Shayla's Web Review

Reviewed by Diville  on  1/14/2001

Starring: Shayla LaVeuax, Jessica Drake, Alexandra Nice, Keri Windsor, Brooke Lane, Mia Smiles, Randy Spears, Devin Wolf, Tyler Wood, Brick Majors, Alec Metro, Cheyne Collins, Dillon Day, Mickey G., Eric Everhard.

Directed By: Michael Ninn

Among the many extra's on VCA's Shayla's Web is an interview with Michael Ninn in which he says his first loyalty as a director is to himself. That can sound pretty egotistical, and occasionally you might hear talk of "technical" directors like Ninn being self indulgent, but I suspect his true loyalties lie elsewhere. So much of what's on this DVD is what I've been looking for as a consumer that it's hard to believe that he and VCA had anyone but their customers at the center of their collective agenda. Professionalism and sexual heat are not mutually exclusive as this DVD proves. Shayla's Web is thoughtful, entertaining, well shot, packed with extras, and most importantly, it is full of hot action.

Here, Ninn explores the idea of internet sexual addiction. It's important to note (just in case the subject matter sounds like it could be striking a little too close to home) that it's just the idea that he's interested in. There's nothing "real world" about it. In this Orwellian landscape Mickey G. has turned his soul over to the world's most successful internet sex site. I've worked in the internet business for a while now, and trust me when I say that the world in this movie has nothing in common with reality. Techs wear suits in this movie, for God's sake. I don't know any designers or system administrators who even own a suit, much less wear one to work. But porn is about fantasy, and this movie has plenty of it.

Shalya LaVeaux is the reigning queen of internet porn, and she is the center of Mickey's attention. Obviously, since her name is in the title, you can expect her to appear throughout the movie. Beyond that simple structure, though, there's not much of a story here. The question of whether or not Mickey will be able to overcome his obsession is secondary to the set pieces Ninn has strung together. First among them involves Jessica Drake and Eric Everhard fucking among the props of an industrial setting. Drake is too hot for words, and Ninn wisely resists the temptation to just pan his camera back and forth over her beautiful body. Instead, he serves up fast paced, hard pounding, nasty action. When Everhard eventually delivers his pop shot to her face, we begin to understand that Ninn has his viewers in mind. Most directors immediately cut to the next scene, but he sticks around a little longer. Just as we're told at the gym to "cool down" after a work out, he allows his camera to close in on Jessica's face as she leisurely offers some post cum shot head. As insignificant as it may sound, that's actually very important. Watch it and you'll understand.

Shayla is not absent for very long as she immediately joins Mickey in the next scene where she starts off giving head before moving on to several other positions including a heated standing anal encounter which culminates all over her face. Later, she takes another facial, which if it were an earthquake would register around an 8.0 on the richter scale. Shayla has been in this business for a long time--over eight years as she states on the commentary track. She's changed very little in that time. She's either blessed with unequaled genes, or she has the best personal trainer in the world. For a petite girl of only 90 pounds (or so we're told), she appears to be fit, strong, and sexy. Most importantly, however, she's more than eager to do things with that in-shape body that her A-list peers aren't always so willing to do--like anal, DPs, multiple facials, all girl threeways, and so forth. If you haven't seen her in that kind of action before, she does it all here. Every bit of it.

And the rest of the cast is as equally dedicated to the cause. If a man is involved, then the girl paired with him is going to take a facial. Ninn doesn't believe in filler, I don't believe, as nothing in Shayla's Web is worth throwing out. Sure, things are always at their hottest when the star is on screen, but I didn't find myself leaning into the fast forward button when she wasn't. Mia Smiles really delivers, as well as Alexandra Nice. As good as all these girls look, they're all helped somehow by the crew that's shooting them. You can tell yourself that you're not interested in a porno's lighting, set design, and videography, but it does matter. The sex, of course, is always the most important thing, but a professional production enhances the performances.

As for extras, most everything you want is here: Interviews with Shayla and Ninn, A commentary track with Shayla and video technician D3, behind the scenes footage, bonus scenes, multiple angles, a photo gallery, cast menu with links to their scenes, and previews of other VCA movies. Wait, I'm not finished yet; there's also an ingeniously constructed chapter menu which gives a full motion thumbnail of each scene with a listing of each position in it so that you can jump directly to the action you want to watch. That's what I mean by having the consumer in mind. Even better than that, though, is that the feature itself is not edited down and you never have to flip the disc. Huzzah to VCA and to DVD engineers everywhere who know how to do their jobs well.

Shayla is not this disc's only selling point. Her picture on the cover is going to make a lot of people want to buy it, but it's everything else which makes it worth having. And I'm not just talking about the extras, as good as they are. What I'm talking about is the care put into it and the professionalism with which it was produced.