Skin Deep (Kristen Bjorn) Review

“Skin Deep” was not Kristen Bjorn's first two-part epic (that was “Rocks and Hard Places”), but it does represent a major step up for someone who was already one of the industry’s leading directors. With 22 actors in about 20 scenes, a blow-by-blow account of the action would take too long, so here are the reasons why I think it ranks as one of the best porn films ever.

Cast and talent

The first step to making a great porn film is to assemble a great cast. Bjorn has always featured some of the world’s most attractive men in his films, and "Skin Deep" is no exception - the men are simply stunning. But a gorgeous guy isn't necessarily a good performer (or even gay). In the past, Bjorn has used a lot of gay-for-pay actors in his films, and it often showed: 'sucking' that was barely more than cock-tip kissing; tops who were mechanical, even robotic; bottoms who were bored or uncomfortable. Bjorn has gradually introduced more and more talented gay performers, but with "Skin Deep", Bjorn makes a quantum leap forward - almost without exception, the cast performs each scene with energy and enthusiasm, and many of them are talented sexual performers: they are truly 'actors' rather than 'models'. A prime example is Bjorn favorite Jean Franko - like a walking bundle of testosterone, he exudes sexuality from every pore. He also sucks like a Hoover, fucks like a jackhammer, and bottoms enthusiastically. The sucking throughout is much improved and in one scene involving a 'sucking tree' (six guys on a staircase, each one sucking the guy above), there are no weak links in the chain. If there are any gay-for-pay guys remaining in this film, they do an excellent job of pretending to be comfortable and relaxed gay guys.

Variety and Versatility

In a recent survey of sexually active gay men for DNA magazine, 60% said they are versatile. Yet until recently you would have struggled to find many gay porn films with more than one or two versatile performers. For the first three decades of its life, most gay porn slavishly imitated straight porn, with its clearly defined top and bottom roles. Even now, some studios seem very reluctant to break out of those shackles and celebrate the sexual choices that being gay allows us.

Bjorn led the charge towards versatility in the mid-1990s, gradually introducing more and more versatile performers and scenes into his movies. Again, "Skin Deep" represents another milestone in this trend - across the two parts, an incredible 18 of the 22 performers both fuck and get fucked at some point, which must be a record. These guys don't get hung-up on being exclusive tops who never open their ass cheeks for anyone (in Part 2, only one guy doesn't get fucked) - they delight in both giving and receiving anal pleasure. The smolderingly handsome Bruno Jones is versatile in three of his four scenes. Another is Rocco Banks - in his first appearance, he delivers a pounding, aggressive fuck. Just when you begin to assume he's a macho top, not only does he allow his ass to be invaded, he gets comfortably double penetrated! And there is versatility not only across but within scenes – seven of the two-man scenes are flip-fucks, including a hot condomless one between real-life lovers Pedro Andreas and Daniel Marvin. There are also two rare ‘perfect’ three-ways (i.e. where each guy both fucks and get fucked).

For those who don't care about versatility, but like variety, there is plenty to enjoy. The guys cover a wide range of skin tones and body types, ranging from the clean-cut, boy-next-door Hugo Martin to the beefy, multi-tattooed cover hulk Etienne Cendras, and everything in between. The fucking takes place in just about every position known to man. There are no less than 8 scenes with more than two guys, and three of them are 5- or 6-man orgies. In addition to the two DPs and the sucking tree mentioned above, there are two sandwich fucks and there is even a bit of water sports. In contrast to many previous films, where Bjorn often allowed scenes to drag on for too long, "Skin Deep" is briskly edited and scenes are cut before they can become monotonous.

Plot/acting/videography

As with most of his films, Bjorn strings the scenes together with a loose plot that gives the sex a context but doesn't detract from the action. This works particularly well here, with each actor having a clearly defined role. The dialogue, if not exactly Oscar-winning material, at least makes sense and is not too laughable. The performers get through their lines without sounding ridiculous. Each scene starts with the performers fully clothed, and finishes with them fully naked. The clothes gradually come off during the sex, which makes it more interesting and erotic, as you anticipate seeing more and more of the actors' beautiful bodies.

As with all Bjorn films, the video quality is very high. Scenes are carefully composed and lit to show off the performers' well-toned bodies. Cum shots are usually shown from two different angles.

What I Disliked

Of course not every scene is perfect. Part 1 ends with a lackluster (by Bjorn’s standards) scene between Armando DelToro and Alex Ribeiro, who don't seem to be into each other and who have trouble staying hard while getting fucked. The extras are adequate, if not generous: 20 chapters per disc, a cumshot review, and two photo galleries (one with behind-the-scenes shots).

Otherwise, there's hardly anything I disliked about the film. The only disappointing thing is that, while Bjorn has corrected some of his long-standing weaknesses (uncomfortable performers, overly long scenes) he has also diluted some of his previous strengths, as follows:

- variety: while the guys cover a wide range of types, they are all Caucasian or Hispanic. In such a large cast, Bjorn could have found room for at least one black or Asian guy. And a bit more visible chest hair would have been nice.

- cum shots: with 94 cum shots (i.e. about 10 times more than in a standard 90-minute fuck flick) it seems churlish to complain. However, over a combined running time of nearly six hours, that works out at less than two money shots per actor per scene. One of Bjorn's trademarks used to be the buckets of cum that his actors produced - often three or more loads in a scene. Similarly, in the past, Bjorn's bottoms almost always erupted while being fucked, which is so much sexier than having to bring themselves off after the top has pulled out. This time, about half of them cum after the fucking has finished. And Bjorn’s trademarked no-hands cum shots seem to have dwindled down to just a few this time.

- group scenes: Bjorn specializes in group scenes, and nobody does them better. Several of his shorter films don't have any scenes with less than three guys in them. In "Skin Deep", by contrast, about half the film consists of two-somes. In Part 2, with four duos in a row (only one of them a flip-flop) I began to think I'd switched over to a Falcon film by mistake. There's nothing wrong with any of these scenes, but there's nothing special about them either.

- length: Nothing succeeds like excess, and the trend these days seems to be towards longer and longer porn films. But you can have too much of a good thing. With so many scenes, it makes it harder for you to remember each scene well, and to find the one that you want. And having fewer group scenes and cum shots is probably a symptom of Bjorn trying not to exhaust his actors by over-using them is such a long film. Sometimes, less is more, and you can just as easily make an excellent fuck flick in 90 minutes as in six hours.

Overall

Bjorn has raised the bar once again, both for himself and for everyone in the industry. In terms of the beauty of his cast, the quality of the performances he gets from his actors, and the variety and versatility of the sex on display, no other director can come close to him at the moment. If he had maintained some of the features that made his previous films so strong, he could have turned this outstanding piece of porn into a landmark work of erotic art. Hopefully, we have that to look forward to in his future films.