Vault, The Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/17/2006

The Little Details

Running Time: 106 min.

Production Date: 1 / 21 / 2003

Director: Nicholas Steele

Cast: Brooke, Holly Hollywood, Jesse V., Jordan Haze, Sondra Hall, Joey Ray, John West, Mario Rossi, Randy Spears, and Steven St. Croix

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: I’ve had mixed results from Nicholas Steele, and this one makes me a little leery for some reason.

Initial Reaction: The lighting often holds back the movie, but other than that it's a very nice adult movie.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting porn with a story, style, and lighter sex

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody who doesn't want a lot of plot

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are pretty well done. The audio is nicely balanced for the most part, and free of background noises. Although the cover boldly proclaims that the movie was shot in the high definition widescreen format, the movie is presented in “Fuck it, it's just porn” non-anamorphic widescreen. It has a touch of grain, and although there are some nicely lit areas, most of it is fairly dark and holds back the movie slightly.

Music: Lance Erickson provides the music. It has a very sexy jazzy feel, and is nicely balanced with the rest of the audio. It's a nice change from the typical porno music, and definitely helped the movie out for me.

Disc Complaints: There's no time stamp here, which always ticks me off as it greatly reduces the ability to navigate the DVD. It makes the DVD seem cheap, and comes off as one of those “it's just porn” things as you never seem to see this happen in mainstream DVDs. Thankfully this is an older DVD and Adam & Eve doesn't seem to be having this problem any more.

False Advertising: Brooke Hunter is listed on the boxcover, but never appears in the movie. Since I'm sure a few people might pick this one up for her, I'm deducting a half point from the overall score.

Menus: The main menu nicely works together a little classic style with a clip form the movie and a still for a very good first impression. The chapter menu is very generic, and lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of each scene and a chapter number.

The Feature

In the early forties, notorious robber Mad Dog Johnson hid his stash in a safety deposit box in a bank vault. Decades later Jordan Haze checks out the building with plans to restore it, and learns that the bank vault is still working. Although the bank was renovated later, one back of safety deposit boxes couldn't be removed, and supposedly Mad Dog's box is still there, waiting to be found by one of the few people who knows about it.

Scene 1 - Sondra Hall and John West

Sondra and John start things out in forties style theme and dress, with Sondra surprising John by lighting up a smoke while in the shadows. They kiss passionately before undressing each other a little, and Sondra lets John tongue her twat before reciprocating on his cock. She lets John strip her right down to her gloves as she lies back on a table before tonguing her again and fucking her missionary style. John also gives it to her from behind on the table, and finishes things up popping on Sondra's ass and huge back tattoo.

This is an okay scene. I really like the costumes the scene starts with, and having Sondra keep the gloves on throughout the scene was a nice touch. They have nice chemistry with each other, and the scene flows pretty well for only having two positions. This isn't a bad scene, but it's nothing special either.

Scene 2 - Jordan Haze, Mario Rossi, and Joey Ray

When busty bottle blonde Jordan wants a copy of the plans to the bank to take to her architect, she decides to employ the “I'll suck your cock, you give me what I want” method. She and strips down a bit while letting Joey and Mario grope her, and helps the more reluctant to give up the plans Joey out of his pants to give him the first blowjob before letting Mario join in. She takes them all the way down while giving them plenty of great smiles and eyes, as well as as fair amount of stroking. She lies back on the desk for Mario to kiss her mouth and tits as Joey eats her pussy, and of course gives Mario a little more knob gobbling. Mario gets to fuck Jordan first missionary style as she works Joey over orally before letting Joey take her from behind as she sucks Mario. Finally, Jordan lets the guys pop on her tits.

This is a pretty hot scene. There's great chemistry all around, and a fun feeling that makes the scene work. Unfortunately the lighting is on the low side that throws a lot of shadows into the action and quite a bit of camera work that's just a little tight. This is a pretty hot scene, but it could have been much better with a couple minor changes.

Scene 3 - Jesse V. and Steven St. Croix

Jesse and Steven take a little break in what appears to be a boiler room next. They kiss passionately as Jesse fishes Steven’s cock out to slowly stroke it as he helps her out of her overalls. She moves down to suck his cock with plenty of spit action before Steven gets down to tongue her pierced pussy. He lets Jesse turn around so he can fuck her from behind before taking her missionary style on a stool. Finally, Steven pulls out and decorates Jesse’s bush before sucking her fingers a bit.

This is a pretty good scene. It feels a little on the short side, and I think another position or two would really help it out. At the same time there’s some nice chemistry to it that helps it to work. This is a pretty hot scene, and fits nicely into the movie.

Scene 4 - Holly Hollywood and Randy Spears

Holly starts things out in a multi-colored sixties dress as Randy arrives to try to break into the vault. Having a little time to kill, she frees Randy from his pants and blows around his cock before Randy reminds her that “blow job” is just a term. She goes to work mouthing his manhood while giving him some of her great eyes before they move to the other side of the desk Randy works her over with his tongue and fingers until Holly lets go with a nice squirt and then fucks her missionary style on the desk. Holly rolls over so Randy can take her from behind, and finally lets him pop on her ass before he kisses his way around her head.

This is a nicely done couples scene. Although the scene is couples friendly, that doesn’t mean that it’s boring. Holly’s facial expressions and Randy’s blow job quip definitely start the scene off with some nice chemistry, and it continues through the entire scene. There’s a nice feeling of passion here, and it makes the scene work. This is a pretty hot couples scene.

Scene 5 – Brooke and John West

When bank teller Brooke recognizes John on his way out of the bank, she lets him know that he can either fuck her or she'll turn him in. She leans against a wall for him to eat her pussy before reciprocating on his cock. They get in a reverse cowgirl ride on the stairway landing, as well as a little doggie. Finally, John pulls out and pops on Brooke's back tattoo. This scene doesn't even make it to the average level. It has a slightly claustrophobic feel to it, and isn't at all helped by the low lighting. There's so many shadows here that even when they kiss at the end of the scene you can't really see anything. The rest of the scene is a little better, but not much. There's some decent energy to the scene, but it was hard to get too much of a feeling of chemistry with how dark the scene was. This scene just didn't do much for me, and was easily the worst scene in the movie.

Scene 6 - Jordan Haze and Steven St. Croix

After getting the goods, Jordan and Steven get it on outside the vault. They kiss each other softly and undress each other before Jordan drops down to start working on Steven orally. He tongues her twat in return from beneath and behind as she braces herself in the vault entrance before fucking her doggie style. They also get in a little cowgirl and missionary action before Steven unleashes a fantastic pop all over Jordan's stomach.

This is a pretty good scene. Jordan and Steve both look to be having a lot of fun, and she doesn't hold back on the vocals. Sadly, she overdoes them a bit, but it's forgivable here due to the fun feeling of the movie. This was a nice finish for the movie.

The Vault is a very likable adult movie. The plot is fairly light, but nicely done. It works the flashbacks in nicely to allow for some different costumes, and put a few smiles on my face even when everybody was fully dressed. The sets work well for the movie and help it to stand out from the typical porno, and there's some nice touches of style as well, such as Sondra's smoking from the shadows. The sex is tame, but rarely boring. It never gets past anything more than a little rimming and group action, leaving nothing here that should scare your girlfriend or wife off, but also has a fun and enjoyable feeling that helps it out. Unfortunately, there are plenty of shadows to hold it back, and the camera work frequently got a little too tight for me zooming in. Even with those problems, The Vault was a nicely done movie, and far exceeded my expectations for the typical Nicholas Steele movie that left you struggling for consciousness at the end.

The Extra Stuff

Trailers are included for Hot Rods, Sweet Sounds, and Behind the Mask. The slide show includes about twenty very nice looking snapshots. There's also a behind the scenes featurette, bonus scenes, and a contest winner featurette.

The contest winner featurette lasts about thirteen minutes and revolves around a couple guys who won a trip to hang out on a porn set. Sondra meets the guys at the hotel to escort them to the porn set and learns that the guy won by being able to bust water balloons with his ass. There's plenty of footage of them calling back to the radio station they won the contest through as well as just hanging around. It's an amusing featurette, but I'm not sure it was meant to be as funny as I found it.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts about twenty minutes. There are plenty of interviews with the cast as they prepare for their scenes and hang out. There's some fun stuff here, such as Holly Hollywood talking about having orgasms when getting a pedicure and Randy talking about girls peeing on him and telling him they squirted, as well as a few of the outtakes you know have to happen with Steven St. Croix on the set. It's a pretty fun behind the scenes featurette that's well worth checking out if you enjoyed the movie.

Scene 1 - Jewel De’Nyle and Sophie Evans

Jewel De’Nyle and Sophie’s scene comes from Unforgettable. They move around almost continually as they warm each other up orally before Sophie moves onto Toni’s face and Jewel onto his cock. Sophie also gets a bit of Toni as he fucks her from behind while Jewel plays with her pussy and occasionally sucks Toni, before Toni picks Jewel up to fuck her in the air one last time. Finally, the girls team up to take Toni’s cock cream between their mouths. This is a hot scene with great chemistry and energy.

Bonus Scene 2 - Inari Vachs and Randy Spears

Inari and Randy’s scene comes from The Flesh Game. They kiss and caress their way across each other’s body, with Inari showing her normal amazing oral skills. She rides Randy in the required reverse cowgirl before letting him fuck her from behind. Inari finishes things up taking a great pop from Randy right in her mouth, and possibly even swallowing it down.

This is a great scene. Randy and Inari have great chemistry together, and she adds some great intensity to the scene as well. Things start out nicely soft and then build to hard and fast. It was a great way to end the original feature, especially with Inari looking like she might swallow down Randy’s guy goo, and just as hot on its own. This is a very hot scene.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Straight, group, and rimming (male > female)

Condoms Usage: 100%

Raincoat Factor: Medium

The Bottom Line:

Currently, Adam & Eve’s DVDs can be found online for between $8 and $25, with several stores offering this line of DVDs for around $15. If you want porn with a plot and a bit of style, this one's well worth the money. The plot is nicely done and the sex is much better than normal for Nicholas Steele. The technical aspects are a bit weak due to some poorly done low lighting, but there's some nice attention to the extras. This is a nice little DVD.

Note to Adam & Eve: It's nice to see that your DVDs have improved a bit since this time. I hope you're also giving a little more effort into stating who's in the movie on your covers.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight