A Horny Vampire

Directed by Hisayasu Sato ***1/2 Exists in the strange place between desire and horror. Most of the sex acts we see here are extremely arousing, focussing on parts of gay desire we do not often see on screen (licking bulges, kinky underwear, BDSM play) but the rape angle is incredibly distressing. Everyone uses this boy for sexual gratification and Sato ensures that we are also on that list. Hot but also not.

Directed by Fred Halsted ***** As one of the first gay porn films ever made, this seems to be less about deconstruction than it is about an alternative route. Very few adult films are as incomprehensible and avant-garde as this one, yet it remains arousing by focussing on areas apart from the traditional (close-ups on stomachs, thighs, butts) and through juxtaposing the fucking with the landscapes. Absolutely fascinating.

Directed by Toby Ross *** Fascinating but emotionally empty example of early gay porn. The story is engrossing, but is too simple to be as powerful as those themes should be. Main character is an absolute asshole but still don't think he deserves the tragic downfall. Big problem with the music which never seems to fit the scene (and not in a cool atonal way) and the fact that the best sex is crosscut with a small boy staring which is uncomfortable.

Directed by Toby Ross **** Less of a narrative (despite an odd framing device that never gets any kind of explanation) means there is more of a focus on the action. Most of which is heavily stylised, like the naked dance that opens the film or the fantasy fireside sex at the end. Uses pop music in a hilarious way that adds to the mood. One scene, featuring a vaguely bored boy, is set to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 'C'est La Vie', giving the scene a touch of bitterweet melancholy that actuallly works, even if I doubt it's what Ross intended. But the best scene in the film is a lengthy solo session where a naked guy walks around the house vaguely horny. Unlike many solos in modern gay porn, climax isn't the point, more of an erotic exploration. It feels unlike anything else I've seen in erotic cinema because it doesn't feel performative, but merely an expression of this guy feeling himself.