Secluded Passion

David Christopher has few if any defenders -he represents the low end of NYC porn after the Big Apple lost this particular industry almost entirely to the West Coast (read: Chatsworth) in the 1980s. SECLUDED PASSION is below even his lowly standards.

There is guerrilla filmmaking (actually video-making) in the location transition footage of poor David running around Times Square as viewed from a distant camera -it wobbles, tracks him poorly and generally is less professional than a backyard home movie or what passes for video horror features some 20-plus years later. But that is not the issue, it is the non-story and desultory sex scenes.

Improvised dialog is embarrassing as we are introduced to vet XXX actress Helen Madigan (misspelled Hellen in opening credits) and an unidentified Black actress having a lesbian clinch after looking at dirty magazines. David (casting his untalented self in the lead role as usual) arrives and services the women; after his money shot he complains (could this be an attempt at humor?) about "being used by women".

Christopher gets a job as a male stripper at a club for women only named Club Le La Taunt, and its signage (inside) is beneath the level of a school project skit let alone a movie/video. It's managed by Mistress Candice, though I consider her as just Candice since she isn't dishing out any punishment for a change. David has to show her and her assistant Jasmine his "merchandise" and also to hump her into getting a job (a jab at women's lib, eh, Dave?), He then dances for a noisy femme audience, including Madigan.

In the bathroom a talent agent (little-used porn actress Sandy King) accosts Dave and gives her his card, hoping to advance his career (while we suffer through more video that definitely set back his real-life career).

In the video's most bizarre and yet uninteresting scene Madigan insists Dave hump her on top of a toilet seat, and we are blandly informed at this point that they are brother and sister. Null effect, not a shocker, just pointless drivel.

Star Kelly Nichols shows up late in the show as the club's owner, who (natch!) insists on another Christopher audition that involves him servicing her. Sandy King returns to give Alan Adrian and George Payne blow jobs, and then Christopher wanders into a Times Square burlesque house Club Temptress to watch guest star Susie Nero perform her striptease and then audience participation giving a fan as well as Christopher blow jobs on-stage. At this point the video just ends, having lost its way several reels earlier. Structurally, Christopher just slapped it together.

Christopher's line readings and acting are terrible as usual, but since he was also the director nobody could give him constructive feedback. Even worse is Dutchess Von Stern as Jasmine - she stares at the camera at one point quite unprofessionally and remains (for me at least) among the more obscure XXX performers. I felt sorry for Nichols, given top billing to capitalize on her then-popularity from several Chuck Vincent crossover classics like ROOMMATES and IN LOVE.

Oddest credits go to "Janet Rainer" as producer and art director: he/she represents the mysterious Janus Rainer who collaborated with Dave on many of these worthless porn effusions before making the lateral career move of helming innumerable bondage exercises. I saw one of his latter efforts via Alpha Blue Archives, AMAZON ISLAND, reuniting Christopher, Mistress Candice and Dutchess Von Stern for their legion of fans !! (sarcasm intended).