Flashback

In my header above, I chose to exaggerate for effect: the '90s for porn only felt like the Dark Ages after the Golden Age ended mid-'80s with the arrival of video for both production and distribution. F.J. Lincoln ("you can call me Fred") delivers his usual can't be bothered approach and the result doesn't even reach the level of a time-killer.

Why did I watch it? Well, it is yet another freebie thrown in the shipping container when you place a moderately voluminous video order, as the DVD distributor couldn't sell a copy of this baby on the merits (the VHS was reissued on DVD in 2008).

Casting is deficient: leads Stephanie DuValle (billed as Monique, which is better than her alternate moniker "Thumper") and Sunset Thomas are virtually the same type, pretty blondes. And male lead Marc Wallice is an instant turn-off, here overemphasized and delivering an embarrassingly poor (drug-induced?) performance, but even working in a pack usually the low man on the totem pole in terms of erotic attraction for the viewer.

Nominal hero Zack Thomas (misspelled Zach in the credits) is nearly invisible, presumably cast along for the ride with superstar wife Sunset. (If IMDb's UGC mini bio is to be believed, Sunset ended up as a Nevada whore after her porn career sunsetted.) He's the stereotyped hubby, constantly away on business or whatever (which includes infidelity, natch), leaving heroine Gwen to devote herself to masturbation, voyeurism, humping folks and, of course, having some flashbacks to sort of justify the video's title. I found the flashbacks here to be pointless, in line with the overall pointlessness (just another title for a rack jobber to stock in the video stores of the era) of the project.

Though Lincoln has photographed the sex scenes well, there is little attention to any of the acting interludes or even logic of the story arc. In particular, there is a scene where unwelcome house guest Wallice, cast as hubby's ne'er-do-well drifter of a cousin, is humping ultra-busty Lynden Johnson in the living room when Gwen asks to join them in a scene begging not merely for a rewrite but some sort of dramatic turning point dialog. No, it's just an excuse for a hot 3- way.

Similarly, the closest to an actual dramatic scene is so amateurishly acted and directed I believe my jaw actually dropped - for real - watching it. Wallice has packed his tramp-style rucksack and is leaving Gwen's home when Gwen improbably asks him to take her with him (to nowhere?). Marc notes: "I'm a loner," adding "You have a great life, just stay here and enjoy it", pithy dialog from Fred J.'s amanuensis and wife, screenwriter/producer Patti Rhodes-Lincoln. Marc walks past the pool, then turns back to her yelling "Let's go!", and off she goes with him.

Video doesn't end there, but balances that horrible scene with a later scene of hubby in the bathtub with new squeeze Sunset Thomas when Gwen suddenly returns (out of nowhere, basically Stage Right). There's some more terrible Patti dialogue and a terrible ending.

Along the way Steven St. Croix (billed as Stephan) humps a sexy babe named Cash (who I'd never seen before -she never made the grade) and looks decidedly different very early in his career -even his cock has a different shape than now! I'll have to re-watch him in a couple of classic Sarah Young videos that are even older than this turkey.