I’m often asked for my opinion on what constitutes good porn. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve seen more than my fair share, and I’ve certainly made more than my fair share. A former flatmate of mine used to refer to himself as a “Pornoisseur”. He had a massive collection of VHS porn and I learned a lot from him about classic films and what makes a porn film great. The amount of porn being produced has exploded – but the number of truly great films remains pretty small. The amount of funding that a film has rarely impacts on how good it is. There is that indefinable ‘x-factor’ that applies when everything just works.
My favourite porn scenes change with my tastes. A note to all the younger guys out there – your tastes in porn WILL change over time – as will other aspects of your sexuality. That’s ok – enjoy the process of discovering new things. For some reason this reminded of the following line from the non-porn film “War of the Roses”, where Barbara is trying to get Gavin to do her a favour – and remembers that he has a foot fetish:
Barbara: Besides money…
[Barbara kicks off one of her heels and puts her foot in Gavin’s crotch]
…what would it take to get you to help me, Gavin?
Gavin: Come on, put your shoes on, Barbara. I haven’t been into feet since ’82.
So sexuality does change over time – and that’s a great thing or everyone in their thirties would still be having fumbled blow jobs and hand jobs in the backs of cars.
I digress.
My taste in porn change over time as well, but I thought I’d show you three that I really love. It surprises many people that I don’t actually watch a lot of bdsm porn. One of the reasons I started filming it myself is that too many kink films don’t really have any soul or connection between the models. I like to describe the films I make as “kink without the suck my cock bitch attitude”. Sex should be fun and playful. That doesn’t mean it can’t have a serious side and it certainly doesn’t mean that things can’t get really, really hardcore, but it should be shot with an understanding that everyone should have fun. So bondage porn doesn’t generally reflect what I am into – I make the kind of porn I’d like to watch and no doubt I’ll cover that in a future post.
One of the most amazing films I’ve seen is Class Reunion which was released in 1983. It is an outdoor orgy film – entirely bareback. It was shot on film – not video – which gives it a great look and feel. The guys are hot in a late 70s/early 80s kind of way. The sex is amazing. The very thin plot is that the Director has invited everyone out to fuck at any orgy, and has offered a motorbike as a prize. Class Reunion wasn’t actually carefully cast, the director William Higgins decided to use “all the stars from the past that happened to be around”. They had no idea how many performers might actually show up for the shoot. A lot as it turned out.
William Higgins, was interviewed in Manshots in 1991.
“We shot on a Saturday afternoon at this big mansion out in Glendale. We hired buses and everything. And actually there were some people in there who snuck in that I’d never shot before or seen since. We had three cameramen. Well you didn’t want for a hard-on. Everyone paired up with someone else. They sort of found their own element and they went off and did their own things. So when you got enough footage on someone, or his dick went down, then you looked over: ‘Oh well, that’s interesting,’ and you turned the camear over there…we shot the whole thing in six hours…it was a real party, fun atmosphere. It was the funnest film I ever shot.”
I’m reliably informed that the size of the orgy in Class Reunion was not beaten until Bel Ami filmed a massive orgy in South Africa – 27 years later.
I love Class Reunion because it looks like everyone is having fun. They are there to have a good time. They are there to fuck. People fuck, switch partners and fuck some more. I actually really like the slightly cheesy synthesiser sound track. I love the fact that the camera doesn’t focus on anyone for too long. I love the fact a puppy wanders into a shot at one point and wags its tail at the performers fucking – because that happened to me on a shoot. I love the design of the pool. I love the fact there are Koi in the pond. I love the fact that people are smiling. I love seeing cum shots in slow motion.
See it if you possibly can. 🙂
The cruel irony of Class Reunion is that is was actually, and unintentionally, documenting the end of an era. It documents a bareback, consequence free, sex party that was soon to be a thing of the past. It actually marks the end of a sexual revolution. As William Higgins explained:
“I had the most criticism of any film I’ve ever done, because right after that film the AIDS crisis hit. It didn’t hit during the film, it hit after the film came out and they said “He’s promoting AIDS by having this big orgies'”
AIDS changed parties like this forever. And in another tragic twist Leo Ford the model who acquired the motorcycle was tragically killed riding it in 1991.
However, I think that anyone involved in the production of this film, be the director, models, cameramen or lube boy can be very proud at creating something so beautiful that has immortalised an afternoon of sex.
And for the record these are my two favourite actors in the film – three minutes of the hottest sex ever captured on camera:
I have plenty more favourite porn films and I’ll post reviews of them soon. 🙂 I’ve also been considering film some porn on film myself – could be a VERY interesting exercise.