Fantasy Girls

Dani Daniels gets credit (or the blame, depending upon one's reaction) for FANTASY GIRLS, a typical example of the low-effort approach to the lesbian porn genre offered up by Filly Films. I'm nearly cured of my curiosity concerning this brand after watching too many clunkers in a row.

Format is simple, too simple. Four sex vignettes pair off two attractive femmes each, usually one of them from the big-bust camp. For the final segment, Dani joins in for the last seven minutes of the sex tryst, even saying "I can't help it" to explain her sudden on-camera appearance. She seems to be sloppily putting down the camera to step in front of it (rest of scene, about 5 minutes, is utterly static camera time.

Overall, this is not so different an exercise than those of the successful competitors, notably Girlfriends Films and Sweetheart Video. But there are crucial differences. First, Dani dispenses with narrative entirely -even those amateurish set-up dialogs in gonzo videos are absent -each vignette starts out with sex already in progress and there is no verbalizing at all.

But what killed my interest in the ill-titled FANTASY GIRLS was the horrendous filming technique (or videoing to be precise) displayed in Filly Films' output. Dani and company utilize a single camera method, with no reverse shots and no coverage -almost a throwback to Warhol. Editing as such is merely truncation, with fast fadeout/fade-ins used in place of dissolves to speed up the action. Result is unmatched shots and tremendous tedium, as a single point-of-view, generally low-angle camera from a single angle, is maintained throughout a 20- minute plus sex scene. That same camera provides occasional close-ups.

The girls are pretty enough, and another Filly DVD feature, the bonus "Stripteases" section, lets one gaze at them solo to better effect than the lame lesbian footage. I was impressed with busty Vanessa Veracruz, who unfortunately spends most of her time cranking out those dreadful fetish videos fancifully titled, e.g., GIRLS JUST WANT TO SHOW SOLES and HOGTIED HONEYS.

Many of the actresses working at Filly get director credits, but after seeing several efforts by talent like Daniels, Taylor Vixen and Tanya Tate, I don't think any DGA cards will be issued to them soon. I hope it's not that old Troma scam: giving a credit out in lieu of salary.