Garden Party, The (Adam & Eve) Review

Running Time: 84 min.

Production Date: 9 / 29 / 1997

Director: Nick Orleans

Cast: Angela Austin, Jill Kelly, Asia Carrera, Toni James, Christina Angel, Shayla LaVeaux, Brittany Andrews, Roxanne Hall, Raylene, Carlie, Mark Davis, Ian Daniels, Alec Metro, and Eric Price

Initial Expectations: I’ve seen one scene from The Garden Party in Adam & Eve Signature Series Vol. 1: Asia Carrera . It was very good and I have the same hope for the rest of the feature.

Initial Reaction: Although the DVD lacks extras, the movie is beautiful, artistic, and very erotic. It also has a very good transfer.

Audio /Video Quality: Adam & Eve also has a Spanish language track. As an American, and therefore speaking only one language as the joke goes, I have no clue if it is well done or not. The audio that I can understand synchs very well with the video. There’s a few parts where the dialogue is hard to hear, but overall it’s very good. The video is also very clear. There’s a couple spots where there’s a little pixelation, but it isn’t that noticeable.

Music: Most of the music is a light jazz feel. It’s very sensual and makes the movie feel erotic rather than smutty. There is a little bit of funky music in Asia’s scene that gives it just the right sleazy feel.

Review: Note to self: when Adam & Eve throws a party, go! First, they had The Dinner Party , which I haven’t seen, but I’ve heard is very tasty, just not much to look at. Then, they threw The Dinner Party 2: The Buffet , which I also haven’t seen. I’ve heard some fair things about it though. Now they’re throwing The Garden Party which I dang near stood in line for!

The Garden Party is from the Porno For Dummies book. I think it’s chapter 3.1. Yes, it’s the same plot we’ve seen a million times before. The reading a story plot. Well, there is the extra bit about finding the book (in this case, a diary) in a chest. Everybody, or at least Mark, Toni< Angela, and Roxanne, gather around to hear the entries. As much as I wanted to not like The Garden Party for having the most overused plot in the history of porno, I couldn’t. The sex was done so well I couldn’t help but enjoy it.

Perhaps some of what makes The Garden Party so enjoyable is that it never really tries pretending to be something it’s not. It sees to know that it’s a porno and rather than try to build a plot around its scenes, it tries to make the scenes the best they can be. Honesty can sometimes have a funny way of making things better.

When The Garden Party gets started, you don’t know if it’s a story or not. There’s a nice tease between Mark and Toni before the book is found. When they start reading the diary, Mark is suddenly walking through the garden. He stumbles across Angela and Brittany on a bench and watches for a while before walking up and joining in. With how the scene starts, I wasn’t quite sure whether it was a story or Mark daydreaming while the women read the diary. It’s a very good scene to start off with. It’s tasteful and has a nice artistic feel to it. At least it seemed artistic as the colors in the girls’ lingerie played nicely off each other as well as the gold colored bench. It starts out as a lesbian scene, but the lingerie and artistic feel still make it feel couples friendly. The lack of toys doesn’t hurt the couple’s feel either.

It becomes a little clearer with the next scene Eric Price photographing Jill Kelly, who wants to have some naughty pictures. It’s done as a older piece and is sepia toned. The costumes add a lot to the feel of the piece, and combined with the sepia tone of the scene make it very artistic and once again give it a couples feel, despite Jill’s need for some anal lovin’.

The next scene is a little confusing. Toni stumbles upon Rebecca picking flowers (giving us once again a great little teaser) while the background narration talks about picking flowers and delivering them to a friend. When the door opens to the house, Carlie walks in with the flowers. In addition, the movie changes to a widescreen format (which I really like). Although I’m a little confused, I’m willing to let it go since Carlie is interrupting Asia and Christina. It’s a hot, little lesbian scene that might be the nastiest scene in the movie.

We get back to the stories again, and this time it’s pretty obvious. Aliens land in the garden. Luckily, rather than little green men (why does Ed Powers come to mind?) there’s Raylene in a pink wig with some blue body paint and a silver outfit complete with a ray gun. She stumbles across Ian and Alec, both dressed kind of like scientists who are studying a bush. Raylene shows them the bush they should be studying and they learn quick. Obviously, these aren’t college professors. It’s a fun scene that never really takes itself too seriously.

The next entry in the diary is a little more personal. No aliens or visits to other places. It’s back to the garden. The owner has to go on vacation so she has a friend come by to mist it for her. At night we have Angela, once again, only this time she’s paired with the lovely Shayla LaVeaux. I wasn’t expecting much from this scene as it’s a night scene that takes place outdoors. Anybody who’s watched any amount of porn knows that these two things seem to have the most technical problems in scenes. Combining them seemed like certain doom for a scene. Instead, it was a very well done, very erotic scene. The shadows really added a lot to the scene and a lot of lighting was provided indirectly. The scene takes place on a patio above a pool and most of the light was reflected off the pool. It’s not too couples friendly, but it’s erotic enough that many women might find themselves enjoying it more than the typical lesbian scene.

Finally, we return to the house where the diary is being read. Everybody moves up to the house and Rebecca and Angela pair up as do Mark and Toni. This is a pretty good orgy and Mr. Orleans has done a great job with Toni building up heat throughout the movie. I almost cheered when she finally got an actual scene. Luckily, she lives up to the hype she’s built earlier. She does a great job giving Mark an upside down blowjob and never really stops. Rebecca and Angela aren’t doing too bad by themselves, but I was really happy when they moved inside to the couch where everybody could work on each other a little better. It’s a great way to end the movie and although the little voice in my head tells me I shouldn’t like it so much, I can’t help it.

Extras: There’s not much here for a Premium Collection release, but there is a photo gallery, trailers, bios, hot shot, and internet access. The photo gallery is automated lasting two minutes with five seconds per still. It’s pretty clear and holds its own against other photo galleries. The trailers are for Caribbean Undercover, Fire & Ice , Tales From the Pink, and The Scent of Passion. Finally, there’s the bios. This is one of the most complete bio sections I’ve seen from Adam & Eve. The only cast missing is Angela Austin, Carlie, and Eric Price. They even include a link to the star’s scene.

Themes: Straight, group, lesbian, anal, toys, DP, spanking, and rimming (both male > female and female > male)

Raincoat Factor: Very high

Overall: The Garden Party can be found online for around $20, but at the time of this review, only two stores are offering it, so the price will probably come down a little more soon. I don’t know if I’d pay more than $20 for it but it’s definitely worth watching. In one form or another you’ve seen it before, but it’s still worth picking as I think it will be good for many repeat viewings. There isn’t much for extras, but what’s there is well done. The transfer is also very well done.

Note to Adam & Eve: Although it seems a little light on extras for a Premium Collection release, great job. It’s really nice to see the cast bios as complete as they are here. Keep up the good work.

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