Directed by Wash West, Naked Highway tells the story of Colorado (Jim Buck) and his search for the love of his life, Austin, who left Louisiana to get his name in lights in the big city. Unfortunately, Austin seems to have landed his name in the marquees of porno theaters everywhere, getting screwed by strangers when he'd refused to allow Colorado anywhere near his then-theoretically-virginal behind.

After seeing one of those videos, Colorado sets off for Los Angeles to Get His Man Back. Joey Violence plays a reluctant hustler who drifts into Colorado's way (well, Joey is the one with the car), and they Thelma-and-Louise their way across the western US. In the tradition of porno road movies, they also have sex with the odd person (or three) here and there and over there and on that pool table there.

Colorado gets forced to blow a policeman played by JT Sloan; Joey tries to hustle some people at pool and winds up paying himself, and so on. The sex and storytelling fit together well, the acting is all first rate, and the sex is great (the scene in the bar pool hall manages to walk that is-it-really-a-forced-violation knife edge between being incredibly hot and incredibly disturbing).

Tragically, available only as a rental if your video store has it; BIG Video went out of business, and to date, nobody seems to have bought their backstock for re-release.

--Iain Jackson

From Tom DeSimone, The Idol shows what a great director with a solid cast of actors, who just happen to be hot and handsome, can do with your basic "I think I might be gay" plot. Starring Kevin Redding (who's never done another film since, porn or otherwise), it's a story of a handsome young track star who begins to wonder if he's gay. Early on he discusses with his best pal, Greg Dale, his frustration with his girlfriend not putting out. Understanding the frustration, Greg introduces Kevin to the locker room shower scene, where if you just hang out a bit too long, someone will take the hint and get you off. Cliched sounding? You bet! But DeSimone and his cast make it work. The viewer gets to see great gay sex (provided in no small part by Derrick Stanton), while we also witness Kevin's hesitant curiosity. He is clearly turned on, but doesn't dare participate.

Later, in another cliched scene, he gets a massage from coach Nick Rogers. Sensing Kevin's inner turmoil, Rogers does his best to help him relax, first with a slow massage, all the while prying into what's wrong, is he getting enough sex?, etc. Kevin is uncomfortable, but clearly stays put on the massage table, out of both curiosity as well as obedience to his elder. If Coach Rogers wasn't so hot (the look on his face as he peels off Kevin's running shorts is priceless), you might even think the sex wasn't consensual, as Kevin several times attempts a weak protest, but gives in. Before the movie is over, Kevin is in a happy relationship with another young man.

Available from Bijou Video.

--BJ

Another Jerry Douglas film, and perhaps the one in which his peculiar taboo obsession (Douglas has directed no fewer than four "tabooish"-related videos) is most fully developed. Kurt Young plays college student Kip. First, he gets dumped by his nominally older college professor lover (Erich Lange). Then he gets kicked out of his home by his mother when she discovers both that her son is gay and that he knows that his father is not only not dead as he's been told, but may have been a gay porn star.

Family Values traces his efforts to locate his father (involving an impressive amount of sex, of course). Derrick Stanton, in (technically) his one and only comeback role, plays Pete, who may or may not be the aforementioned father. Brent Cross plays Kip's best friend, who introduces him into the wild and wonderful world of hustling, for a pimp -- if that's quite the right word -- played by Bo Summers as a seriously 60s-obsessed man. Family Values (now out of print) was one of the few gay features released to DVD by Men of Odyssey (a.k.a. OGMen) before Odyssey Media Group went belly-up and took OGMen with it. The DVD, if you can find it, has a great commentary track by Douglas.

--Iain Jackson

From director Jack Deveau, A Night at the Adonis is a fantastic peek into the world of gay porno theater sex. From the perspective of a college "gay business" intern (majoring in steambaths, minoring in travel agencies), we are shown the ins and outs of the now-defunct Adonis Theater. Sex in the balcony, sex in the seats, lots of sex in the bathrooms. Interspersed with this action, we get to see some of the greats from the 70's -- Roger, Big Bill Eld, and Myles Longue -- on the big screen (courtesy of Hand-In-Hand films), as well as hear cheesy dialogue that only a str8-faced JackWrangler can deliver. (When asked what he does for a living, Jack says "I'm in men's clothing.")

The orgy in the bathroom is a highlight, throbbing cocks alongside shiny porcelain, waiting for mouths and buttholes, showcasing ordinary men who would never get cast in a modern porno flick, ably demonstrating with their big dicks and sloppy blowjobs why they were cast in this film.

--BJ

Directed by Jerry Douglas, Kurt Young stars as Derek, a man trying to figure out how and why his twin brother was murdered. The editing trick near the end of the movie almost, but not quite, overshadows a film with a very good story and strong performances, sexual and otherwise. Kurt Young does a masterful job of playing two distinct and different characters, one of whom we only see in flashback as an odd sort of revisionist truth to the lies that Derek is being told by everyone who knew his brother. Gimmick aside, for me, the hottest scene is the videotape-within-the-videotape featuring Young and Linus Ford.

--Iain Jackson

Karl Forest is the subject of this pseudo-documentary autobiography of a hustler-turned cabaret dancer -- from tender love-making in a forest to playful quick-scene fun with a mobster, a cop, and a soldier. The voice-over, in both French and English, explains his thoughts on life as a gay man in Paris. If I had a nickel for every cigarette he smokes during the film... Fave scene is him getting a blowjob from an older man. Sitting in a chair, smoking and slightly bored, he gets more turned when he spots money in his trick's pocket. The trick is not handsome, but his own dick he is whacking is more than adequate, and his pleasure in crotch-servicing is more than enough to get you excited. The realness when you notice his toupee is beginning to slip off because of his forceful plunges into Forest's crotch makes it that much more exciting.

The film is both sexy and tender, and you can't help feeling a bit sorry for Forest's character during the last scene, ultimately alone with his near-perfect body.

Appears to be commercially unavailable. Originally distributed by Le Salon

--BJ