Domination: Chasey Strikes Back Review

Reviewed by Nat Hocken  on  3/18/2003

Crass commercialism and a complete disregard for the consumer. This, at least, is the answer that springs most readily to mind when watching a movie like Wicked’s 1994 release, “Domination,” which is one of those films that begs the question, What’s the point of slapping a wholly inappropriate title on a porn movie? True, it happens in Hollywood, too—witness “Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever”—but such instances are rare indeed compared with the institutionalized mistitling that goes on in Porn Alley. Whatever happened to the simplicity (and accuracy) of a title like “Deep Throat”? It’s not unreasonable to suppose that the quality of porn would rise if porno titles were strictly regulated to ensure accuracy. If what you read on the boxcover was what you got, I’d much prefer to watch “Nympho Cheerleaders” than “Chicks Who Briefly Appear in Cheerleader Outfits Go Wild.”

In “Domination,” Chasey Lain stars as a woman who hears echoing voices in her head that tell her to drop the submissive act and demand the respect she’s due from her psychologically abusive husband. Other than when her husband is screwing her, however, Chasey hasn’t got a dominant bone in her body. She plays her big scene—the one at the end in which she insists on being treated properly—in the same timid pussycat voice she used when apologizing to her husband for going shopping in the first scene. Not surprisingly, he isn’t cowed in the least, and instead walks out on her. I guess she showed him.

Chasey, supposedly reborn, follows up this scene with a ménage-a-trois--a bad decision for a woman who has yet to convince us she could overmaster a hamster, let alone two people at once. But of course domination isn’t the premise of this movie, it’s merely the title. What results is some poorly choreographed sex that first leaves Nicole Love out of the action then Chasey herself. If anyone is in control, it is Nicole. She boldly provides the scene its novelty interest when she fingers Tom Byron’s ass during a 69 sequence and, to close out the scene, forces him to be satisfied with a jerk-off cum on his own belly.

It’s really no wonder husband Nick East is disgusted by the sight of his wife: he wants to be dominated; and no matter which aspect of Chasey’s schizoid personality holds sway, she isn’t the girl for the job. In what passes for the film’s only exploration of dominance, Nick is paired with Barbara Doll. Looking good in her long blonde curls and black latex, Barbara beckons Nick like a dog, and he’s so hungry for it he laps latex before pussy. Porno convention takes over thereafter, and the scene ends with “Mistress” Doll taking it in the face. This is the best scene in the film, but that’s not saying terribly much.

The two remaining scenes are so generic they could have been pulled from any of a thousand other films; that they have nothing whatever to do with either dominance or submission goes without saying. One, a girl/girl effort with Chasey and Alex Jordan, is simply dull, a condition in no way alleviated by the fact that Alex is not one of porndom’s better lookers. The other, starring Alex Sanders and Vanessa Chase, is better and ends well with a good facial-cum-afterblow, but such scenes are a dime a dozen these days. And it’s not what I tuned in for anyway.

Intended as a companion film for Wicked’s earlier “Submission,” also starring Chasey, “Domination” is instead more of the same. Chasey’s performance in this film is certainly submissive, in a lifeless, colorless sort of way. Now, I say that based on the title of the earlier movie since I haven’t actually seen it. My mistake. Given the disconnect between the present title and the film’s content, “Submission” may not be about submission at all. Who knows? Maybe it’s about chicks who occasionally say “I’m sorry” going wild.