Private Black Label 10: Devil In The Flesh Review

Reviewed by YogaGrrl  on  4/7/2002

Cast: Julia Taylor, Betty Anderson, Karma, Nicolette Moore, Maria Glasgow, Linda Kiss (aka Genvievre), Eva Mercedes, Frank Major, Nick Lang, Bruno Assix, David Perry, Frank Gun.

Director: Antonio Adamo

Production date: 1/00 (opening statement); 2/00 (box); 1999 (VHS release)

Length: 116 min. (feature length, including both the regular and alternate endings)

Extras: Language options in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian; subtitles available for four additional languages; alternate final scene; 7 min. behind-the-scenes featurette; trailer for feature and five other releases; photo gallery with 38 images; production notes; biographies for all female cast (which should be taken with a block of salt, since I've learned from an industry insider that many Private bios are fictitious).

Audio/visual quality: The visual quality is outstanding. The camera work is truly excellent, providing interesting angles, varied depth of field, smooth pans and sharp focus. Special effects (blurs, slo mo, monochrome, etc.) are fairly frequent but quite aesthetically pleasing. There is some repeat footage, which typically occurs as a tinted "flashback" to earlier action within the scene. It looks very artistic, but since I'm a cynic, I should note that it also works to slightly extend the running time, without the fuss and bother of capturing additional fresh footage. The music is creative and truly fits the scenes. It often contains interesting electronic dance rhythms and quirky vocal samples. During the story sections, the music is much gloomier, which suits the narration. Obvious dubbing is present during all sex scenes.

False advertising: The box lists a running time of "2 hour 15 min." Even if both endings are counted as part of the feature, that's an exaggeration of almost 20 minutes. If the running times of all other extras are added to the feature, then it's closer, but it still seems a little deceptive.

Why I chose this DVD: There are quite a few fans of Private at the Adult DVD Talk forum. Because I had never seen a title from this studio before, I decided I'd like to give one a try.

First impression: I hope all Private DVDs aren't like this one.

Scene highlights: In a break with tradition, I'm forgoing my usual longwinded scene highlights and skipping immediately to what I liked and disliked. Both reviewer and LaNIKITA2000 have already written detailed and accurate descriptions for this movie; please follow the links to their reviews if you would like to learn more of the specifics.

Thumbs up: Because the audiovisual aspects are so stellar, I can't give Devil in the Flesh anything less than an average rating. I suspect that fans of high gloss productions will find much to love in this movie and will consider it better than 2.5 stars. It's worth noting that the sets are extremely classy, all performers are attractive, and several of the actresses are quite stunning.

The DVD is also extremely humorous in places, though I doubt this was entirely intentional. Scene three is a particularly good example. Julia Taylor is painting a comical portrait of Nick Lang that looks nothing like him. She leaves, but Linda Kiss has arrived, and she seems very interested in giving a bronze statue a blowjob. Apparently it's not big enough for her, though, because Linda soon gets busy licking a giant white phallus (which is almost bigger around than her waist). It's way too much for one woman, so Betty Anderson starts licking the sculpture, too. In scene five there's a repetitive sampled lyric, "Yer goin' straight to hell," that nearly had me rolling on the floor.

Thumbs down: My long-suffering, kindhearted husband watched most of this movie with me. About halfway through, he sighed, "These scenes are so formulaic." I thought he might be dozing off, but he suddenly perked up at the start of scene six, when he spotted Nick Lang holding a riding crop. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That guy has a whip! Do you think Betty will grab it and beat those two guys? Whap, whap, WHAP!" I practically fell off my chair laughing, especially since I was thinking exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, Nick just makes Betty suck on the crop handle, and Mr. Yoga quickly fell back into boredom. I'm trying to encourage him to watch more porn with me, and movies like this aren't exactly helping my cause!

My husband is right; the sex is very uniform. All scenes strongly emphasize women sucking on various things--penises, fingers, dildos--while staring directly into the camera. Of the seven female performers, five are double penetrated near the end of their scenes (Maria Glasgow and Eva Mercedes are the only two that don't do a DP). Frank Major and Nick Lang team up three times during this movie. Their DPs aren't particularly outstanding, either, since they can't seem to get in rhythm with each other. Nicolette Moore's vagina is inadequately lubed during her DP. At times, the bottom guy's cock doesn't slide at all; instead, each thrust bends it over at a right angle. Ouch!

I would have liked to see a lot more emphasis on women's pleasure, as well. In the main part of the feature, the lesbian scene comes closest to accomplishing this for me. Sadly, it ends rather abruptly, with almost no attention given to Julia (Betty does suck Julia's strap-on "cock") and no obvious orgasm from Betty. For most of the other scenes, the story makes it clear that the women are allowing themselves to be used. Since I have a slight shaving kink, the part where Maria shaves Julia should be exciting to me. Unfortunately, it contains a continuity error (Julia's already smooth before they start) and Maria doesn't really seem to know what she's doing (too much shaving cream, and she's dragging the razor in the wrong direction).

YogaGrrl's Motherly Advice: In the alternate ending, the vibrator that's used for anal penetration does not have a flared base. It's not clear whether the vibrator is turned on, but DO NOT try this at home. If the vibrator slips in all the way, it may become irretrievable. It will continue to run until the battery dies. Since the vibe no longer has air circulating around it, it's likely to overheat, possibly causing severe internal burns. The people who made this movie are professionals, and they should know better. In this case, the vibe is big enough that it's probably not going to get "lost," but it still upsets me. Hence, I've deducted a half star from the total rating.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, group, three-way, masturbation, domination, oral, anal, double penetration (major theme), facials, cum swapping, shaving, fetish wear, toys (strap-on, vibrator).

Juice-o-meter: Low. I think porn is supposed to be arousing, but this movie just makes me feel mellow. It's only eye candy to me; I can't find much real heat in it.

Final analysis: If you think you might like this type of movie, you might consider renting Devil in the Flesh. But if you're planning to buy, please check out the other reviews first, so you know exactly what you're getting.


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