Beat the Devil Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  6/24/2004

The Little Details

Running Time: 78 min.

Production Date: 3 / 15 / 2003

Director: Robby D.

Cast: Jesse Jane, Monique Dane, Jana Cova, Angel Long, Felecia Fox, Eric Masterson, Evan Stone, and Mark Davis in sexual roles and Bunny Luv and Tim Case in non-sex roles

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: Robby D. has been pretty good lately. I’m not a big Jesse Jane fan, but I am looking forward to this one a bit.

Initial Reaction: It’s very well done, but the sex isn’t too spectacular outside of Jesse Jane.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting a lighter, fun porno

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting nastier sex or something that rivals most mainstream movies in length

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are very well done. The audio is very clear and well balanced, although there are scenes where the music is the only audio. The video is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and is also very well done. There’s just a hint of grain, which gives the movie a slightly more artistic feel. It’s very well lit and my only complaint with it is that Digital Playground didn’t take their support of the widescreen format all the way to an anamorphic transfer.

Music: The music is nicely done. It has a soft and sexy feel that fits the scenes very well. It varies between being nicely balanced with the performers and being the only audio in the scene, and seems to work pretty well both ways.

Menus: The menus are okay. The main menu has some animation, but just feels kinda dead. The chapter menu falls halfway to caring by offering plenty of chapter breaks, but ends up falling back into the stereotypical chapter menu by just letting you choose a scene based on a small clip of each scene and a chapter number.

The Feature

Years ago Eric Masterson made a deal with the devil, Evan Stone. He went from being a cripple that everybody laughed at to somebody who could have any girl he wanted. He had all the money he wanted, as well as plenty of love. Years later Eric goes back to Evan looking to renegotiate his contract with the help of Jesse Jane as a few little things have come up over the years.

Scene 1 - Angel Long and Eric Masterson

Eric starts things out on the couch kissing and playing with Angel. Eric rubs and fingers her pussy before giving it some deep tonguing, and then lets her wrap her lips around his cock. Angel starts off with her upper lips, and then lets her lower lips grab Eric’s cock reverse cowgirl style. They also get in a little missionary work before Eric gives Angel a nice facial.

This is a pretty good scene. Eric and Angel seem to be into each other very well, and put some nice energy into it. The only problem with this scene is that it seems to go on a very long time during the oral portion. The length and limitations of the scene hold this scene from getting much beyond average even though it is filmed very well.

Scene 2 - Jana Cova and Monique Dane

Jana and Monique get it on while Eric watches in the second scene. They strip down for him and then slowly work each other over orally. Monique starts things out, and then lets Jana take her turn. They start out eating each other out from the front, and then move around so that Monique can get at Jana from the backside. Finally, the girls finish things up with a kiss before Eric joins in and the scene fades out.

This is a pretty average scene. The girls seem to be into each other okay, but the scene seems so intent on being pretty that it doesn’t really get a chance to get heat. It’s definitely a beautiful scene, but it feels cold and seems to go on way too long again for what the action is.

Scene 3 - Felecia Fox and Eric Masterson

Tim Case watches on as Eric gets it on with his real life wife Felecia in the kitchen. He tongues her twat from behind as she bends over a center island in the kitchen before going directly to fucking her. Eric has problems, and can’t pop so Tim punches him to finish things up since Eric can’t deliver.

This isn’t much of a scene. The camera work doesn’t show anything after Eric eats Felecia, and the lack of a blowjob also held the scene back. It all fits into the plot very well, but sexually the scene didn’t do anything for me.

Scene 4 - Jesse Jane and Evan Stone

Evan takes on Jesse as part of a bet with Eric. Evan starts things out tonguing Jesse vigorously before she meets him head on with some very energetic head. They keep it going through both missionary and spooning before Jesse strokes him all over her tits.

This is an excellent scene. Both Evan and Jesse have more energy and chemistry than everybody in the movie before them put together. Within the first few moments this scene blew away the others in the movie, and I was completely drawn in. This is a great movie, and a fantastic first boy - girl scene for Jesse.

Scene 5 - Jesse Jane and Mark Davis

Jesse and Mark get it on after Mark gives Eric a little tip to hook them up. Mark starts things out working over Jesse’s bald beaver and feet orally before letting Jesse return the favor. Mark moves on to fuck Jesse from behind as well as letting her bounce on his cock. Finally, Jesse lays back and lets Mark decorate her stomach.

This is another great scene. It isn’t quite up to the same level as her scene with Evan, but it’s still a fantastic scene. Jesse and Mark look to be completely into each other, and both put great energy into it. This is a great scene to finish things up with.

Beat the Devil leaves me with very mixed feelings. As a movie as a whole, it’s very well done. The non-sex sequences are very nicely written and Evan, Eric, and Jesse do a great job with them. Evan easily steals the movie with his wild portrayal of the devil, but Eric does almost as good of a job as the straight man. Robby D. also does a great job behind the camera, and the movie is edited together in a very nice and very unique way. Sexually, however, Beat the Devil didn’t do much for me. Jesse does a very nice job in her scenes, and makes her first boy - girl sex movie one that’s worth waiting for. Sadly, the other three scenes ranged from very good down to very ‘eh’, and I was tempted to break out the fast forward button on every one of them. The sex also lacked a little by having fairly short sex scenes. Beat The Devil has a great basis, but the sex in the first two thirds of the movie hold the entire movie back.

The Extra Stuff

The photo gallery includes about thirty very nice looking snapshots and full screen photos which you can view either manually or as part of an automated gallery. Trailers are included for eight of Digital Playground’s features as well as their Virtual Sex with... series. Bios with some nice personal information and a photo are included for both Jesse Jane and Robby D. There’s also a behind the scenes featurette, an audio commentary, and contact information.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts about fifteen minutes. As usual, the shoot is broken down by day, everybody is nicely identified, and you get plenty of fun captions added throughout the featurette. You get to see everything from the scenes being shot to the stars hanging out and screwing around between takes. Since Evan Stone’s in the movie, there’s plenty of humor, and Eric Masterson and Robby D. play right along with it. As usual, Robby D. looks like he runs a fun set with most everybody having a lot of fun. It’s a nice behind the scenes featurette, and worth checking out.

Robby D. gives an audio commentary for the feature with the vocal help of Jesse Jane and the silent moral support of Joone. This is really a great commentary, and Jesse and Robby have every bit as great of chemistry going here as Jesse did with the guys in the movie. They talk about most everything that comes to mind, and Robby does a great job of keeping things moving. You get to hear about what happened in the movie, sex stuff, and even what happened on the set of other movies. Both Robby and Jesse sound like they’d be an absolute hoot to hang around, and make this a commentary that’s well worth listening to.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Straight and lesbian

Raincoat Factor: Medium

Condom Usage: Only between Jesse Jane and Evan Stone, but it’s handled so well that I couldn’t tell for most of the scene

The Bottom Line:

Currently, many Digital Playground DVDs can be found online for between about $12 and $28 with many stores offering them for around $20. I’d probably rent this one. It has a couple great scenes and fantastic nonsex scenes, but I don’t think that’s enough to give it much replay. The technical aspects are also very well done and there’s some nice effort put into the extras.

Note to Digital Playground: It’s great to see you put so much effort into the overall DVD. In the future I hope you take your support of the widescreen format all the way to a full anamorphic transfer.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

Other reviews by Astroknight