Taboo Of Tarot Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  2/23/2001

Running Time: 89 min.

Production Date: 8 / 9 / 1999 (cover) 1 / 10 / 2000 (movie)

Director: Nicholas Steele

Cast: Nikki Anderson, Chandler, Jessica Drake, Vivi Anne, Kianna Bradley, Envy, Mariah, Evan Stone, Randy Spears, Dale DaBone, Jon Dough, and Mark Davis

Initial Expectations: Fairly high. This appears to be a very hot movie, although I’m not really familiar with any of the cast.

Initial Reaction: Adam & Eve pulls in with another winner again. The story is fairly original, the sex is very good, and the movie itself is artistic in its costumes and sets.

Audio /Video Quality: Both are better than most but a few problems still remain. The audio is dubbed in a few places, but isn’t that noticeable. Many of the sex sounds are also missing. Although these are normally fairly big negatives to me, neither stuck out at me too much while watching the movie. The video is also slightly flawed with some graininess that varies depending on the scene. Some of the more difficult scenes, such as the night scenes, are very good.

Music: Once again, Saint does the music for the movie. Many of you will recognize the style if you’ve watched some of Adam & Eve’s other recent releases. I really like Saint’s music and I think it matches the scenes very well and raises the quality of the movie. It also balances well with the rest of the audio.

False Advertising: The cover lists trailers for other DVD releases on the DVD, but there aren’t any. This doesn’t matter much to me, but it is a small oversight which will hopefully be corrected on future covers.

Review: Taboo of Tarot’s style is similar to Fire & Ice. It’s a fairly loose plot which connects several differing sex scenes. Taboo of Tarot tells of Julie (Jessica Drake) and Jill (Chandler) and their investigation of Tarot reader Katrina’s (Nikki Anderson) disappearance. They break into Katrina’s house and are drawn along by Jill’s being drawn to discover what happened despite Julie’s fear of the legends surrounding Katrina’s disappearance. After finding Katrina’s Tarot deck they find themselves experiencing the spiritual world and sexual encounters surrounding each drawn card. After the first card they also wake to find themselves clothed in silken gowns rather than the flannel and winter clothes they came in. They find themselves drawn to explore the house, finding more spirits and sexuality throughout the house.

The first card drawn is the High Priestess, with Vivi Anne as the high priestess and Jessica and Chandler as her slave girls. The scene is set in a combination of a modern bathroom, mainly the shower, and an ancient Egyptian style. It isn’t exactly couples friendly and includes a lot of hot wax, toys, and anal. Although not couples friendly, I think it was the hottest scene in the movie. The girls work over each other great and there’s a lot of heat here.

The Chariot is drawn next which has a Roman feel to it. Evan Stone plays a charioteer who literally comes across Envy. Envy is a hot European brunette who puts a lot into her scenes. It’s a little unusual as there’s absolutely no vaginal sex here. When Evan performs oral sex on her he ends up rimming her rather than eating her out. It makes for a different scene but with Envy’s enthusiasm I’m not complaining. It’s still a hot scene although it isn’t quite as hot as the opening scene.

The Star has a lot of story with it. Kianna Bradly is a star who doesn’t believe in Tarot but it’s the in thing to do and her agent insisted. She ends up on a bench in the back yard with Jon Dough and Mariah. It’s another hot scene but the lighting is a little different. A blue light is used for some mood lighting and it puts a sharp blue light in a lot of places that would otherwise be shadowed. It’s kind of cool but also really distracting.

The Two of Cups is another hot scene. Julie (Jessica) comes across Dale blindfolding a woman before working her over. They’re both wearing silk pajamas and there’s some nice color dichotomy as she’s in white and he’s in black. He removes the blindfold after a little while and Jessica finds out that she’s in both worlds. She doesn’t join in, but remains to watch. The scene is okay but is hindered by a big purple dot that appears on their genitals.

Finally, we find out about Katrina (Nikki Anderson) as she plays the piano. Her husband (Randy Spears) approaches after listening a little while and they make love. It’s supposed to be a loveless marriage, but there’s definitely heat between the two of them.

Nikki finishes out the movie with Mark Davis in the back of a horse drawn carriage. It’s a very romantic setting and the 1920s style costumes only enhance it. Although romantic, don’t think it lacks heat. Nikki is a sexual animal and I hope to see more of her work in the future. It’s a great scene to finish the sex in the movie with and one that will leave most people drooling and wanting more.

Taboo of Tarot does have a few flaws. The lighting seems inconsistent. It almost gives a shimmering effect in some spots. I’m not sure if this is intentional or not, but it didn’t do much for me. There was also some reflections due to the lighting. In Dale and Jessica’s scene a large purple dot appeared a few times which was very distracting.

The other major flaw is the Hot Shot icon in the upper corner. I haven’t heard a single positive thing about the icon, as it can’t be turned off. Adam & Eve responded by not including the hot shot icon in later releases. As it is, I only know of two or three releases with the icon. This flaw almost turns into a positive due to Adam & Eve’s responding to the consumer’s response on this feature. They aren’t afraid to admit when they screw up (although they aren’t happy about it) and try to change for the future.

Although there are a few problems, Taboo of Tarot works pretty well. The story blends differing artistic scenes together with a talented cast. The special effects also add to the movie as well as Saint’s usual well done score. I have a feeling that I’m going to be watching this one a few more times, possibly in the near future.

Extras: Adam & Eve ties everything, the web links, phone sex ads, photo gallery, bios, chapters, and play movie choices together with a nice animated menu. The chapter selection is laid on the house the movie takes place in and gives you a little feel of where the people are when they do their thing (or more often, somebody else’s thing). Extra care shows in all the menus by having the decent animation and the house, rather than the standard boxes. The only thing that could improve it would be if they’d say who’s in each scene rather than just number them.

The photo gallery is manual and has about twenty pictures. They’re all the photo style laid on a background. The pictures look good and they change fairly quickly.

Bios are included for Chandler, Dale DaBone, Jon Dough, and Mark Davis. It’s nice to see the guys get some attention in the bio section, but it does seem a little odd that the two big female names, Jessica Drake and Nikki Anderson, both of who get two scenes, aren’t here. There’s a nice style to the bios with the right side showing a picture and the left side having a scrolling bio. It gives it kind of a classic feel.

As usual, there’s also web links and phone sex ads. I don’t care for phone sex ads but I have to give Adam & Eve credit for letting us choose to see it and telling us what it is. Some other studios make you scan through several of them before you get to the movie. Thank you for showing this minor bit of respect to the consumers.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, group, toys, hot wax, anal, rimming (male > female), masturbation, light spanking, and tit-fucking

Raincoat Factor: Medium high

Overall: Currently, Taboo of Tarot can be found online for between $15 and $23 with many stores offering it for $15. If you like some of Adam & Eve’s other releases, most notably Fire & Ice, you’ll probably enjoy Taboo of Tarot also> It’s got a pretty good plot and very good sex. There’s a couple technical problems, such as some graininess and slight dubbing in parts, but not enough to interfere with the movie much.

Note to Adam & Eve: Once again, good job. It’s obvious that you care about your DVDs and it’s really shown in the last year. I can’t wait to see how far they come in the next year.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight