Sex Magician Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  11/2/2002

Running Time: 90 min.

Production Date: 12 / 10 - 11 / 2001

Director: Nicholas Steele

Cast: Julia Ann, Randy Spears, Dru Berrymore, Lola, Flick Shagwell, Carmen, Payne Giovanni Lee Stone, Juilian, and Creed

Initial Expectations: Nicholas Steele has made some decent features in the past, and with Julia Ann and Randy Spears leading this one, I’m having a lot of hope here.

Initial Reaction: It’s okay but nothing special, and really needed another trip through quality control.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody looking for fairly tame and slightly artistic porn

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting something a little more driven

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are kind of a mixed bag. The audio is clear and well balanced, but only comes out of the left speaker. The video is also pretty clear, but is in the standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio rather than the HD Wide Screen Format that’s claimed on the cover. These problems more than tick me off since I enjoy the widescreen format, which Mr. Steele has been showing increasing skill with, and the left only audio kinda throws my balance off watching a movie.

Music: As usual with Nicholas Steele’s features, the music is done by Saint. I love Saint’s style, and it almost always brings the features up a notch for me. Nothing’s changed here, although it is a bit on the loud side and sometimes the only audio in the scenes.

Disc Problems / False Advertising: I’ll mention it again here, since they are important, not to mention sloppy, problems. The cover has a nice little logo claiming the feature is in the HD Widescreen Format, yet the movie is in the standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Also, the audio for the feature only comes out of the left speakers. Finally, at about 1:17:40 in the 34th chapter, you also get a test pattern for a second or so. This all looks extremely sloppy to the point I hope somebody gets a good bitch-slapping for their lack of paying attention in quality control.

Menus: The main menu is nicely animated, and shows some very nice care. The chapter menu looks pretty standard, and lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of the scene. Unlike most chapter menus, after you choose a scene, you’re allowed to jump to any position in the scene. Sadly, with all this effort, the chapter menu never lets you know who’s in a scene if you’re looking for a specific person right away.

The Feature: Years ago Julia Ann was the most popular female magician around. Since then, she’s become a recluse who’s just agreed to let reporter Randy Spears interview her. Randy has an agenda of his own, including planning on exposing Julia as a fraud, but doesn’t know that Julia has plans of her own for him.

Dru Berrymore and Lee Stone start things out in a flashback scene. They both slowly strip down before exchanging oral favors, a favor which Dru gives with great energy and throat action. They move on through quite a few positions, including cowgirl, missionary, standing, and doggie before Lee decorates Dru’s back. It’s a hot scene with very good chemistry and nice energy. Dru Berrymore has really been catching my eye lately, and had me looking forward to this movie as much for her as Julia Ann, which says a lot. She does a great job here once again, and has me looking forward to seeing even more of her.

Brunette Flick Shagwell and Latin lovely Lola team up for the next scene. The girls work back and forth with their tongues and toys, and even get a little rimming in. Maybe it’s because both of them have turned in great, high energy performances in the past, but this one didn’t do anything for me other than make me feel like I should take a nap. It also strikes me as being very reminiscent of another scene, which I just can’t place, but I had that feeling throughout the entire scene.

Finally, Julia Ann gets to show off a small fraction of her great talents with well hung Julian. Julian kisses his way up Julia’s great leg (not that the other one is that bad), before giving her pussy a few quick licks. Julia returns the favor by giving Julian’s caged cock some decent attention before taking it in a couple of the standard positions and finishing things with a nice facial. It’s another okay at best scene. There’s some very good chemistry, but the scene feels very drawn out and long while the camera doesn’t let you see that much.

Randy Spears gets to put his years of experience to work with Carmen, a cute blonde. Carmen starts things off on a definite high note giving Randy an amazingly energetic blowjob with great eyes. It’s no wonder that Randy turns things into a sixty nine to reciprocate rather than just flipping around to eat her out and play with her ass. They work through the three positions you can’t make a porno without (reverse cowgirl, missionary, and doggie) before Carmen takes an impressive facial. Once again, it’s an okay scene that seems like it should have been much more. It’s also slow and drawn out to the point it becomes boring once the fucking starts. I think Carmen has a lot of potential after watching her oral work, and would really like to see what she can do when she’s let go on her own.

Payne Giovanni and Creed turn in the penultimate scene. The start things off slow, with some passionate kissing and slow oral before working through doggie and reverse cowgirl. I was almost surprised when this scene ended in a facial. It’s another slow, boring scene that almost put me to sleep.

Finally, Randy Spears and Julia Ann team up. Even though the rest of the movie had let me down by this point, I couldn’t help but be a little excited for this scene, which takes place in a giant birdcage over a swimming pool. Sadly, this scene wasn’t much better than the rest. They exchange oral favors before working through reverse cowgirl and doggie, and finish things with a pop on Julia’s amazingly well implanted tits. It’s an okay scene with nice chemistry, but I think having the music as the only audio through the scene really brought it down for me.

Sex Magician leaves me with some mixed feelings. The non-sex portions are pretty interesting and very nicely done, both in scripting and in acting. I found myself intrigued by both Julia Ann and Randy Spears’ characters, wondering what secrets were going to be revealed as the movie went on. Sadly, the sex was a little on the slow and dull side for me, which brought things down more than a little bit. Although Julia Ann seemed to be putting some nice effort into both of her scenes, it didn’t come across as well as it might have, while I think Dru Berrymore might have turned in the best scene of the feature with Lee Stone in the opener. Throughout it all, I couldn’t help but feel that this feature was made with the idea that a couples movie should be an okay plot with slow and boring sex. Although I like the plot, boredom is the biggest complaint I’ve heard from women on why they don’t like porn. Couples sex should not have to mean slow and boring. It can work just fine with high energy and great chemistry without having to get nasty! Sex Magician has some nice touches, but isn’t the most satisfying adult film out there.

Extras: As usual with their Premium Collection DVDs, Adam & Eve has put some very nice effort into their extras. Trailers are included for Erotic Intentions, The 6th Reflection, and The Virgin Canvas. The automated photo gallery contains about thirty very nice looking snapshots and full screen photos. Rounding out the standard extras, bios are included for Carmen, Creed, Julian, Lee Stone, Lola, Payne Giovanni, and Randy Spears. Each bio contains a little information on the stars but lacks a picture to identify them, which seems strange to me. Also, I find it strange that the two biggest female names here, namely Julia Ann and Dru Berrymore, are missing.

The first bonus scene comes fro Nick Orleans’ Color Blind and features Gina Ryder and Nikita Denise taking on Ian Daniels. The girls were planning on going bar hopping, but change their minds when they learn that Ian has never had a lap dance. Gina starts out treating him, with the action quickly turning to kissing and caressing between the three of them. Since she’s obviously a giver by jumping in right away, Gina gets treated next before Ian gets some oral action from the girls. Nikita gets the first fuck, however, and takes it missionary style while playing with Gina. Gina gets her turn for some missionary work next, after Nikita and Ian take time to get her a little more oral attention, before Nikita gets her ass poked. Gina also gets one last poke doggie style, but the camera never lets you know which hole she takes it in before the girls share an impressive facial. It’s a very hot scene with great chemistry and energy, where everybody seems to really be into everybody else. I haven’t seen the rest of this feature yet, but after this scene, it’s really rose on my list of movies to watch.

The second bonus scene comes from Nick Orleans’ The Power of Love. Ian Daniels becomes part of a new experiment with fetishwear clad Mia Smiles and Inari Vachs, which made me immediately start considering giving my body to science rather than science fiction. The girls start out teaming up to suck Ian’s cock before Inari moves up to let Ian tongue both her holes. Mia lets Ian fuck Inari missionary style as she watches and fucks herself with a jelly dildo before Ian fucks her from behind. Inari watches and diddles herself for a bit, but most of the time gets a little more involved. She lets both Ian and Mia play with her pussy a bit, moves in to caress them both, and even lets Mia lick her pussy. The girls team up orally and suck Ian off until he decorates the front of Mia’s black mesh top. It’s an extremely hot scene that has some excellent chemistry. There were a few of the dubbing problems, but to be honest, this scene had my blood pumping so much that I probably couldn’t tell you my name if you asked me in the middle of the scene.

The final bonus scene comes from Luc Wylder’s Amateur Angels 3 with Nikki Love, a raven haired beauty, and Holly Hollywood, a natural brunette who’s a well known gash-master. Holly starts out working the newbie over, starting at her tits and then working down to her feet and pussy. She licks Nikki and then works her over with a toy before letting Nikki reciprocate. Nikki doesn’t rove around nearly as much as Holly, and concentrates on her pussy using her tongue and a dildo, all the way until Holly squirts. It’s an extremely hot scene that’s a real winner! The girls have some great chemistry together and never really seem to hold back throughout the entire scene while having the time of their life.

Finally, there’s a nineteen minute behind the scenes featurette. It’s a nicely done behind the scenes with quite a bit of the photos and actual scenes being shot. There’s also quite a few interviews, which mostly concentrate on Julia Ann, Dru Berrymore, Randy Spears, and Lee Stone. In what’s a nice, but sadly odd touch, there’s a little of each scene here, which helps to make this a very nice behind the scenes feature.

Themes: Straight, rimming (male > female and female > female), lesbian, and toys

Raincoat Factor: High

Overall: Currently, most of Adam & Eve’s Premium Collection titles can be found online for between $12 and $22 with most stores offering them for around $20. Rent this one first, as I think quite a few people will be disappointed here. The movie is interesting, but the sex is so often slow and boring that it darn near ruins the movie. There’s some nice extras, but the transfer has some major problems.

Note to Adam & Eve: It’s great to see you putting such good potential towards your Premium Collection titles, but in the future, please run them through better quality control. The audio and video problems are major and make you look very bad. This should have gotten another full point overall due to the effort you put towards it overall, and I’m still not sure if I rated it too high due to the technical problems.

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

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