I have mixed feelings about filmmaker Michael Raven, enjoying many of his films but taken back by almost as many clunkers. "Paradise Lost" finds him at his most pretentious, rather embarrassing despite its ridiculous industry awards.
Biggest blunder is a product of the DVD era: the packaging (awarded by AVN) promotes a big interracial sex match-up between superstar Julia Ann and co-star Mr. Marcus, but the anticipated black on white humping is relegated to the Bonus second DVD in the package as an "alternate ending", omitted from the feature film proper. Yet included in the feature is IR content of Marcus serviced ably by beauties April and Olivia Del Rio in a dinner table scene.
This seems to be a function of the pernicious effect on movies with the advent of DVDs two decades back, as now both mainstream and specialty films have directors re-thinking and revising a project to death - leaving out many of the best scenes (or shooting lots of extraneous junk) just to take advantage of the crutch of being able to present said omissions on the DVD version in an attempt to have it both ways (i.e., not spoil a movie's pacing but still indulging in all sorts of indulgent material).
Show turns out to be a half-baked (with terrible dialog by Raven) variation on the usual theme of a failed marriage. Instead of presenting that story in straight-forward manner, as pioneered by porn's great auteur Anthony Spinelli, Raven insists on tossing in a ridiculous and pompous set of literary allusions. Our married couple Steven St. Croix and Julia Ann are named Adam and Eve, while the feature's deus ex machina character played by "award-winning" Mr. Marcus (who should have gotten a booby prize for his poor line readings) is named Faust.
Yes, in this story Faust tempts the heroine Eve, but that is an asinine mistake by Raven, as it is the Devil who tempts Eve and in fact Marcus is playing the Devil: the Devil famously tempted Faust, not Faust doing any tempting. The scene where he puts the question to her is followed (only on the Bonus DVD) by an elaborately designed sex scene with Julia Ann wearing a metal crown of thorns and impressively smeared eye makeup while Marcus the Devil anticipates Isiah Washington on TV's "Lucifer" with his angel wings as he shtups her. In the regular feature this sex is completely omitted, with the movie ending conventionally with Adam and Eve making up their differences and humping, only to hear Marcus's chuckling at the final moment after post-coitus Eve says: "Only time will tell" as she ponders whether their reinstated love will last.
Raven's visual designs (he hogs seven different credits here) are impressive as usual, but his dramaturgy stinks. Julia Ann is cast as an exotic dancer in a club named Paradise (where Marcus either hangs out or is actually the owner). while hubby Steven = Adam is an unemployed, self-pitying layabout in one his crummier screen roles. Stealling Julia's thunder is the huge busted Kristal Summers playing a bronze statue come to life to hump Alex Sanders in an amazing tribute to the body beautiful.
Many other great femme stars also appear, including Maya/Wendy Divine as a human sushi platter, Monica Mayhem giving a great blow job and Girls-only star ultra-busty Tanya Danielle getting it on with Euro beauty Jana Cova (billed as Leanna Kova here).
Biggest blunder is a product of the DVD era: the packaging (awarded by AVN) promotes a big interracial sex match-up between superstar Julia Ann and co-star Mr. Marcus, but the anticipated black on white humping is relegated to the Bonus second DVD in the package as an "alternate ending", omitted from the feature film proper. Yet included in the feature is IR content of Marcus serviced ably by beauties April and Olivia Del Rio in a dinner table scene.
This seems to be a function of the pernicious effect on movies with the advent of DVDs two decades back, as now both mainstream and specialty films have directors re-thinking and revising a project to death - leaving out many of the best scenes (or shooting lots of extraneous junk) just to take advantage of the crutch of being able to present said omissions on the DVD version in an attempt to have it both ways (i.e., not spoil a movie's pacing but still indulging in all sorts of indulgent material).
Show turns out to be a half-baked (with terrible dialog by Raven) variation on the usual theme of a failed marriage. Instead of presenting that story in straight-forward manner, as pioneered by porn's great auteur Anthony Spinelli, Raven insists on tossing in a ridiculous and pompous set of literary allusions. Our married couple Steven St. Croix and Julia Ann are named Adam and Eve, while the feature's deus ex machina character played by "award-winning" Mr. Marcus (who should have gotten a booby prize for his poor line readings) is named Faust.
Yes, in this story Faust tempts the heroine Eve, but that is an asinine mistake by Raven, as it is the Devil who tempts Eve and in fact Marcus is playing the Devil: the Devil famously tempted Faust, not Faust doing any tempting. The scene where he puts the question to her is followed (only on the Bonus DVD) by an elaborately designed sex scene with Julia Ann wearing a metal crown of thorns and impressively smeared eye makeup while Marcus the Devil anticipates Isiah Washington on TV's "Lucifer" with his angel wings as he shtups her. In the regular feature this sex is completely omitted, with the movie ending conventionally with Adam and Eve making up their differences and humping, only to hear Marcus's chuckling at the final moment after post-coitus Eve says: "Only time will tell" as she ponders whether their reinstated love will last.
Raven's visual designs (he hogs seven different credits here) are impressive as usual, but his dramaturgy stinks. Julia Ann is cast as an exotic dancer in a club named Paradise (where Marcus either hangs out or is actually the owner). while hubby Steven = Adam is an unemployed, self-pitying layabout in one his crummier screen roles. Stealling Julia's thunder is the huge busted Kristal Summers playing a bronze statue come to life to hump Alex Sanders in an amazing tribute to the body beautiful.
Many other great femme stars also appear, including Maya/Wendy Divine as a human sushi platter, Monica Mayhem giving a great blow job and Girls-only star ultra-busty Tanya Danielle getting it on with Euro beauty Jana Cova (billed as Leanna Kova here).