cutie, I wasn't picking up on any spark between them, weakening the scene for me. The vaginal screwing portion of the scene was better, especially when she rode on top of him as he lay upon the desk, but it was too short and her over the top vocals lowered the believability factor a lot. The scene ended with her looking on in distain as he rubbed out a load to her chest.

Scene Three: The Nurse: Carmen Hart, a fine brunette with tremendous potential given recent performances at Wicked Pictures, and the ever lovely Kirsten Price, played nurses in a doctor's office that took the temperature of patient Tommy Gunn the old fashioned way; by sucking his thermometer (cock). I'd be misleading you to suggest either was better at it since both had their own styles and they were equally pleasing to the eye but Carmen was slightly more active in terms of riding the cock vaginally (neither were all that active though). I prefer full participation and the limitations of the positions translated into giving the two ladies less of a chance to prove their skills, a factor on many of Raven's erotica vignettes. The pop shot went to Carmen's abdomen with the ladies kissing seductively to close it out.

Scene Four: The Girlfriend: Kylee King, a brunette with a big head of hair (almost Texas style!), was up next in a modest apartment setting with bleach blonde Eric Masterson. Her dress was strictly no frills but she had a slow, seductive style of oral that I hope to see more of (especially in person). She gave a decent ride that showed some enthusiasm and playfulness, qualities missing in too many of the other scenes for me (making the scene stand out all the more). I admit that her all natural body was fetching and her attitude enhanced it even more for me, ending the scene with a facial that showed none of the cum dodging fans hate to see.

Scene Five: The Cheerleaders: Carie Banks, Lux Kassidy, and Kirsten Price, were up next as they watched a slew of men leave the showers of a locker room in order to play with each other. The theme this time was that of a group of horny cheerleaders wanting some lesbian action, each wearing a green and yellow outfit as they engaged one another orally and with fingers (no toys). Kristen and Carie spent most of the time on the bench attending each other while Lux seemed content to watch from the shower and masturbate (moving to the bench when the other two moved to some chairs nearby). I understand the emphasis on Kristen but the heat, real or imagined, needed something missing.

Scene Six: The Teacher: Lauren Phoenix, with dark hair and playing a high school teacher, gave some after class instruction to thuggish Van Damage and Derrick Pierce in her classroom. If I had a teacher in sex education like her, I would have received an A+ instead of just an A though her act was substantially toned down from her usual over the top anal queen antics. There wasn't much set up to the action; Van started plugging her pussy early while she blew Derrick, with the limited vocals a major change of pace from her usual act. She still gave a moderately active ride and acted like a cock socket to the men, even taking anal from Van rather easily (it's not like he's overly endowed though) before jerking both of them off to her face. This was another scene that came across as toned down for a couples audience (keep in mind that I've watched numerous scenes with these folks elsewhere) but it might serve as an introductory title for those who are just learning about porn on DVD.

Bonus Scene: Rendezvous: Carmen Hart and Randy Spears, both in bed as the two revived the wacky romantic mainstream comedies of years gone by, had a silly scene where they got drunk and them woke up in bed to have the ending scene. Without sounding like Carmen's personal fanboy, her look provided the backdrop for the scene to get really interesting. The kissing and foreplay the two shared was very appealing with the story elements culminating in the bedroom scene. The dynamic of the scene was different in that the couple seemed to be tearing each other a new one and Carmen's hip grinding once again made me sit up and take notice. I truly hope she never loses this active and aggressive style of screwing, almost as if she was trying to hump him dry. The foot fetish material was present (he licked her feet and she jerked him off with her tootsies, ending when he got a little more pussy and jerked off all over her. Whew!

Summary: Made in the USA was not the vignette equivalent of the skillfully crafted feature by Michael The Visitors but it had a certain appeal as a gateway flick. It was too limited for me to rate it as anything higher than a Rent It but the extras, the technical values, and the eye for the ladies shown by art director Francois Clousot enhanced the production enough that if you like movies by Candida Royalle or Celeste (the director, not the performer), you'll probably consider this a step up but not too far up. In short, it was breezy good fun for the couples crowd and might make a nice companion to Michael's feature flick for those wanting more stroke value but none of the circus act sex so prevalent in porn today. That said, Made in the USA was as patriotic a porno as you'll find in contemporary adult entertainment so check it out if you're into the described action.