Barely 18 8 (Sin City) Review

Reviewed by Kelly  on  4/13/2004

Title: Barely 18 #8
Company: Sin City
Length: 1 hour and 28 minutes (88 minutes)
Production Date(s): February 8, 2004
Release Date: February 16, 2004

Director: Christian Knight

The Abridged Version: “Barely 18 #8” is vanilla porn. It is not as watered down as the tame fair you would get from Vivid or Wicked Pictures, but it is far from the wall-to-wall extreme sex you would get from Evil Angel, Platinum X, or Red Light District. There are 5 scenes with young looking girls, each one simply paired with one guy and not asked to do anything as nasty as a threesome or anal. (Interesting note: we later find out in the DVD interviews that 4 of the 5 girls actually do anal and one of them is thinking about eventually doing it) With the ridiculous expectation of anal from every single girl in every single gonzo scene in today’s industry, this lack of backdoor banging is kind of a shock. In fact, Sin City really should have capitalized on this and labeled the tape “Anal Free” but I am sure they didn’t want to scare some people away. However, with the absolutely stunning visage of Teagan on the cover I doubt anyone would look away from this title. Labeled “the next big thing” by hardcore fans, Teagan shines in what is comparatively her tamest scene to date. Jennifer Luv follows her up and, with complete deference to our new “it” girl, completely steals the show. Of course, that probably has something to do with the fact that Jennifer has been around for over a year now and is in fact not even a teenager anymore. The same thing cannot be said for Alex Devine, who has been around just as long as Jennifer but has not progressed as much as a performer. She is no a lame duck, but still seems to hold back. Maya Mason is somewhat shortchanged with a brief scene and is never allowed to take off because of it. And Estella, the only real new girl here beside Teagan, instantly made a fan out of me. With the tape's unimaginative title, washed out photography, and vignette-based action, this feature and the others in this line somewhat resemble Hustler’s long running and award winning “Barely Legal” series. And like that series, the value of this one is not so much its actual sexual appeal but the potential collectors item it is. Early issues of "Barely Legal" gave us introductions to future superstars like Bunny Luv, Avy Scott, Gauge, and Sunrise Adams. Here we are given hints at two future superstars (if they stick around lone enough): Teagan and Jennifer Luv.

Scene 1: Teagan (cover girl) w/Chris Cannon (18 minutes)

There is such a concept as classic beauty. Teagan has it or at leas she has it in the face. One could easily imagine her posing for painted portraits centuries ago. Contemporarily, she is best compared to Britney Spears or at least the way Britney, the ultimate cocktease, looked before she got implants. What is odd for me is that I have never found Britney all that hot, but I think Teagan is gorgeous. Perhaps taking a cue from her musically inclined doppelganger, Teagan opens the scene sitting at a piano. She is apparently having a lesson with her teacher Mr. Cannon and he is impressed by her improved finger skills. In response to his curiosity, she displays how she has been exercising her fingers by wrapping them around his cock. (I wonder if this is how Britney repaid all of the talented songwriters that wrote the songs that she karoake’d her way through into fame.) Her dainty hands of course give way to her mouth and we soon have a rather nice looking blowjob. However, despite her beauty and genuine passion, this scene still ends up seeming a little bit too by the numbers. Chris gives it to her in doggy, reverse cowgirl, and missionary before dropping a somewhat weak pop on her face. In the end, Teagan reveals her inexperience by looking into the camera inquisitely before lightly blowing the head of Cannon’s member, looking very much so as if she was just sucking until cut was called.

Scene 2: Jennifer Luv (hot Latina, brunette w/blonde streaks, ripe and natural b-cup breasts) w/Mr. Pete (21 minutes)

A while back, a rather popular concept in porn was the female celebrity look-alike feature. If this concept still endured today, Teagan would have all ready made a Britney Spears parody and Jennifer Luv would have all ready shaken her magnificent ass through her interpretation of Jennifer Lopez. And as with Teagan, I again find the look-alike a lot hotter than the celebrity she is compared to. Here, we are given a rather useless set-up where Mr. Pete accidentally walks in on Jennifer as she is playing with herself on her bed. Wearing a pink top that her hard nipples seem to be busting out of and a tasty white thong, Jennifer is a vision of beauty that no guy (or so inclined girl) could pass up. Of course, this is only magnified once she moves to the edge of the bed and props herself on her knees to accentuate her chest as she slowly pulls town her top. Pete briefly rubs her pussy before standing atop the bed and allowing her mouth to work its magic on his member. Interestingly enough, this room of her’s has a mirrored ceiling and the director uses it to nice effect at times, such as during this somewhat wet blowjob. Eventually, Pete sticks it in her pussy in sideways missionary. Very well established as an intense male performer, Pete lives up to his reputation here and Jennifer seems to absolutely love every minute of it. During this first position, it is also interesting to see that the whole time that Jennifer is moaning in ecstasy with her eyes closed Pete is looking at both of their reflections in the ceiling. He gives more direct attention in traditional missionary and reverse cowgirl. We briefly get a position seen far too sparingly; a combination of missionary and doggy, with Jennifer lying flat on her belly while Pete nails her from behind. After an extended view of the penetration, Jennifer arches her ass up for doggy. She fiercely grips the sheets of the bed in passion, and again searches for anything to clutch when they move to the foot of the bed for standing doggy. Pete frantically shoots off on her face, but most of the cum lands on his hand which she does eagerly lick dry.
*Note. During the facial, Pete uses his other hand to completely guard Jennifer’s eyes. I have never seen a single male porn star do this during a facial in all of the porn I have ever seen.

Scene 3: Alex Devine (average looking short-haired blonde w/tight body) w/Steve Hatcher (20 minutes)

I don’t know what it is about Alex, but I keep coming back to her. She has been working for a year now and she has never really turned in a scene where she seemed entirely into the action. On top of that, she has changed her hairstyle far too many times, with the “That Girl” style here being the worst. However, I keep looking forward to her videos. I think it has something to do with the fact that Alex is really a normal looking girl. She is a porn star that harkens back to the mid to late 90s when porn stars were attractive, such as Holli Woods or Alyssa Love, but not always supermodel gorgeous, like Teagan. Here, we find Alex sitting on her deck completely naked. Steve Hatcher happens to walk by and she invites him inside. They amazingly carry on a brief conversation, neither one noticing the fact that she is buck-naked. Throughout her stay in the biz so far, Alex has lost a bit of weight and it is apparent here. Her breasts have dropped a cup size, but still look magnificent and natural. The set-up ends rather quickly and Steve is quickly eating and fingering her pussy. The scene then hits its apex with the blowjob, an act that Alex quite definitely enjoys giving. If at any time during an Alex Devine scene we see her losing herself in the action, it is during the blowjob. However, we do not get near enough shots of her effortlessly deep throating Steve’s modest sized dick before it is over. They then move to the obligatory fucking, in doggy, cowgirl, and sideways missionary. He ends by shooting a weak load in her mouth. Alex looked real tight around his dick here and it makes me a bit concerned for her now that she has begun to do anal scenes. I will be curious to see how her tiny ass manages the behemoth cocks she will surely be taking on.

Scene 4: Maya Mason (cute, thin black girl) w/Sean Rider (11 minutes)

Maya lets a deliveryman in her house, only truly signing for his package when she bends over at the foot of the stairs and looks back at him with a “come get some” grin. Again, this is rather dumb but if you like storylines, no matter how minimal, in your porn this is better than nothing. Maya is quickly on her knees and sucking cock. This is cut far too short as is the subsequent pussy eating. It is finally apparent just how petite this girl is once he shoves it in her for missionary on the stairs, nicely filmed with an overhead angle. For longtime fans, if you want to envision this girl’s body type just think of Leanna Lei. Her tiny stature allows for some interesting positions, including an incredible pile driver, again, on the stairs. After standing doggy, we get a bizarrely visually faded facial. It’s as if the whole scene was filmed with a good camera and then this was taken with a shitpiece. It doesn’t matter. No camera could have saved this unfortunately weak facial and unfortunately forgettable scene. Mya is hot and wildly energetic, but wasn't done justice here.

Scene 5: Estella (rather tall British brunette w/great C-cup breasts) w/Steven St. Croix (16 minutes)

This scene takes place in the house of the regal Estella, who is reading a romance novel while lightly masturbating. Essentially, this is a slightly more taboo version than the set-up we had with Jennifer. Here, Steven St. Croix happens by and catches the Lolita in sin, but this time he is actually there to meet her mother. So, when they decide to fuck it is somewhat incestial. The small dicked and now rather old Steven St. Croix uses all that he has to give Estella one hell of a ride. The dark lighting hurts here more than it helps, but her energy makes it worth watching. They start off with a impressive 69 that sees him sitting in a chair. She reverses her position and lowers herself onto his cock for an intense cowgirl that sees her really riding his cock nicely, as clearly evidenced by Steven’s ecstatic facial expressions. He returns the favor by fucking her rather hard in doggy style and then missionary. At the end, Steven shoots a load quite literally over her entire torso that Peter North would now envy. He deep dicks her and then quickly pulls out and stands at her feet. She makes a motion to get closer for the facial but he yells at her to stay there before unleashing a load that amazing plasters her face as well as coating her chest. Don’t think that this is like some water hose cum shot. It is a normal shot for a male porn star that just happens to travel a huge distance in the air. Impressive ending here. Estella, thoroughly out of breath, asks Steven if she was as good as her “mum” and he turns to the camera, “We’ll just have to wait ‘till the next video.” Hey, if they want to follow this up in the next installment go for it but I imagine it was just a joke.
*Note: In the bts, we see that Estella is actualy taller than Steven. Interestingly enough, this scene seems to be deliberately filmed in a fashion that hides that.

The Verdict: This is the pitfall of tapes like this. You may get genuinely 18-year-old and brand new girls, such as Teagan, but most of the time it won’t be until they have a couple of months under their belt until they really know what they’re doing in front of the camera. Watching Teagan at this stage of her career and then watching Jennifer Luv at this stage in her career was odd for me. A year ago, I was watching Jennifer in her first videos and thought they were hot. Now, they are damn near unwatchable because she is just so much more into her scenes now. And if Estella and Teagan and Maya stick around long enough, I imagine the same thing will happen. That doesn’t make up for the present. This is an average video with one solid scene and one amazing facial between the bunch.

Rent it or Buy It: This is a definite rental candidate, but a rental and only a rental.

The DVD: Having extremely limited experience with Sin City DVDs, I did not know what to expect from this disc. I was in the end impressed. The chapter screen is nicely designed, with the option of immediate access to the foreplay, any one of the positions, or the facial for each scene.

Behind the Scenes (4 minutes): This is a nice addition, but it proves to be extremely useless. We get no real insight into any of the scenes except for Estella’s, with the highlight being a vouyeristic look at the two thespians running their lines for their scene. By the way, unless I missed something these lines they are running were cut from the scene. We also see the aftermath of the facial, where Steven confesses that he had struggled not to ejaculate the whole entire scene and hear Estella’s wonderful accented voice referring to the experience as “a magnificent shag.” She too was extremely amazed by the amount of cum that shot out of his little dick.
Photo Gallery: You get your choice of “bts”, “glamour”, or “hard” photos. This choice was a nice touch.
Interviews: All of the interviews were filmed before the girl did their scene. It is also apparent from these interviews that this feature was filmed completely at one magnificent house. And some of the girls wear differenct yet still rather porn-like outfits during their interview than they do during the scene. (Forgive my forthcoming parade of run-on sentences)

Jennifer Luv (3 minutes)-From California, though her family is originally from Peru. Has been in the business for two years, though she didn’t start working with any frequency until she made the decision to do boy/girl a lot "back in March." Has never done anal, but tells the director, when asked if she’ll ever try it, “Maybe, like in 3 months.” She has never worked with Mr. Pete, but likes rough sex and knows that is what he generally tolls out to his co-stars. She says that when “I move up to anal I will be doing more of that rough stuff.” Will she actually follow through on this and start doing anal? In the past, she had been quoted as saying she would never do anal.
Teagan (1m30s)-Has been in the business for only a month and a half. Does anal. Was 13 when she lost her virginity. She was previously a dancer, though not a stripper.
Mya Mason (2 minutes)-Rather uninformative. She does anal and has been in the business for a while. This one is pretty much strictly the interviewer flirting with her and her reciprocating it in the typical clichéd female fashion by laughing at all of his jokes.
Alex Devine (2 minutes)-Has been in the business for a year. Loves rough sex. She is an admitted naughty girl. (she would have to be considering that she will be in Ashley Blue's upcoming JM Productions video "Girlvert 666.") Was born in Hawaii, grew up in California. Most of her family still lives in Hawaii. Surfs. Only 5’1” tall. More so than any of the other girls here, Alex really, really looked like she couldn’t wait to go get fucked. Interestingly, this interview was filmed a mere 2 days after she had done her first anal scene. When asked if she liked it, she adorably blushes and admits that she loved it. They even let her name drop the company that filmed it: DVSX (A Brotha's Point of View is the title of it.)
Estella (3m30s)-18 years old. Been in the US for 3 weeks and been in porn for 3 months. Loves California’s weather and men more than London. Films a lot during her trips to the States, but still lives in London and still goes back. Does anal. Refers to Steven St. Croix as a “lovely, lovely gentleman” and a “sweetheart.” Loves hardcore sex as well as soft sex. Depends on her mood. Grew up on a farm and loves horse riding and snowboarding. As you Americans say, “Totally rad.”

Trailers: There are trailers for Barely 18 #4, Barely 18 #6, Surfer Girls, Dream Girls, and Whoriental Sex Academy 5.
Pop Shots (3 minutes): All of the pop shots edited together.
Company Profile: Scrolling biography of Sin City Entertainment. As can be expected, they oversell their status in the industry quite a bit.
Website:A link to their website, meant for DVD-Rom.
Sex Talk: A parade of sex hotline commercials.

About the Author: A current college student, Kelly began his infatuation with pornography with the likes of late night Skinimax before graduating to hardcore. As such, sometimes storylines go a long way toward his enjoyment but sometimes he just wants to see some hard sex. In either avenue though, girl/girl bored him to tears. He used to operate a fan site dedicated to Taylor St. Claire, who is still to this day his favorite porn star. Other favorite girls include Renee LaRue, Zora Banks, Cherry Mirage, Avy Scott, Alyssa Love, and Devinn Lane. Though he does generally prefer voluptuous, big-breasted women, he also enjoys the work of Stephanie Swift, Jennifer Luv, August Night, Luci Thai, and Selena Silver. He avoids Max Hardcore, Ed Powers, Vivid, and compilations as much as possible, and eagerly looks forward to releases from Evil Angel, Devils Film, Red Light District, and Platinum X. He generally favors anal scenes and DP scenes with big facials, but is too timid for gangbangs and any such other extremities. His favorite directors are Vince Vouyer, Mike John, Joey Silvera, Tom Byron, and Jules Jordan. His favorite porn films of all time include “The Fashionistas” (2003), “Whack Attack 9” (2001), and “Service Animals 7” (2002).