Playing With Fire (Standard Digital) Review

Distributor: Standard Digital Edition Details: Special Collector's Edition DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Comedy Run Time: 98 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1983 Director: Kirdy Stevens Written by: Helene Terrie Cast: Brooke West (as Brook West), Randy West, Cara Lott, Eric Edwards, Linda Shaw (as Lindy Shaw), Ron Jeremy, Tom Byron, Blair Harris, Karen Summer, Candy Cummings (as Cynthia Taylor), Lou Bartoletti Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Playing With Fire is a feature film directed Kirdy Stevens written by his frequent collaborator Helene Terrie. Playing With Fire is an adult film that deals with sexual relationships within the familial structure. However, for the most part, the play between family members is kept to related only via marriage in the film.

In Playing With Fire, Catherine Marshall (Candy Cummings), who's husband has died, dates and then marries Danny Fields (Randy West). Catherine's oldest daughter Virginia (Brooke West) is interested in Danny — who she has had a sexual past with — who is now her step-father. To complicate the household even more, Catherine's youngest daughter April (Karen Summer) has an attraction to Leslie (Tom Byron), hew new step-brother.

The story is well-done within Playing With Fire. There is great character development within the film, which is absolutely necessary within a film like this. If the viewer can't believe in the characters they are watching, a film about incest falls short. The story itself is fun and lighthearted. The story never gets overly serious nor does it ever get dark, as such a film could easily do.

The whole cast does a good job with their roles in Playing With Fire. All of the characters they play are three dimensional and brought to life on the screen. Karen Summer and Tom Byron end up stealing the show as the step-brother and step-sister who are fooling around with each other. The sex scenes in Playing With Fire sizzle with some great performances, made all that much better due to the cast staying in character during the sex scenes and the sex scenes fitting within the plot.

Playing With Fire utilizes excellent locations that give the film a very cinematic quality with both indoor and outdoor locations. The film is beautifully shot with an eye for what the camera would capture and getting some unique and some more elaborate shots. Playing With Fire is a beautiful film to watch.

Playing With Fire is an excellently done feature film that is well worth watching if you are a fan of feature films, unless the topic of incestuous relationships bothers you. Playing With Fire combines some hot sex scenes with a nicely balanced story for a well-playing feature film.

Standard Digital has done a decent job with their Special Collector's Edition DVD release of Playing With Fire. Playing With Fire was shot on film and it looks like Standard Digital either utilized a film print or a high-quality video master for this release. Playing With Fire is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The image contains the expected artifacts, print damage, and grain. The colors in the film aren't always perfect. Blacks sometimes come across as more of a blue and flesh tones don't always look right either. The release isn't perfect but it is also far from horrible.

Playing With Fire is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. There aren't any noticeable issues with the audio. The dialog in the film is clear and easy to understand throughout the entire presentation.

Standard Digital has only included a couple of extras on their Special Collector's Edition DVD release for Playing With Fire. There is a photo gallery and the theatrical trailer for the film is also included on the disc.

Playing With Fire has never been as well known as some of Kirdy Stevens' other adult films, however, it deserves to be. Playing With Fire, like many of Stevens' film, plays with the taboo theme of family relationships and sexual attraction. The story in Playing With Fire is excellent and the cast does a great job with their roles. Playing With Fire is well worth watching. Standard Digital has done a decent job with their DVD release with decent video quality and a good audio presentation.

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