Mason's Sexual Disorder Review

Studio

Platinum X Video

 

Director

Mason

Cast

Julie Night, Jessica Darlin, Katrina Kraven, Maggie Star, Selena Silver, Mickey G., Mr. Pete, Manuel Ferrara, Denis Marti, Wesley Pipes, Cuntree Pipes, Sergio, Scott Lyons, Brian Surewood, Chris Mountain, Benjamin Bratt, Dick Tracy, Trent Tesoro.

Genre

All Sex, Rough Sex, Psycho-sex

Audio/Video

Good and clear.  Julie's scenes were on the dark side, but that was deliberate.  That lighting contributed to the mood, and not too badly done, but at times it was a detriment to clear visibility.

Extras

Behind the scenes (very cool pre and post interviews with the performers), Interview with Mason, Trailers, "Home Movies" w/ Mason and Julie Night.

Music

Nothing terribly special--only used during titles.

DVD Format

1 Single Sided Dual Layer Disc

Condoms

None

Female Orgasms

0-1

THOSE WHO MIGHT LIKE IT

Those who like absolutely intense, no holds barred, dominant sex that borders on becoming a social statement.

THOSE WHO SHOULD STEER CLEAR

Anyone who dislikes hard, very dominant sex including slapping, spitting, gagging, spanking, etc.  Anyone looking for narrow themed, act specific porn like swallowing, DAP, etc.  Anyone who thinks Vivid needs to scale back on the rough sex they shoot.

IF YOU LIKED THIS TITLE, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Mason's Dirty Trixxx, Mason's Dirty Trixxx #2, Lady Felatio, and Lady Felatio #2..

DISCLAIMER -- I've met Mason before on a few occasions, and I don't think it's unfair to say that we are acquaintances.  To some, this may disqualify this review as biased.  As always, I make every effort to remain as true to my gut feelings as possible, but I feel that full disclosure is necessary for those one or two people left who still respect my opinion.  :)

A MIKE LYONS QUICKIE

PREFACE:
This is a "Quickie" review.  Although, this particular video probably deserves a bit more than the treatment I'm going to give it here, life is life, and I don't have enough time to devote for a full review.  For some of you, the "brevity" might be a blessing, however...  

INTRODUCTION:
Mason's story is.... complicated to say the least.  I certainly don't pretend to know it accept by what she's revealed to me through a few conversations, and more viscerally perhaps, through her very limited catalog of pornographic videos.  My last experience with her was through her swan song video for Elegant Angel, Mason's Dirty Trixxx #2--possibly the most raw, intense and outright INSANE record of sexual freneticism I've ever seen lensed by a US pornographer.  I have found, through my own psychological exploration spawned by her work that there are two major aspects to consider when evaluating a Mason movie. 

#1.)  The effect of the video in terms of the viewer's arousal.  And... 

#2.) The effect of the video on the viewer's intellectual psyche.  

Whether I, or you, like it or not, Mason's movies work on both levels--I've found that sometimes they work against one another, and sometimes they combine into a singular, powerful impact.  The undeniable fact is that Mason has something to say, and not only does she have the courage to say it, but she is finding more and more women in the industry who are willing to stand up and say it with her.  There is enormous debate over whether Mason's viewpoint is harmful or beneficial--or even whether or not it's simply worthy of discussion.  Some people condemn Mason's work as asexual anti-porn.  Some decry it as misogynist degradation at its most base.  A third camp, to which I think I belong, praises her work as a powerful new perspective of female strength and human nature--giving rise to the idea that there might be room in the world for yet another interpretation of healthy adult play and human interaction.  Mason's biggest challenge as a successful pornographer however, is to find a way to balance the already complex requirements of Aspect #1 (we'll call that Arousal), with the raw visceral emotional and psychological power that's required of Aspect #2 (hereafter known as Psyche).

Mason's Sexual Disorder is Mason's much anticipated debut from her new home at Platinum X Video, and it might be just the concept to truly bridge the gap.  In terms of my arousal, it's already got a lot going for it.  Julie Night has proven to be quite the sexy slut in videos past, as has Maggie Star and Selena Silver.  In terms of thought provocation, this movie has a leg up as well--Mason's trademark affinity for the intense, combined with an actual plotline with character and theme.  This one has the potential to blow the lid off of Dirty Trixxx #2, and I have to tell you people--that's saying something.  I'm not sure I'm completely prepared for what's to follow, but I'm relatively sure of one thing--it won't be boring... 

SCENE 1:
JESSICA DARLIN & MICKEY G.

The Action
Tease (tied up spread eagle in elevator), standing spoon (vaginal), standing doggy, cocksucking (deep throat), reverse cowgirl, missionary, ass licking (female to male), spoon, doggy (anal), ass to mouth, spoon/missionary (anal), throat fucking, facial.

The Gist
I think it's probably pretty obvious that the action sequence above hardly does this scene justice.  In terms of Arousal, there was some mighty tasty stuff here.  Jessica Darlin is an old pro in the business and she pretty much looks as good as she ever did.  I've never personally been a huge fan of her performances--it's hard to say why.  That's just my perspective, but that said, she did a very nice job here, and looks damn good to boot.  The action is hard, frenetic, yet focused and doesn't lose sight that the two are engaged in a sex act, not a wrestling (or spitting) match--which has often been the case with some of Mason's previous scenes.  There is some very strong stuff here, including some fantastic throat fucking sequences as Jessica is pinned against one of the elevator walls, but no excessive incidents of choking, spitting or slapping that made me lose my erection.  A very good scene for the dominance lovers among us.  With regard to Psyche, there's not a lot new here that Mason hasn't shown us before--the powerfully submissive woman is the best way to describe it, although a little less believable and a lot lower key than Julie Night demonstrated in Mason's Dirty Trixxx #2.  Granted--that scene is a lot to live up to--which is one of the reasons, I suspect that Julie is the main focus this time around...

SCENE 2:
KATRINA KRAVEN, MANUEL FERRARA & DENIS MARTI

The Action
Heavy petting, dual cocksucking (deep throat), doggy, spoon, missionary, cowgirl, doggy (anal), reverse cowgirl (anal), DP (reverse cowgirl), cowgirl (vaginal), DP (cowgirl), missionary & deep throat, doggy, dual facials.

The Gist
Now this is more like it!  I don't think I've seen Katrina Kraven before, but let me tell you this--she's no stranger to a hard, thorough fucking.  Although Katrina is not without her faults (the most prominent of which is an unfortunate overabundance of tattoos), she puts on such a fantastic performance here, and is so... authentically hungry for some raw animal sex that her downsides just fade away in a flash.  This scene is a triumph of sexual energy and desire conquering physical shortcomings in such a decisive and exciting way that I can't help but be surprised.  In past reviews, I've criticized Mason's work for sometimes lacking sexual feeling in favor of uncompromising energy.  With this scene, Mason has finally found a balance between the two--and there are small moments here and there that literally left my mouth hanging open.  No doubt that Manuel Ferrara had a large amount to do with this, as he seems to bring out the sex fiend in many of the women he works with.  This was no exception.  It's not as if I haven't seen a scene like this before, most prominently from directors like Joey Silvera and John Stagliano, but the fact is they are few and far between.  Mason deserves some credit for this one, as does the beautiful Katrina--hell I wanted to fuck Katrina after this.  There were really some unique and exciting moments of chemistry between the performers.  Bravo to all--Arousal and a half!!

SCENE 3:
MAGGIE STAR & MR. PETE

The Action
Tease, cocksucking & throat fucking (deep throat), ass licking (female to male), hot wax, doggy (pulling hair), dirty talk, hot wax, pussy fingering, missionary, cowgirl, reverse cowgirl, facial, ::MLyons has an orgasm::, ::MLyons takes a break and comes back later::.

The Gist
Mmm, mmm, mmm.  Maggie fucking Star!!  Maggie has won her way into my heart through such videos as Service Animals #13, Cum Swapping Sluts #4, and Bait #2.  Maggie rocks my world, if you haven't already noticed, and this was an excellent scene.  Although a little less focused and a little more "messy" than the other scenes so far have been, there was some great fucking footage here--most notably in the early stages with the humiliation themes, deep throat action and the post hot wax, doggy-style, dirty talk cornucopia.  The latter stages of the scene seemed to suffer a little from less interesting camera angles, misguided improvisation and overdoing the hot wax for my taste, but a damn fine effort nonetheless--especially for someone like me who enjoys the dominant themes with a backdrop of actual motivation and story (most notably of the sick and twisted variety).  This scene was a particularly nice marriage of Arousal with Psyche--with some neat exploration of Mason's plot, and her creepy, insane-in-the-membrane quest to find her beloved Julie Night, whether through finding someone who fucks like her (Katrina Kraven), or dressing up a hooker to BE her (Maggie Star).  I'm still not sure where we're headed here, but so far I'm having a great time on the journey.  Thank you, beautiful, sexy Maggie!!  And if you want to come on over.... I'll probably be way too wimpy to fuck you like Mr. Pete did, but I could give it a good college try.....  No?  Oh well.

SCENE 4:
SELENA SILVER, WESLEY PIPES & CUNTREE PIPES

The Action
Cocksucking, dual cocksucking, cowgirl, DP, missionary, doggy (anal), DP, dual cocksucking, dual facials..

The Gist
This was a good, solid scene--the premise being that Mason bribes the warden of a jail holding Wesley Pipes--the man who knows where Julie is.  To convince him to help her, she's brought along a little somethin' somethin' in the form of Selena Silver.  Selena is quite sexy, I must say.  Although the scene didn't measure up to the previous two in my opinion, the previous two were hard acts to follow.  It was definitely full of energy and enthusiasm on Selena's part, but for some reason I was less interested in watching her than I was in watching Maggie and Katrina.  By normal standards, this is a good, strong, energetic scene with a really nice lookin' lady--but by the standards laid down in this movie so far, it was a bit of a lull in the storm.

SCENE 5:
JULIE NIGHT, SERGIO, MICKEY G., SCOTT LYONS, BRIAN SUREWOOD & CHRIS MOUNTAIN

The Action
Multiple cocksucking, gagging, light puking, dirty talk, facials, cum swallowing, self-choking.

SCENE 6:
JULIE NIGHT, BENJAMIN BRATT, DICK TRACY & TRENT TESORO

The Action
Body slapping/whipping, cocksucking, spanking, standing doggy, deep throat, standing doggy (anal), dirty talk, A2M, facials.

The Gist
Ok, this is the point in the movie where, for me, Psyche starts to win the race.  Much like Julie's fucking amazing scene in Dirty Trixxx #2, this extended multiple "blowjob" (using the term loosely), and subsequent fuckfest had moments that stopped my masturbation in its tracks.  Julie's willingness to simply... do anything and completely abandon herself in the process is a sexual dance that moves forward and backward of that fine line between exciting, intense, arousal and the complex, frozen state of "Whoa, sister!!!"  I'm sure my reaction is completely personal, but the mean result of a scene like this is my inability to decide whether to jack off or to simply sit still and contemplate what I'm watching.  These two, almost diametrically opposite forces working together in a pornographic sex scene really start to give rise to the question:  "What the hell am I watching here?"  And even more than that, I start to ask questions like, "what is pornography's role?"  I'm positive that many people don't even give that question a second thought--defining pornography as simply any depicted, explicit sex act that is made as an aid to masturbation.  While I have no objection to that role, I think it's a bit short sighted.  Scenes like this one use the visceral power of explicit sexual interaction in a much more profound way than simply as a masturbatory aid.  In fact, there's an exploration of the darker side of the human psyche here that would be simply impossible to duplicate without the freedom of sexually explicit images.  Although I certainly believe Mason's narrow, yet fascinating perspective is not the only one that can benefit from the visceral advantages of this medium, she has certainly touched on something deeper here than simple jack off material.  The disadvantage, in my case, is that Mason's work with Julie is almost not strokable for me--simply because there are too many other conflicting thoughts in my head to be sorted out at the same time.  Concern, fascination, awe, excitement, disgust, and exhilaration are just a few of them.  Julie and Mason are a team, working together.  There is no sense of disadvantage on Julie's part, at least from my perspective, and yet I can't help but sometimes feel repulsed at what I'm watching, while at the same time feeling arousal.  I don't believe this to be misogyny, and it should not be dismissed outright as such without some deeper contemplation.  On the other hand, whether or not it is "pornography" is, in my assessment, also a very valid question; and the answer depends not only on your individual tastes, but on your very definition of the word and your conception of it's role.  As far as the "simpler" question of whether or not these scenes were strokable, I'm afraid I can't answer that one either.

OVERALL:
This is very difficult.  My opinion is that Mason's Sexual Disorder is the best work Mason has done so far, both in terms of outright strokability and in terms of thought provoking, stop-the-presses intensity and strength.  Unlike most pornographic movies, this one deserves evaluation on both fronts.  In the past, for me, Mason's work has often lacked the aspects of sexual chemistry that I most enjoy, such as desire, pleasure, and deliberate feeling while it has more than adequately provided aspects like intensity, dominance, and energy.  This movie, more than those past, have brought all these things together in a fantastic way while still providing the brain with a little food for thought.  As far as aids in masturbation and Arousal, the best scene in the movie is that with Katrina Kraven.  She truly is.... for lack of a better term, desperate with sexual feeling and desire.  It's an absolute pleasure to watch her no holds barred performance with two men who bring out the best in her.  A gorgeous lady--and a generous one.  Next on the list for me is Maggie Star.  Although not quite as fascinating to watch as Katrina, the dominant action in Maggie's scene was right up my alley, as was Maggie herself--a beautiful girl who gets seriously fucked raw.  A great scene.  Both Jessica's and Selena's scenes were quite good as well, but in comparison, just didn't measure up to the rest of the disc.  In terms of outrageous sexual insanity and Psyche, Julie Night is yet again the star of the show.  For me there simply wasn't much of an erection during her scenes, but I certainly wasn't going anywhere near the fast forward button either.  Julie is fascinating to watch when she lets it all go--and just as in Mason's Dirty Trixxx #2, she definitely did that here.  I'm positive that there are many out there who won't have my mental hang-ups and will consider Julie's work supremely strokable, but for my money, Katrina wins the day in that department.  As always, Mason has something to say.  What it is specifically is still a bit unclear to me, but I applaud her great effort and courage in attempting to say it.  Most of all, I give a standing ovation to the women like Katrina, Maggie, Jessica, Selena and Julie who give up so much of themselves for the little perverted nobodies like me who not only enjoy a little Arousal, but also an occasional glimpse into our own Psyches.  Thank you, beautiful ladies, for the journey--and thanks for orgasm to boot!

Questions or constructive comments about this review? Email me at MLyons@my.adultdvdtalk.com


Other Adult Movie Reviews by Mike Lyons