Gary Graver's (aka 'Robert McCallum') third 35mm film, following EROTIKA (1994) and EXSTASY (1995), for the short-lived Western Visuals Gold series. As can be expected from this longtime mainstay in virtually every aspect of the movie-making industry (a renowned cinematographer, he has helmed numerous nudie cuties from the 1960s onwards, his career as a hardcore adult filmmaker getting off to a soaring start with the 1975 classic 3 A.M.), this is another well-scripted and beautifully produced porn farce mixing elements of such diverse sources as THELMA & LOUISE and Russ Meyer's FASTER, PUSSYCAT, KILL, KILL with lots of high energy couplings against the stunning backdrop of the Mojave desert.
Foulmouthed Lust (Nicole London) and the more demure Desire (Jordan Lee) are a pair of Las Vegas strippers who accidentally witness the apparent murder of a pathetic Elvis impersonator at the hands of Lust's thug boyfriend (T.T. Boy). Fearing for their lives, the girls make their way into the desert, stranding on the property of paraplegic Uncle Earl (Mike Horner), his dim sons (Frank Towers & Steve Hatcher, then still billed as 'Jake Williams') and their shared girlfriend Daisy (Kimberly Kummings). While the possessive Daisy's none too pleased with the new arrivals, the menfolk are duly salivating all over their showgirl curves, and seeing how these girls aren't particularly hard to get...
Meanwhile, T.T. and his equally dull-witted sidekick (Tony 'Chuck' Martino) are doing' their darnedest to hunt 'em down, though they get temporarily sidetracked by a couple of female con artists (Patricia Kennedy & the all too aptly named Holly Body) who give as good they get. As they close in on Lust and Desire, it looks like it's going' to be curtains for our unwrapped artistes, or do these hicks actually have a trick up their sleeves ?
Deftly sidestepping gratuitous redneck humor, Graver has crafted a surprisingly involving, frequently funny porno laugh riot laced with some seriously stimulating' sexual shenanigans. The not entirely naturally busty Jordan Lee has a charmingly set up outdoor encounter with the amiably goofy Hatcher, rivaled in terms of visual splendor by nasty Nicole London taking on big hulking Towers on top of her sports car in the midst of the blazing desert. Combustible Kim Kummings makes the three-way finale with both brothers really sizzle as well.
Most astonishingly though, Graver has here taken a cast of second stringers hardly known for their acting skills and got decent performances out of the whole lot. Horner and Hatcher were always dependable in character parts, but the often wooden Towers is a genuine surprise as a kindhearted moron. London and Lee show considerable star quality as well as a natural ease with dialog which makes you regret that they spent most of their otherwise relatively unremarkable careers doing bit parts in wall to wall bangathons.
This wonderful movie is positive proof that throwbacks to the Golden Age (roughly between 1972 and 1986) are still possible, especially with a director who experienced that glorious era firsthand at the helm. LUST & DESIRE can take its rightful places alongside such time-tested Graver classics such as V - THE HOT ONE and THE ECSTASY GIRLS and should be recommended to older porn fans who are heard lamenting that they just don't make 'em like they used to.
