Bachelor Party Girl, The Review

Distributor: Metro Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film Run Time: 106 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2002 Director: James Avalon Written by: James Avalon Cast: Sunrise Adams, Evan Stone, Ann Marie Rios (as Ann Marie), April Flowers (as April), Holly Hollywood, Faith Adams, Noname Jane (as Violet Blue), Joel Lawrence, Rafe Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 9 (SS, DL) Special Features: Photo Gallery, Interviews, Behind the Scenes, Previews DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
After an intense relationship and break up with Eveline (Violet Blue), Travis (Evan Stone) contemplates ending his life. His friend Butch (Joel Lawrence) invites him to a bachelor party, where Travis meets Angela (Sunrise Adams), one of the entertainment, who has a voracious sexual appetite. Travis enters into a self-destructive relationship with her which threatens to emotionally destroy him.

Audio/Video:
The Bachelor Party Girl is presented with its original English 2.0 Stereo track. Although there is a slight problem with the audio, it works for the film and will be the least of your problems with the film. The audio levels vary through the film which, depending on how you have your stereo set, will either make some dialog hard to hear or make some dialog/music way too loud. Metro hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the film.

The Bachelor Party Girl is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which appears to be the proper aspect ratio for the film. The video is plagued with problems throughout the film, many of which appear to be intentional so I won't get into the intentional problems here as they lie with the film making and not the transfer and only go into the disc specific problems here. The picture for the disc is soft, which reduced the detail that the viewer can see. Many scenes are also plagued by pixels especially in the sex scenes. The colors also appear to be over saturated. There are portions where they are intentionally over saturated that will be covered in the general review, but in the portions where they weren't intentionally over saturated, they still appear to be too heavy. This could have been intentional as well though. Basically, you aren't going to be impressed with the picture quality available here and will probably find yourself disappointed.

Special Features:
Metro has included a few extras on the disc, but not the one I was hoping for, an apology from James Avalon for ruining the film. There are interviews included on the disc from Violet Blue, which I have seen on previous Metro discs, and April. Neither of the interviews is specific to the film but is about the careers of the starlets. There is a photo gallery that contains 41 stills from the film on a track. There is a 24 minute behind the scenes piece that mostly covers the cast that delves slightly into the filming of the film. And there are previews for Les Vampyres 2, Good Girl Bad Girl, Karma, America the Beautiful, and Sex and the Studio.

Navigation:
There are seven chapters available from the main menu for The Bachelor Party Girl. The chapters are identified by a video clip from the scene that the chapter goes to. There is a time code encoded on the disc for the feature film so you are not limited to using the chapter menu. The chapters from the chapter menu don't link to the sex scenes directly, but go to the plot portion prior to each sex scene, so viewers attempting to get directly to the sex scenes can't use the chapter menu to get there.

General Review:
This film is my first exposure to James Avalon and I went into viewing it with high expectations of what was to come. Right from the first scene, I knew I was going to be disappointed by this film, but I didn't realize how much I was going to be disappointed. I should probably preface this review by stating that I have no general problem with artistic porn since it is James Avalon's film style that I found to ruin this film. This film holds so much potential for being a great adult film, and it is a shame to see it marred the way it has been.

The general plot for the film is decent, not one that I have seen overplayed to death in the porn world and if it had been developed further it would make for a very good porn film. This film is not that very good porn film though. For the plot to have worked better, the film should have run about a half hour longer so portions that are quickly skipped through could have been developed more. Normally I wouldn't come down this hard on the plot, but the plot is about the only aspect this film has going for it, so it becomes very important. Another minor problem with one of the plot portions is the phone sequence toward the end of the film goes on for too long. The scene would have been much better if the scene had been cut down so that the viewer got the point behind it without over doing it to death.

James Avalon has assembled a good cast here that do a great job with both the plot portions and the sexual portions of the film. Evan Stone, who plays the lead character, does a great job with his role proving that he can act at least to the requirements of a plot-based adult film. Sunrise Adams is perfect for her role and brings much to her character. For instance, in the scene where she is being fucked by Rafe while talking on the phone to Evan is perfect. Joel Lawrence is rather low key here, but it works for his character.

The cast does a great job with the sex scenes as well bringing some intense energy to the scenes, especially Violet Blue and Sunrise Adams. The sex scenes are tame, but with the energy brought by the cast turn out to be very hot. Although the sex is relatively tame, I'll be amazed if anyone cannot be turned on by the sexual performances exhibited here. Unfortunately, the sexual performances are ruined by the visual styling of the scenes that removes most of the heat created by them. The sexual themes in the film are oral, vaginal and anal sex with lesbianism and toys. For viewers that care about condom use, there are condoms used in all of the scenes.

What completely ruins this film is the 'artistic' aspect that James Avalon has brought to it. Most of the sex scenes in the film are lit with an intense orange light and appear to have also had the colors manipulated in post-production to make the orange color on the scenes more intense. The end result is that the orange color bleeds heavily in the scenes causing haloing around the bodies making the scenes very hard to watch. There was a point during the film when I stopped the film to check my color settings to make sure they weren't too high, but they weren't, it was the film. This effect is used in four of the six scenes completely ruining any erotic quality they contain.

There is also some odd lighting thrown into the middle of some of the scenes. For instance, in the second scene with Holly Hollywood and Ann Marie, there are a few portions that don't feature the intense orange lighting but feature a deep blue lighting instead. I think the intended effect is supposed to be a breaking up of the portions of the scenes, but it doesn't work and just ends up making the scene look odd. This alone would not have ruined the film, but when added to all of the other problems, it certainly doesn't help.

Much of the film is edited with a quick MTV style editing, which works for some of the scenes. For instance, in the opening scene this style works well where the scene is constantly switching between the sex scene with Evan Stone and Violet Blue and their break up. If it hadn't been for the over saturation of orange in this scene, the scene would have turned out very well. The quick editing doesn't work in all of the scenes though diminishing some already problematic scenes even further.

Another problem with the style of the film, is the sequence showing the majority of Sunrise Adams and Evan Stone's relationship is shown with a grainy old film look with some effects to make it look like it is an old film. The end result is that these scenes appear to take place as flashbacks although following the plot, they should take place in the current time. Add into this the style used for Evan and Sunrises's sex scene which switches between the old film look and some crystal clear shots haphazardly for a very odd looking scene. There are also a few points in this scene where the grain is so heavy and the lighting so dark that it is hard to see the action going on.

In some of the sex scenes, the shots are shown out of sequence as well. For instance, in the sixth scene with Sunrise Adams, Faith Adams and Joel Lawrence when Faith is laid back with Sunrise at her head and Joel is vaginally penetrating her, and some of the quick edits show Faith in a completely different position. I'm not sure why James Avalon decided to throw in these shots out of sequence but they only serve to destroy the mood created by the scene.

There are also places in some of the sex scenes where the speed of the film is speeded up to create some fast motion portions. There are places that this effect works in favor of the scene. For instance when it is used during the blow job during the first scene with Violet Blue and Evan Stone it fits in with the mood of the scene, but when it is used later in the film in another scene, it didn't fit and detracted from the scene.

From how hard I have come down on this film, you would think that I don't like artistic porn, which isn't the case. The problem here is that James Avalon went over the top with everything he did in the film. The film would have worked much better if he had toned down the effects and had them work with the film instead of against it. As I previously stated, the first scene would have worked very well without the intense orange lighting. The fifth scene, the scene with Evan and Sunrise, would have worked better if he stuck to one style instead of switching and it had taken place in the past and not the present. I believe that artistic effects should work with the film, to enhance the mood, show a different time period, etc. instead of just being there and since this is an adult film they shouldn't be so heavy as to destroy the scenes.

It's obvious from watching this film that James Avalon has some good ideas on how to make a different adult film with some fresh new ideas and that he is a competent film maker and I'm interested to watch some other films by him hopefully where the styles that he uses in the films actually work in favor of the film. Unfortunately, this is just not that film.

The Scenes:
The first scene features Evan Stone with Violet Blue and is interlaced with scenes of them fighting and him drinking and contemplating suicide. The scene starts out with a blow job and some pussy eating before the vaginal sex. Evan pulls out to cum to end the scene. This is a great scene that is ruined by the over saturation of the colors. The second scene features Holly Hollywood and Ann Marie for some lesbian action consisting of pussy licking and toys. This is a decent scene but again is marred by the over saturation of the colors.

The third scene brings us Joel Lawrence and Sunrise Adams for a blow job and vaginal sex. There is an edit to Joel cumming to end the scene. This is another hot scene that is ruined by the over saturation of colors. The fourth scene is the only scene that is not marred by over saturation of colors or the switching of grainy and clear shots. The scene brings us Sunrise Adams, April and Rafe starting out with a blow job. The scene moves into vaginal sex with pussy eating and vaginal sex at the end. Rafe wacks off briefly to cum to end the scene.

The fifth scene brings us Sunrise Adams and Evan Stone starting with a blow job before the vaginal sex. There is some anal sex before there is a cut to Evan cumming. This scene is another hot scene but is shot with some portions being grainy and other portions being clear. The sixth and final scene brings us Sunrise Adams, Faith Adams and Joel Lawrence. The scene starts with a blow job before the vaginal sex. Then there is some vaginal sex with pussy eating before Joel pulls out to cum. This scene features over saturated colors and some of the shots used are out of sequence.

Parting Thoughts:
I'm not sure what audience James Avalon has intended this film for, but anyone who is looking to be aroused by their adult entertainment would be well advised to skip this film. Basically what could have been a great film has been ruined by over use of visual styling that doesn't fit the places that it is used. Die-hard fans of James Avalon may want to see the film but I can't easily recommend this film to any particular audience. If you do want to watch it, I recommend that you rent it instead of buying it.

Screenshots:

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