The Predator

Wicked Pictures

Genre: Vignette, Lesbian

Director: Stormy Daniels

Cast: Stormy Daniels, Trina Michaels, Dee, Tory Lane, Sammie Rhodes, Alektra Blue, Melissa Lauren, Jenna Haze, Justine Joli, Leah Luv, Jenaveve Jolie

Length: 97:47 minutes

Date of Production: 10/17/2006

Extra's: For many of you, the best extra will be the fair scene between Stormy Daniels and Kimberly Kane taken from Wicked Divas: Stormy. Personally, I like new extras that are geared towards the release in hand so I enjoyed the 22:09 minute long Behind the Scene feature by someone named Jax (and edited yet again by Jef) more but I prefer unique extras in my movies more than most so your mileage may vary accordingly (especially if you already have the movie in question). There was more sex, nudity, and short interviews as the guy meandered around the sets of the flick, talking with cast and crew, spending a lot of time trying to get the inside scoop from director Stormy. There were also the usual photogalleries (12!) and 4 Star Stats, a whole 4 minutes of bloopers from the multi-day shoot, the 2007 Promotional Reel, spam, DVD Catalog of Wicked Pictures titles, the usual DVD ROM material, and trailers to movies like Gossip, Sleeping Around, For Love, Money Or A Greencard, Watching Samantha, Taken, & Three Wishes, (none for the usual titles like The Visitors, Eternity, Camp Cuddly Pines, Hook Ups, Curse Eternal, Mobsters, and Manhunters). There was also a cardboard protective sleeve on the DVD case and a double sided cover for those who care.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: The Predator was presented in the same 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color it was shot in by director Stormy Daniels for Wicked Pictures as shot & mastered in High Definition (with assistance by Michael Raven and Francois Clousot). The DVD wasn't another HD DVD release but it did look a lot alike some of the grainy lesbian flicks from weaker companies in the past. Stormy's team used various lighting effects to achieve her artistic vision but it left me feeling ill at ease given the various issues; mainly the huge amount of grain and video noise. The colors were okay but so tough to make out over the levels of the grain that I wondered what was going on. There were compression artifacts (it was typically showing a bitrate of mid 5 Mbps) and the overall impression the movie left with me was that someone messed with the camera settings and forgot to fix them at times; shooting for a higher contrast film that could handle the lower levels of lighting better than video under duress of fog machines and gels could. The audio was presented with a choice of either a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English (with a bitrate of 384 Kbps) or a 2.0 DD track in Spanish. I listened to the English track and while I didn't hear any appreciable separation on the audio, it was nicely put together otherwise. The music was uncredited but did manage to add a creepy feel to the movie's scenarios, making that aspect pretty decent. Still, as limited the audio was in this mid-level budget feature, it was handled pretty well overall.

Body of Review: Stormy Daniels is probably best known as the Princess of Wicked Pictures; performing and directing at the company for some time now. Most of her efforts to date have been the smaller budget throwaway flicks the company makes in between their award winning, blockbuster releases, but they do provide something different from what the experienced directors at the company offer. Her latest release is The Predator; Stormy's 1st all girl feature directing job for the company. The story was simply a series of vignettes where the lesbian stalker type haunts the town at night picking up other women to satisfy her craving for pussy; a sort of psychic vampire without the supernatural elements. There was no point to the scenes, including no beginning, middle, or end of a plot but given the cast of ladies present, fans of lesbian action like myself should probably be really happy with this one. The back of the cover said it like this: "Sick ... twisted ... depraved. She has been called them all, but most refer to her simply as "The Predator". Join award winning director/performer Stormy Daniels as she prowls the night looking for new additions to her "collection". Bondage, anal, double penetrations ... this one has something for even the most hardcore connoisseur. After watching Stormy's first all-girl feast, you'll think twice before venturing out alone." That said, let's look at the five scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were needed since this was strictly gal on gal action at Wicked Pictures:

Scene One: Stormy Daniels, the director and attractive blonde on the front cover of the DVD, was up first in a dungeon scene where she dominated busty Trina Michaels, and aging cutie Dee. They were her captives and did as Stormy wanted them to do, licking and rubbing their princess to keep her happy, the action often hard to see in the dimly lit setting with slow motion in abundance. There was some toy use, Trina taking the majority of it in her lovely pussy, ass and mouth while Dee largely watched the action. I like the ladies of the scene but the special effects sure weakened my desire to rub one out here, and I'm a certified lesbian lover (trademark forthcoming).

Scene Two: Tory Lane, Sammie Rhodes, and Stormy Daniels were up next as Stormy preyed on the two stranded motorists at night on a poorly lit side street. Her large van was full of medical torture devices and a mattress, Tory and Sammie finding out too late that they were in deep shit at the hands of the female mechanic wannabe. The grain wasn't quite as bad this time and the heat generated was substantially improved thanks in large part to Tory's passionate acceptance of the numerous toys that were plundering her pussy and ass. The slow motion or frame skipping (there were times when it was tough to determine which it was) weakened the action for me here too but they put on such an over the top performance that I couldn't help but enjoy it; albeit laughing at times when I didn't think that was the point. Stormy was wise enough to wear her company logo necklace prominently (as in other scenes) and looked to be having fun; Sammie not coming across as well as the other two. Fans of technical DP action will like how well Tory handled it and Sammie wasn't bad either but this was a scene where some more lighting would have done wonders for the heat.

Scene Three: Alektra Blue and Melissa Lauren, a couple of appealing brunettes with lean bodies and pretty eyes, were up next on the desk as Stormy watched them audition for a part. The same lighting and grain were evident here (much to my dismay) but they did manage to come off like they were getting off as the scene cut back and forth to a passive Stormy sitting back and watching them. The single toy slammed onto the desktop really wasn't enough of a kick after the previous scene but it suited them to be actively pumping on a black dildo just the same. Alektra did take some small anal beads and they did share a double headed dildo too but it was a mechanical ride for the most part and weakened by Stormy's lack of participation.

Scene Four: Jenna Haze, Justine Joli, and Leah Luv, all played groupies to a lame punk rock band in the alleyway; denied entrance to the back stage by a bouncer not keen on their trickery. Stormy watched them pout at their dilemma and swooped in for the kill, offering to give them all back stage passes if they made a heated little sex tape for the band (she claimed to be a radio station contact). The action was claustrophobic in the little room and all the issues of lighting and grain were still hitting the production hard, much of the sexual action captured as if by the handheld camera as shot by a rank amateur. The shaky camera might have worked better in another type of movie or under different circumstances but there was some decent energy coming from the ladies here. Leah did her pissing act and the other two relied mainly on their looks and skills with lesbian sex; making it watchable strictly due to the dynamic they presented (ie: in spite of the technical matters). Jenna was the anal queen here with the toy but nothing close to what she does when given more room to shine.

Scene Five: Jenaveve Jolie, a beautiful Latina in a bar, was up last playing a gal in distress at the hand life had dealt her. She confided in predator Stormy Daniels, the two flirting after some drinks eased the pain of the moment, Jenaveve excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Stormy came in a few moments later, taking her new pal by surprise and forcibly pushing her into the wall as though about to rape her. I wasn't keen on that part but the scene quickly eased up and made it consensual sex with Stormy eating Jenaveve out and applying a vibrator to her in the stall. The grain was heavy but the lighting a touch better here, the pleasure of the moment not caught very well but obvious nonetheless. They looked better when they moved to a mattress but it was too short to really explore their possibilities.

Summary: The Predator by director Stormy Daniels for Wicked Pictures was really not a "feature" due to the limited dialogue and lack of plot but it certainly had some thriller elements as the front cover indicated. The claustrophobic and dark nature of the entire movie would have worked well within the confines of a true plot; the BTS comments about this being a parody telling me that someone might want to take a few classes at night in the near future too. In all though, the cast of cuties could not save The Predator from the lower than average technical values since the heavy amounts of grain and video noise really distracted me from fully appreciating it as much as I wanted to (had this movie provided an actual plot, it might have worked slightly better on thematic elements too), my generous nature towards hotty Stormy Daniels allowing me to push my thumb on the scale a bit to give it a rating of Rent It.