...ahhhh, Rene Baker in Tourist Trap! :} Still haven't seen TTrap2 though after all these years. HOM just had the beauties who got you started with their fearful expressions and struggling that, even though much was via 8mm transfer with that somewhat corny 70's music, it did leave my imagination of how loud the victim screamed or the whimpers and grunts. My main love for HOM was the women were "tight" (there's that word again). They did not flaunt thigh-highs, stilletto's, teddy's or anything artificial much(IMO), but normal clothes that seemed to make the victim more sexy & "hot" while shredded, or torn or hanging off, showing just enough skin to get the blood rushing. Needless to say, the tied and confined positions these ladies endured really set the mood of their situation - kidnapped, abducted, tormented, etc. ZFX - IMO, similar. Rick has that concept going, not so much "love-bondage" or master-slave bit, but that enduring mood of "abducted-kidnapped-we're-gonna-work-you-over-bitch" kinda suspense - SOB4 and on for example. ok, nuff said.

Keep up the great work Ralphus.

It reminds me of that bondage classic 5 dvd I bought..the women kept their panties on. blah!!

I love those ZFX movies where the woman has no panties or their down around her ankles hahah

Those were the 70s back when bush was an obscenity hot-button instead of a president.

I'm surprised that the moderators haven't deleted Peter's message below. The poster's not too bright advertising selling ZFX copies in a ZFX forum that's visited by the guy that runs ZFX.

I goofed when I ordered and accidentally selected the VHS instead of DVD versions. I sent a note off straight away to the ZFX4U address about it. Here's hoping it gets caught before shipping.

Peace,

Iago

One thing I noticed on the ZFX site- one of the male actors in SOB-VII name is Damien. Could it be our resident Dutch Kinkaidfan has hit the big time???

Earlier this month TAO productions was mentioned. I really enjoyed "Walk the Line" which was probably made in the 1980's (looked to be shot on video). Does anyone know if it is out on DVD? Its a sort of "Nightmare in Badham County" scenario where a small town traffic stop leads to imprisonment, stripping, beating etc... Not quite up to ZFX but it rated high with me when I first saw it.

I wanted to tell the forum about a film that is newly out on DVD that I've been looking forward to seeing for a long time. I don't even remember when I first found this link, but I've been following the progress of this little independent film called "CUT" for several months, ever since I downloaded the original trailer and was blown away by what I saw. Unfortunately it's no longer on the site, but it showed more details of what happens and gave us more threatening dialogue and more shots of her bound and gagged. They replaced it with a new teaser trailer that's shorter and doesn't show as much, but go to the site and take a look.

CUT-MOVIE.COM THE OFFICIAL INDEPENDENT FILM WEBSITE

Here's the synopsis on the back of the DVD box:

When Jody, a local college student is invited to party under the rouse of befriending a long time crush, she quickly finds out that she is the star of his best friend's sick and sadistic torture film. In an emotional ride of twists and turns, CUT will make you wonder to what lengths will people go to create art.

I look at the trailer and this is what I gather: It's an "independent" film that's really a glorified bondage film, and in fact, looks like a bondage snuff film! It was shot locally in Ohio where I live, and in fact, the female "victim" in the film goes to college just a few miles from me, so that also has me doubly intrigued. Anyway, I ordered the DVD and it should be here within a few weeks, maybe sooner, so I'll give you a review after I see it.

It's funny 'cause I was just working on a storyline (well...a few of them) where the girl falls victim because of a crush she has on the male lead. The synopsis mentioned "falling under a rouse...because of a crush" or someting like that.

Anyway, in my storyline, which is actually a tale of revenge, the female lead is someone who has just started seeing someone whom she's had a serious crush on for sometime. The male lead is introduced however knowing this, by his half-sister (thus no similar name) who's been wronged by the female lead.

Anyway, as stong as everyone knows her crush is, the male lead is coaxed into the revenge plot, knowing she'll do anything that it takes. He brings up the topic of bondage one day as she shies away, but reluctantly agrees. They decide to explore the fantasy in his garage where she is tied up. Once secured however, the bondage turns into S&M as the revenge plot starts to unfold. Her muffled protests turn on deaf ears as he continues. Having been put through the wringer, the topper is about to unfold as her turns her to face the garage door. It's opened, and to her humiliation and horror, there are about 30 guys waiting outside of it. They now flood in, the door is closed, as they start to help themselves to her wares. The girl who has been wronged enters and relishes in her vengance.

In my perfect world they would all pull a train on her then deposit their loads in her mouth/on her face as part of some twisted/forced bukakke party.

The similarity I know ends with the "crush" but it just reminded me so I thought I'd share.

Maybe more next time.

Later.

Ralphus - the synopsis of CUT sounds pretty good. Can't wait til your review, I may have to save up a bit of money for that also.

So many films to watch so little time. BTW - I don't suppose anyone has seen or even heard of Autumn Underground? It sounds pretty good, another that I'm going to have to try to get I think. From reviews sounds like an extremely realistic sadistic movie.

SB

Elayne Payton's scenes are outstanding. No one will be disappointed on the merit of these scenes alone. I don't want to get into descriptions or anything, because I don't want to spoil it, but I will say fan's of Duct tape, upside down suspensions, double-team trains, and great acting/emoting will be well rewarded.

Lisa's scenes are alright. I have 2 problems with them. firstly, she has been made up to look starved and filthy. While this will be a plus for some or most, it was a minus for me.

Secondly, follow my logic here. In 4, she gets dunked. all of her scenes in 5, and her ONE scene in 6, and all but one of her scenes in 7, all seem to have been filmed at the same time as the dunking scene in 4, which means that over the three or four years since 4, the same set of lisa footage has been stretched out and milked for as many or more video releases then it was worth.

Her last scene was obviously filmed much later, which is fine, but her different appearance doesn't fit with the rest of the series. Ashley Blake is alright. She looks great. Her scenes are typical ZFX, and reminiscent of Kim Noble and Christina anderson's scenes from 3 & 4.

White Smoke goes up...

To the board I announce: We have a classic!

From the vulnerability of Elaine Payton bottomless pursuit at the start of the film, to almost the very end, this is a riviting addition to the ZFX canon and a worthy conclusion to the SOB series.

The ZFX moment? Elaine actually quivers before being hooked up for an enema- its one of those believable as all hell touches that keep me a repeat viewer.

Lisa's scenes- yes, some controversy might arise from her makeup, but in the context of the saga, the perky Megan Cortez is totally broken, and in the feeding scene, completely debased.

The darkly comic ending with the squeal like a pig OB Ladin is not without its humor, but will not be re-played too many times. Really, about my only complaint.

Here is hoping for more Elaine Peyton features- Hey Rick, how bout asking her aboard for an interview? She deserves a close up.

SOB-7 - the good stuff!

When Forbidden Video said they were upping the quality of the production and acting, it wasn't just hype. With "Dream Date," they're pretty darn close to Hollywood! The story, the script and the performances were top-notch! Before I rant on star Velvet Rose, I have to give her male co-star high praises. He played the neurotic Bob. The piece that's shown after the video ends, where the two stars comment on making the video, it clearly shows that he is not at all like the character he plays. Many kudos for making the viewer a believer while watching a most well-acted performance!

Also, even though this is Forbidden Video's first interracial entry, it must be noted that the story, script and performances are racially ominous. This very well could have been a Gauge project. But Velvet Rose! DAMN HOT! She IS the next Gauge! Her resonant voice and her pouty, somewhat smart-ass "whatever" attitude before her torment is awesome! When we see what Bob is thinking about doing to her we see Velvet (who plays the character Susan) acting the way Bob wants her to act. THIS GIRL IS AN ACTRESS! Her full lips, pretty brown skin and beautiful body is a sight to behold. To see her reduced from a tough-as-nails chick to a moaning, whining submissive shows Velvet's range of acting skills. Her voice alone is worth the price of submission!

The music in DREAM DATE is also worthy of note. It is especially awesome during the cum-shot, where the mood of the music changes just as she takes it all in. Her facial expression during that shot is awesome as well. That sequence alone was worthy of a few rewinds by this reviewer.

The hot outfit she wears when she meets Bob and that walk of hers will send you reeling. We get to see EVERY inch of Velvet and NO part of her goes untouched by her dreaded blind date. She even looks great fully clothed at the end when she's wearing black overalls. HOT! VELVET ROSE IS THE NEXT FORBIDDEN VIDEO STAR! The end of the video will make you smile. But to understand and appreciate the ending, make sure to pay attention to Susan's telephone conversation with her friend Terry at the beginning.

This is the CLASSIEST video I have ever seen of this genre. The visual clarity is superb, the camera angles fantastic and the sequences leading up to our star's iminent "torment" teases you just long enough to keep it fun.

With Velvet Rose's apparently well-polished acting ability, it makes me want to call the manufacturers of "ROBOBABE 2025" to see if they can take a queue from the makers of Barbie and create a black Robobabe doll! We all know how important diversity is these days. (Hmmmm...did I slyly suggest a sequel to Gauge's flick here?).

I hope Velvet Rose agrees to do more videos. Girlfriend will get all my money if she does. Now that Forbidden Video has truly lived up to its name by having stepped into forbidden waters by having this awesome black girl trussed up, we will probably see bolder story lines and action in future releases.

But Velvet Rose's eponymous debut could not have been done any better! You GO girl! And you GO Forbidden Video!

Ohio Mike

So, with that said, thanks for the press release; good to know a new video "Dream Date" is available, and I look forward to Ralphus' actual review.

Viewing "Spinerette" came along later in the ZFX catalog for me. Seeing Michelle whipped while suspended naked was quiote naked. But then I considered, because I like blondes, and of her apparent size, that scene and several other similar scenes in the other film which would lend themselves well to tickle torture. Such a film might have to waive such treatments as torture, spanking, clamps and roughing up. Although perhaps they could be incorporated into the film upon the victim after the tickling. I have found that it's easier to make a subbie laugh first and cry and hurt later than the other way around. Best Regards, Oceanos

If the copy never arrives, I'm not going to sweat it. If he decides to send it out, I'll watch it and give my honest opinion.

Rick e-mailed me tonight and said my copy of SOB-7 is on the way, and I should have it by the end of the week. Thanks so far to DHT and g-in-o for their input, and I do expect good things from this latest ZFX effort, if the early reviews and the teaser trailer are any indication.

Whooops, must have been tired when I posted that, it's August Underground, not Autumn Underground. That should get you better results from Google. :P

August Underground is made by Toe-Tag Pictures. Their website is www.toetagpictures.com. It's marketed as a horror movie. The reviews I've read have all gone on to speak about how brutal, realistic and sadistic this movie is.

The video is only available by e-mailing them and asking for it. Most of the original members left after filming and production was finished as they though the movie to be TOO much and did not want their names associated with it anymore. It's one of those where I've got the info to get it in my e-mail but I keep forgetting to send in a check to get it. :P This was a couple months ago, hopefully they have a more general release available now.

Read some of the reviews that are written about it and tell you me you wouldn't be interested in it. ;)

SB

PS - direct link to the video description on their website (wasn't there a few months ago) http://www.toetagpictures.com/case_august_IE.asp

I can't seem to find a way to contact Toe-Tag Pictures; there's no e-mail link on their site that I could find. Think you can come up with that e-mail and let us know the address?

I have been fortunate enough to have the majority of my girlfriends over the years enjoy it. The key I think is to make sure they enjoy it (at least starting out - give them oral like crazy when they are bound, for example) so they think of bondage as something really pleasurable. I won't go into more detail than that. Watch a ZFX flik with me? No, not likely. But live out some ZFX scenarios? Mmm, yes.

zee-ef-ex

I am really looking forward to your review Ralphus. By the way I agree with you on that latest forbidden video. I'm not really excited by that model. In fact I don't even like guage that much...there's just something I dont like. I prefer the girl next door look, like Lisa Kincaid. i even like this elayne payton gal though I've only seen stills not video yet.

On to brighter things. I got the new DVD of South of the Border 7 today in the mail. I'll take a look this weekend. I read the description on the back and it sounds awesome.

Even better, Rick just e-mailed me a crapload of exclusive pics from the new movie. And I'm going to torture you all by posting them on the board...one at a time. And there are a lot of them :) By the time we get to the end, I guarantee every one of you is going to want to get this DVD. If the actual movie is as good as the pics, it should be another winner. I'll let you know.

Check out the trailer at my website www.cut-movie.com DVD's are available for sale, 19.95...no shipping and handling fees... hopefully, there will be a review of it soon.

In case you are wondering, CP Q2 is the not one of the robots in Star Wars, he's the writer/director of CUT, the independent movie I mentioned here last week. I'm still waiting on the DVD to arrive at my home, and I'm actually more excited about seeing that than I am the new ZFX tape. I guess it's because I know pretty much what to expect from ZFX, but it's always exciting to see bondage and torture scenes in a mainstream movie. Ever since I saw that first preview, I've been chomping at the bit to see the rest of the film. I also like the premise, because it takes place at a party with college students. And the tagline

"5 students. 2 cameras. 1 victim."

It also helps that the victim, Angie Morris, is pretty damn cute, too. I'll be writing a review of CUT soon and tell you what I think.

Those Mexican jailers look like immigrants from America :) Looks like fun, I'm heading for the border now!

Every film has its faults, everyone sees different faults. I liked Spinnerette because the blond victim Michelle Fontaine was a good knockout victim. Nice wrestling, unconscious strip -&- fondle, hanging and whipping scenes The could have been lensed or edited better -- murky here and there, and not enough time panning her body. I like blondes, she looks like a nice size, not too big; for me, the ranges of 5'3"ish , 115-125, 34ish-22-32ish is an appealing and ideal size, but if taller, then everything proportional to height, -- and cameras tend to make one look heavy but I don't believe she is as heavy as Tabitha Jordan -- she had a good wardrobe for what was done to her and her clothes came off nice. I like sleepytime victims who are stripped, bound, tortured in their sleep.

I thought the search scene, where the two investigators go in and look around was a little too long, likewise with the initial takedown of the on-duty lab assistant, Lisa Kinkaid, they came to rescue. Once Michelle was bound, there were some torture segments which went on a little too long.

I myself like that kind of play with my playmates. I devised, when I first explored that myself, certain therapies which would make them squirm when "asleep" (since they were role playing, but the pain was subtle enough to make them squirm). If I wanted them to be agitated, I intensified those treatments when they were conscious, or used other more intense therapies. What state the playmate would be in would always be established early in our session. I had one who would talk, talk talk. So I put my hand over her mouth, sometimes her nose. She resisted, struggled, finally went limp. But she also liked full naked body massages. These put her out also. But the talk trick was a good one because then I could undress her. A variation she had on that was -- and she liked rough sex, but we never got into it to the level she would have liked; I'm a bit more subtle than that -- my getting forceful with her. We'd just be talking, and she not expecting---I'd just put my hand over her mouth or nose. In either case, at first she didn't like that, for real, but since I wouldn't move my hand, she finally learned to go into the role play quicker. And of course, this is bedroom play, I haven't the money or space to expand to more equipment or facilities.

I always liked the concept of monster/alien/uncosncious bondage/rape/captive/kidnap, so when I found ZFX I was in my glory. And ZFX has several that use that leitmotiv. But even without the space alien or ghostly theme, unconscious and victimized are my favorites I like nude carries also, especially with a nice ass to the camera. Panty-clad ass is okay, not all of them, but of course not every girl has an ass that's nice in or out of panties. Each is to our personal tastes. There is something that happens to a doll's ass when it is slung over a guy's shoulder -- and only then. I haven't seen too many bench or horse scenes that are as likable. It's the bend in the hip extending to the buttocks, and the weight of the legs going in the other direction that put some sort of a pull on the muscles that brings the muscles and tissues of ass and legs to a certain tone. Best Regards, Oceanos

Long time lurker, first time poster. What brings me out of the woodwork is that I have a mainstream film on my mind and I absolutely can't come up with the title.

I don't remember too much from the movie because I saw it only once back in the early 90s. It is your typical rape-revenge story if I remember correctly, starring a cute, petite blonde who is on her way to see her boyfriend or father or something. Her car breaks down and she takes it to the grimy garage to be worked on. The slimy mechanics give her the eyeball when she brings the car in and when she returns to pick up her car, the mechanic and a few of his goons drag the girl back behind the garage into this junkyard where she is raped in a fairly lengthy scene.

Anybody out there remember seeing this and know the title? I think the picture on the movie's box was of the girl struggling against the guys assaulting her.

The scenario you describe sound somewhat familiar. Was the victim killed after the attack? And if it's the one I'm thinking of, it also starred Tanya Roberts. Don't know it's name but I'm sure it would be pretty easy to look up if that's the one you're reffering to.

Let us know.

Later.

ZFX's latest offering is South of the Border 7: Breaking Point, the last chapter of what has been arguably their most successful series to date, a story of innocent young girls forced into a White Slavery ring in Mexico. After about 15 minutes of recapping the previous chapters of the series, this final installment begins with two DEA goons literally boxing up another female victim and transporting her out of the country to begin a life of sexual slavery. Little do they know that their most recent prisoner, an Embassy lawyer played by Elaine Payton, had managed to untie herself at the end of Part 6 and is now trying to escape (although she apparently had time to dye her hair from blonde to brown since the last time we saw her). At any rate, it doesn't take them long to recapture her, and she's in for more torture and abuse. And that's just the way we like it!

The half-naked Elaine is swiftly handcuffed and fondled by the two men, who have a great time telling her what's going to happen to her, while Elaine moans and struggles in her bonds. It's merely foreplay for what's ahead. More on that later.

Then the action turns to another captured lawyer, played by Lisa Kinkaid. She's now meek and docile and strung out on heroin, and she's interrogated by Rick Masters in the small room where's she's been held for days. Legcuffed, and with her hands cuffed behind her, the naked Lisa can only move around helplessly on her small cot while Masters beats her with a rubber hose. There's some nice handheld camerawork as we see Lisa's pained expressions up close, and Masters gags her with a red bandana. He injects her with more drugs with needle injections to the nipple and into her pussy, although the action is clearly simulated, which takes away some of the realism of the scene. Afterward, she barely reacts to his beatings in her drugged out state.

Now onto the best scene of the movie. Elaine is skillfully bound in duct tape, with her wrists taped behind her and attached to her body by another long piece of tape wrapped around her waist. Her big boobs stick out by being surrounded by lengths of tape immediately above and below the breastline. And finally she is gagged with a dirty rag stuffed into her mouth and silenced by a long strip of duct tape wound several times around her head and her hair, one of the more thorough gagging scenes in ZFX history. With their prisoner now bound and silent, they decide to hang her upside down by her spread ankles, hoisting her off the ground until her hair is brushing the floor and she can only moan helplessly through her gag at her misfortune. The men have fun fingering her pussy, sucking her nipples and slapping away at her body, and Elaine's reactions really make this scene work. Then they walk away and leave her suspended, telling her to "hang in there" as tears fall from her eyes and roll down her forehead. It's an awesome segment.

And it gets even better as the men finally return. "I think it's time to torture her some," one of the men exclaims, as if the upside-down bondage wasn't torture enough. She is then treated to electrifying touches from a cattle prod (enhanced by shocking visual effects added later) and nasty blows from a whip to her breasts and belly. Her ass and pussy aren't spared either, and by the end of the session, she is covered with red marks from the whipping. The men then add to her suffering by adorning her nipples and pussy lips with clothespins, tying a line from one of her pussy clips to the hoist above her. They leave her that way to slowly twirl as she hangs upside-down.

Then the action turns back to Lisa, now tied in a chair, with her legs opened and ropes circling her knees, and her wrists tied to the arms of the chair. Masters mixes up what looks to be a combination of beef stew, dog food and Mexican hot sauce into a bowl and enters her room. Lisa is made up to look undernourished and her hair is dirty, and Masters removes her gag and spoons big mouthfuls of the slop into her mouth and makes her eat it, often spilling some of the food down her naked body. The scene might have worked better had Lisa gagged a bit or acted like she didn't like the taste of the what he was feeding her. As far as force-feeding scenes go, it pales against Penelope Pace's much better turn in Blunt Trauma 2. Masters seals Lisa's lips by tying on a plug gag so she can't throw up her dinner. He exits the room, leaving Lisa a sloppy mess.

The next scene we see beautiful blonde Ashley Blake, who was earlier captured and tortured in Part 6. She is hanging upside down by her ankles from a beam in the ceiling, and two jailers proceed to give her a whipping on her ass and back. It's a scene that did little for me mainly due to the fact that she's relatively quiet in her reactions, and also because we barely get a chance to even see her face (her mouth filled with a red ballgag) until the very end of the segment.

Back to Elaine, which means back to the good stuff. The men have her hanging suspended by her wrists, with a crotchrope cutting through her sex and tied off to the other side of the room. Her knees are bent and each ankle is tied to the ceiling above, leaving her dancing in midair like a bizarre marionette. She moans in pain though her wooden bit gag, drool running down her chin. This girl really knows how to sell a scene!

By contrast, Ashley is worked over by her captors in the next scene, and she's barely audible as they smack her ass and insert an electrical plug up her ass, taping it in place. The men make her straddle an electric pussy prod that's attached to the floor, then chain her hands over her head to a beam above, anchoring her in place by chaining her feet as well. They remove her ballgag and replace that with a black plug for her mouth, with a wire jutting from it, also electrified. This is taped over her mouth. Electrodes are then taped over both bare breasts, and Ashley makes a very lovely bound victim. Unfortunately, looks aren't everything, and the resulting shock scene falls flat because she barely says a peep. Compare this segment with Christina Anderson's similar scene in Part 3 and Elaine's bravura turn in Part 6 and one can see that this one should have been much better. It badly needed some dubbed-in screams to give it some ooomph.

But things get better, because Elaine is back in the next scene, tied standing to a post. She grimaces and screams in pain as a prod is lubed up and inserted into her ass, with a clear hose running from the end. She is then seated at the base of the post, hands cuffed behind it, and a rope is looped over her neck and attached to the top of the post, making sure she stays put. Then another clear hose is inserted in her mouth and fastened inside with a trainer gag over her face. The hose is hooked up to a faucet and the water is turned on, sending the liquid up inside her ass and into her mouth, a unique double-forced enema torture. Elaine's moans are combined with the sounds of her coughing and gurgling as the water spews out of her mouth and onto her chest. To increase her suffering, she is given several jolts of the cattle prod once again, causing her to urinate uncontrollably with each touch of the prod. Another outstanding piece of work.

The next scene finds Elaine bound while on a cot, ballgagged, with her hands tied together in front with the rope leading to her bound ankles. Her captors enter and decide to use her body for their own gratification. While one buggers her ass (simulated), the other replaces her gag with his own dick, forcing her to suck him off while she's being pounded from behind. It's another fine scene, enhanced by some mean dialogue and a nice cum shot smeared all over Elaine's face.

But...the men fall asleep (always happens after sex, of course) and this affords Elaine the opportunity to get up and steal a gun. She forces the men to untie her at gunpoint and leaves them tied up in a humiliating position.

The final scene is embarrassingly bad, and obviously shot a a few years later than the earlier footage in the movie. Masters has a woman who he offers to a man wearing a flowing robe and a fake beard, supposedly trying to look Iranian or Middle Eastern. The man talks in a high-pitched voice like a cartoon character and gives a horrible performance as the woman sucks his dick. It took me a few minutes before I realized who this new woman was. I had guessed it was Ashley Blake, but it wasn't until the very end that I realized it was actually Lisa Kinkaid, looking totally different, with much longer and lighter hair than before. Anyway, Elaine bursts in and shoots the man and rescues Lisa in a weak finale that should have been cut, or else refigured. The differences in Lisa's appearance was too jarring to have even attempted to complete the story with her. So, a great series ends on kind of a weak note.

The extras on the DVD version offer nearly 17 minutes of outtakes, including footage of Elaine dancing the Macarena while wearing fuzzy slippers, and two completely cut scenes of Lisa escaping out the door with dark hair, and being grabbed again seconds later with light hair. Pretty amusing stuff.

Like a workplace graphics chart, this one fluctuates up and down, peaking whenever Elaine is onscreen and falling whenever she's not. The Lisa and Ashley scenes are subpar, but Elaine's stuff is so good it makes up for it. After stealing the show in Part 6, she follows that up with another super performance here in Part 7. She is the reason to check this one out, and we can only hope that ZFX will find a chance to work with her again in the future. My grade: B-

Damien

Ralphus - Thanks for the great review. Looking forward to picking up my copy. Did Cut ever make its way to you?

Paulus - DVD highlights eh? Been wondering if it would be possible to create a compilation DVD of my favorite scenes. What software do you use? Is there a way to save a segment to the hard disk without any loss in quality? Do elaborate.

Rick - If you happen across this post, I have a crazy request. I know that you are slowly converting your titles to DVD. I sure wish you had started with the most recent and worked your way back but at any rate, don't you think your loyal GIMP members deserve a discount? I can think of half a dozen titles that I would love to have, but it would be an expensive proposition at full price. Any chance on a volume discount for GIMP members?

--Gonzo

At any rate, I'll contact them if it isn't here by the weekend.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Rick to offer a discount on his shows just because you read a certain website, especially since being a GIMP member is free and doesn't benefit Rick or ZFX in any fiscal way. But hey, you did say it was a crazy request, right? You be CRAY-ZEE boy!!!

A question....have you ever given a film an A+, or even an A? I can't recall one. I would be interested to know which one, if any, just knocked your socks off!

Fred

All kinds of guides on it.

I'd suggest using a program called DVD2AVI which allows you to extract scenes and portions of any dvd movie.

Then convert that excerpt back to mpeg-2 and author it with some dvd authoring program.

Start with my favorite, The Cheerleaders of Perilous U. Chandra Sweet was perfect as the cheerleader tortured by nerdy Brian Dunhill. Those are two of my favorite ZFX performers anyway, and Brian kept me laughing with his wisecracks and Chandra kept me smiling watching her scream and suffer. This is a must-have for any ZFX fan, IMO.

Squealer is a favorite of mine. Doe-eyed blonde Rebecca Montgomery is tormented by the big football star with clothespins, whips and a cool drowning torture finale. It's been admittedly a long time since I've seen it, but I've always listed this one quite highly.

Future Shock: Three babes, two suffer electric shock torture, and the third, Victoria Vixxen, is put through the most extensive body clothespin torture in ZFX history. Also has at least one memorable rape scene.

Alien Probe: Holly Weston was great, and this one has just her being tormented by Rick in a sci-fi classic. Entertaining from beginning to end.

Gangland/Gangland 2: Kerri Downs being tortured by first Nick Long, then Rick comes along to help in the sequel. Part 2 also includes the most incredible cum shot of all time. Has to be seen to be believed.

The Reporter 2: Gangstarr: As much as I loved the original Reporter, the sequel actually surpasses it. Lisa Kinkaid has a good scene, but the real star is screamin' Monica Moore, suffering over and over at the hands of Dunhill and company. Another one that's impossible to watch without breaking into a big smile :)

Keep these in mind next time you're looking for a ZFX flick, and don't want to wait for the new stuff. Eventually, these will all be available on DVD, and the South of the Border series is next, according to Rick.

BTW: Just out of curiosity: Is there anyone on this board who did NOT like CPU???

Damien

It's also interesting how many of the older shows you mention -- Squealer, Future Shock, AP, GL, CPU...there is something in the older ones that I miss. Maybe I just found them refreshing in the early 90's...but they seemed innovative then, the way he incorporated things like ordinary kitchen implements and everyday settings. I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the difference.

The difference in grading philosophy might be that for me, the Elaine scenes are so hot as to tilt the curve away from the Lisa scenes (midrange) or the other girls scenes (that, quite frankly did not register with me at all.) Another way of putting it would be to picture SOB-7 as a short film with only the Elaine scenes included. After the issue of length was addressed, what would be the grade for that hypothetical film? It would have to be higher than B- in my book. By that criteria, the Lisa scenes could just be viewed as a bonus to an already great film.

That said, the very fact that you can objectivly rate ZFX movies by their own standards as opposed to nearly everything else is impressive (in other words, a D- ZFX film would be B to almost every other BDSM production) and I always look forward to your (more grounded) opinions as opposed to my generally more enthusiastic takes.

I'm very curious about "Cut" if you ever get your copy (If I were producing said film, I would rush you a copy in hopes of what sales a positive review could generate from this site). The trailer is interesting, but does anyone know if there is any stripping of the victim involved? Trust me, enquiring minds want to know...

IMO, SOB-7 had three great scenes: the upside-down suspension torture scene, the suspension scene, and the enema/electric shock scene. Those are three for my highlights tape, and maybe a solid 30-40 minutes of genuine classic moments. For your $35, I'd say you get your money's worth. And that's one way of looking at it.

Now, SOB-7 was about 90 minutes long. So that's about half the tape that's really excellent, IMO. But did it sustain it? I think the Lisa scenes had potential but didn't quite deliver for one reason or another. I really, really wanted the Ashley scenes to succeed, especially the second one. Number one, I think Ashley Blake is the best-looking of the three girls in the movie. She rings my bell. Number two, I love electric shock scenes. They are one of my favorite torture scenes, and ZFX does it about as good as anyone out there. In this case, as a director, Rick did everything right as far as filming it, editing it, tying her correctly, making sure she looked good, etc. But he didn't direct her to scream convincingly, or else she ignored his directions and the scene didn't deliver. Sometimes you can't help it. Sometimes the girl just can't act. It's hard enough to find beautiful girls to do these kinds of tapes; if you find someone who can perform like a Penelope Pace or an Elaine Payton, you're quite lucky. Ashley showed me in her two movies that she's a pretty face who can't quite pull off a convincing performance. She was the weakest link in both Parts 6 and 7.

But I digress. So here we have about 5 scenes that were excellent (all of Elaine's work), and about 5 scenes that were lacking in one way or another. Like I noted in my review, the scale went up and down depending on who was onscreen. How about a movie like, say, Forced Entry, or SOB-4, that sustained that high level throughout the entire tape? Both those tapes got A's. I could watch any section of either of those movies and not be disappointed. If I took the DVD of SOB-7 and randomly flipped chapters and came upon either of Ashley's scenes, or that horrid ending, could I say the same thing here? I would say no. Thus the justification for the lower grade (which isn't really bad, either. I don't think a B- is anything to hang your head about). And don't forget, I would still strongly recommend this one. I just said there's at least 30-40 minutes of excellent footage here. That's more than you'll get in most movies of this type, so order away, if you haven't already.

More on CUT the movie: Well, the producers haven't taken your advice on rushing me a copy, so far. I wrote them yesterday about the delay, and...no reply. It's been longer than the 2-4 weeks they advertised so far, but we'll give them a bit longer. It's not like I have any other choice but to wait, anyway. In answer to your question, I don't believe the victim gets stripped, if either trailer is any indication. It's not a hardcore bondage film, but I'm one of those rare birds who actually doesn't require nudity, although it's always a huge bonus, of course. I even like mainstream television bondage scenes, and you never get nudity with those. I just want the girl to be cute, the bondage tight, for her to be put into some kind of danger and for the scene to be believable. Based on the trailers I saw, particularly the first one, this one appears to deliver the goods on all four counts. I want to see the whole movie to find out if they truly pull it off. I'm trying to be patient here :)

One of the things about Forbidden Video that seemed smart (I can't order from them anymore, since I'm not home to sign for the frigging package) was the way they capitalized on using Gauge (sp) when she was available. Rick has taken advantage of Lisa's popularity for years, but it wouldn't hurt to have a couple talented hotties to keep the variety going.

Peace

And here's some very good news. Elaine Payton is still around and Rick said he is contemplating shooting some stuff with her this fall. Of course, who knows when that footage may eventually be released, but it's still optimistic news.

He also noted that the DVD conversions have been taking up his time, but he still really wants to continue to produce new material so he's trying to finish the conversions as quickly as possible and move on.

Granted, probably lot of repeat visitors, and don't know exactly when the counter advances, I know it's not everytime a visitor hits the page. Probably some time lapse per IP address that hits the page, could be per hour, could be per day. Fairly significant number of visitors in 3 months anyway.

Hi folks:

Been a little since I posted here and just thought I'd drop a few comments into the gimp fishbowl and see what nibbles I get.

I can sympathize with those who wish Rick were releasing his most current stuff first. But from a producer perspective, you gotta see why one might not. Rick, like myself, is in business for himself. He pays his own benefits, retirement, etc.

I have a shitload of stuff in the can too. And that's good because I feel safe. If I get sick and can't work for a month or two I can still update my site and put out product. It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling... ;)

The downside is figuring out how to release it. My planning is a month or two out from my releases. I edit, ship stuff to the lab, run off dvd's, write the advert material, etc. When you see my product hit the internet "shelves", I am not even thinking about that tape anymore. I am two tapes beyond it -- or I BETTER be!

If some model hits big, it would take me four to five months to capitalize on that knowledge.

Also different people like different things. Person/Group A might go apeshit with joy if I release five videos in a row with hypothetical model, Luverly TitePuddy. But Group B is sure to bitch.

Another issues is that it ain't just the model! I will honestly admit that I have material I think is hot and material I'm less hapy with. That's the nature of the work. My all time best selling tape starring Luverly (to keep her dignity intact- heh) has sold more copies than the three or four other tapes I've released with her.

I do my best to shoot all winners all the time, but the truth is there are hundreds of variables. What makes a good shoot? Preparation; mental/physical health the morning of the shoot - the model's, mine, my assistants; the chemsitry on the day (this varies a bit, even with model's I've shot many times); creativity; feasability (A new position that "works" the first time I try it gives me a super charge -- can I get a haleluiah my brothers!); the model's flexibility; her mood; her attitude; my mood, etc; is the model about to get her period or has it come early; will the cameras/lights/props work, or will something break in the middle of the shoot (it happens, sadly); is it raining (some models have old fractures that swell). This is a bullshit list that lightly scratches the surface.

I do what I can to control what I can. The rest I cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I shot today, for an example, and tried something new. We spent at least 30-45 minutes trying to get some string around something slippery and it just refused. Finally had to sit and rethink the whole idea and felt I got lucky enough to come up with a clamp scenario that was pretty cool. I'll be thinking about that string a lot -- let me tell ya. I have a dream...

I know when a tape won't light the world on fire, but I've put out a lot of tapes that I personally have thought are my "strongest/best" stuff and watched them receive only middlin' attention.

So how do you know what works...? Every one knows a loser, but opinions about the good stuff are very individual.

I can't even read my core audience, so however obvious it might seem to you which tapes of mine (or Rick's, or anyohne's) are "great", it's much less obvious to me before they go up for sale.

So all I can do is to try and mix things up a bit and hope that on average, I'm satsifying the bulk of my core fans most of the time. I suspect Rick is doing his best to do the same. If all of you GIMPER's gave the each tape the same A or F grade, it would be a hell of a lot easier, let me tell ya.

The other thing is, you don't have to go "in order" when you release stuff, but I hope I'm improving all the time. I have some old stuff that may never make it to video because I'm dissatisfied with where I was when I shot it. The models were great and I was happy at the time, but I've moved on.

So I try to stay current enough to keep folks happy, but not so current that I completlely lose interest in the older stuff I've shot.

The above has been a pretty honest post to a group of people who are serious enough fans that I feel OK sharing this much with.

You all think I have about the greatest job in the world. And you know what? I agree with you. But it's still hard work. If I'm having a ball shooting it, you probably won't have a ball watching it. I look at boobs and pussies and asses in post production. At the shoot I look at safety and lights, cameras and compositions. If that weren't the case, my stuff would tend to, well... suck!

Well, as always I crawl out of my lurker's den and don't shoot a quick bullet into the conversation... I get out the AK47 and blast away. Hopefully the above was interesting reading...

curious

Thanx for pointing out these two sites. One reason I visit this board often is that I don't have much time to surf anymore. I get neat tips from here and check things out.

Brutal Violence looked kind of interesting to me. ArmyTales less so. I like there to be lots of bondage in my fanatasies and while armytales has interesting themes, there's just not enough rope for my tastes.

But these sites don't sell videos. Media clips are cool, but I want the DVD or video. To me a low to medium bit rate clip that is, at most, 1/4 screen size, pixelated and choppy, doesn't thrill me. I produce them and I do download some and (thankfully) people like them, but personally I want full quality video. If you read the posts here it is pretty clear that the GIMPER's are not casual surfers, but video collectors. I might check out a site, but I spend my own "fanboy" money on stuffs that comes to my house in a box. I think that's the profile of the average GIMPer.

Finally, Ralphus, I too ordered CUT. Sadly the longer preview was gone, but based on the little I saw and your comments I was intrigued. I hope we get the damn DVD's.

I can easily wonder why it might take a week to ten days to get a product out (though I shoot for 48 hours with my distributor). However I think if you are selling something, it should show up within two weeks. Otherwise, stop selling it until you get your inventory problems solved.

We'll chat about CUT if/when we get to see it. I'm pretty certain we will -- eventually...

~Dan

It's also interesting that sometimes you don't know what you've got and how people will react to it until after the tape gets released. Although Rick himself noted on the board in early January (shortly after he shot the Elaine scenes for SOB-7) that he had shot some "incredible stuff" to quote his own words. I'm sure that after viewing the rough, unedited footage, he had to know it was damn good. It sure turned out that way when it was all put together six months later and the movie was released.

I have to agree with you on the waiting time for CUT. I'm now into my 5th week of waiting and all my e-mails have been ignored, or at least have gone unanswered. If there's a delay, at least practice good customer service and let the consumer know what's going on. It's just basic common courtesy.

Curious: I'm with Dan as far as not being real impressed with the Armytales site. Looks like a straight rape-type theme, but the only bondage picture I saw was of a guy tied up. BLEAH! There are lots of online sites out there that do rape fantasy, and I'm leery of them because often times there's a fine line between 'rape" and just straight fucking. IMO, if she's not tied, it may as well be consensual.

I'm relatively new to online paysites, but I took a chance on Insex for 3 months at the start of the year. Insex has lots of really unique stuff, but after a while, it became a chore constantly downloading thousands of pics and I didn't really enjoy it. It became work to me, and I still haven't really looked at half the stuff I downloaded because I was in such a hurry to grab as much as I could in my three months. It just burned me out. I'd much prefer to spend the same amount of money and pay for an Insex DVD and keep that, but of course, PD won't release any of his stuff to consumers in a format that's worthwhile. I don't like the 3-inch screen either and don't think it's worthy of his work.

On the other hand, I'm actually a member at Brutal Violence. Yup, I even after the Insex bad experience, I decided to try one again, but I made sure to go a whole year this time so I wouldn't feel rushed and pressured into doing a mass download in a short period of time. This way, I can relax and grab stuff at my leisure.

And how are they? Well, there's not nearly as much material as Insex, but the reason I like them is because they are nonconsensual. That's a big plus in their favor. They currently have about 35-40 original movies on their site, and they seem to release a new one about every few weeks. They run about 15-30 minutes long. Some of their original movies are better than others. One that I liked was called "Cross-Questioning" where an attractive redhead gets tied to a chair, given electrical shocks, burned with a blowtorch and finally raped. Another good one was "The Gentleman", in which a beautiful brunette is grabbed, tied to a fence and given a vigorous whipping, then wrapped in a huge sheet of plastic wrap and finally raped in the pussy and ass.

Even though their stuff appears to be foreign (maybe German?) they sometimes have the Insex problem where occasionally their models are tattooed dirtybutts, although the majority of them are pretty, IMO. All their movies have at least some kind of bondage, and include hardcore sex/rape scenes. I'm relatively happy with what I've found so far.

What a great post. Let me see if I can be as articulate as you in discussing what I think is a fairly universal but rarely accurately described preference.

I think we "collectors" need "plot". Now, what does that mean? I'm not talking about War and Peace here. The flik doesn't need to haver 12 actors and various locales etc. to work. I think what viewers mean by "plot" is just a coherent flow, where even the most basic, simple narrative flows and is coherent and not jarring.

Have you seen Rick's flik "Forced Entry"? Most of us here agree that's one of his best. IMO the reason is that it flowed, man! Guy breaks into house. Guy sneaks upstairs and ties up girl. Guy sneaks downstairs and ties up other girl. Guy takes turns playing with girls individually and together. Guy leaves. Game over.

That's it, that's all you need. Even the simplest plot is fascinating, breathes life into a story. But it's gotta hang together.

This doesn't mean that everything has to be filmed sequentially and you can't use old footage. It's just that the old footage needs to be woven in so that it makes sense.

Here's another example, a Rick flik I really like and SOMEDAY will post a review of here, Tiffany Twisted. There is an obvious use of leftover old footage in that one, but, IMO it flows together and it works and doesn't disrupt the flow. Tiffany is being followed and hides from her pursuer(s) in a warehouse. There's some weird stuff in that warehouse, including bondage drawings and A/V equipment. She turns on a machine and sees an old flik of Alison Parish being tortured on a bed. Her reactions while she watches this are priceless.

Now, that's a good way to use old footage, weave it into the current plot. Another example is that Part Time Two movie. It really only consists of a bunch of unrelated bondage scenes strung together one after one. But there is some explanatory footage where the girl is explaining all the crazy things she had to do when she agreed to be a sex slave for money for some guy. So, again, had the explanation not been there and the movie just consisted of pasted together scenes, IMO I don't think it would have been as compelling a movie. But the fact that there was a simple story tying it all together made it work.

Moral of the story? Don't just bind your models. Bind your movies also.

I haven't seen this new Rick flik. But from the comments here it sounds like it used old footage in a disjointed way, disrupting the spell which the viewers were trying to immerse themselves in.

zee-ef-ex

I'm glad to see that several of you enjoyed my post.

zee-ef-ex, I was interested in your attmept to clarify what makes a film great. And you may be right as to what appeals to GIMPers. Rick's videos certainly have much more plot than almost any other B&D flicks I have seen. And the plot is consistently a bigger component in Rick's flix.

Oddly enough, though, for me, plot is what fast forward buttons were made for. If I am not seeing an intense bondage/torture/sex scene, I'm zipping through the material as fast as I can manage it.

That said I must agree that Forced Entry is one of my favorite ZFXers of all time. That and Cheerleaders of Perilous U 2, and a couple of his SOB series. However Forced Entry is the only one in this list where the plot is a big part of why I like the video, and I only skim the plot even there. For the others it's the individual bondage set-ups and the models he's used that intrigue me. (Rick, care to send Ms. Pace my email addy? ;})

I'm not sure why this is. It may be in part that I have been intensely into the bondage thing as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure I was having serious bondage/sm fantasies when I was about six or seven -- long before I even was sure of all the diffs between men and women. My oldest memory is getting off to seeing Vicki Vale in bondage it Batman. I've found the issue, it was published around 1956! (I didn't buy it, my older bro did, I'm not that old!).

I was strolling through adult book stores long before I was 18. They got tired of throwing me out. I was buying HOM mags before Trautman/Whitman showed up and remember when his first pix began to appear. Man that guy was the founding father as far as I'm concerned -- and most producer's I've talked with agree.

So by the time I was 25 I had already seen thousands of bondage pix and hundreds of hours of video (I had an 8mm projector since I was 14). The long and the short of it is that I may be quite jaded.

Most models can't act very convincingly. Hell, I can't act very convincingly! ;) The "plots" I saw in the vids I purchased seemed to be bullshit that the bondage was grafted on to. So by the time I became a producer, I was pretty much sold on the concept that plot is the crap that gets in the way.

Here's the plot that's always in my mind for my product. I see pretty girl. I want pretty girl. I take pretty girl. I have fun with pretty girl. The very lack of plot is my plot, so to speak. Why is she being tortured? Because I want her to be. End of story.

As a fan, I want nothing to get in the way of the "good stuff". But the fact I ordered Cut shows I do like plot. I just don't buy it in anyone's bondage video product.

If I can't really buy that the plot is coming across convincingly, then I want it out of my way.

I would like to make a plot driven bondage film. I think I could make a pretty good one. But it would be the last one I ever made. After it I would probably need to declare bankruptcy.

To me, for it to work requires a "script", story boards, costumes, locations, good acting, a production schedule, a sound engineer, post production sound studio, foley artists, performers who will be there all 8-10 days of production and return to loop their dialog, special effects supervisors, four or five technical shooting assistants, props that are built specifically to the scenario, etc. Hey, maybe I could make it on the cheap -- shot on digital video -- for only about $45-$65,000. If I get lucky.

You see I am a serious movie buff. Let's talk about how D.W. Griffith defined the language of cinema and took it out of the realm of theater (too bad he was such a reactionary racist). You want to know about Russian cinema's influence during the 1910's & 20's. We can discuss it. German expressionism and it's influence on art design in pre-war German cinema, let's chat. Hollywood ascendency and the studio system/machine of the forties and fifties, fine. The French new wave and it's influence and redefinition of movie making - that's cool. How the new wave led to the first of the great american revisionist directors of the late 60's and early 70's, guys like Peckinpaw, Scorscese, Coppola; the rise of independently produced financed films of the late 80's and early 90's -- whatever.

I watch the bondage set-ups and supply my own fantasies as I watch them. Only one out of a hundred big budget Hollywood movies "works" for me on every level. There are years where I won't describe a single released film as truly "good". There ain't no way a bondage flick will sell me on it's plot. Damn I'd love to try it, but I don't want to sell pencils on the street corners afterwards.

Maybe this is my blind spot. That very well may be. I have a new assistant who is trying to introduce more plot into our shoots. I'm giving it a shot, as long as the plot gets the hell out of the way pretty quick. I think this board probably embraces plot more than most bondage consumers. After all, that is Rick's forte. It's definitely one of the most unique things about a ZFX flick. This could be why the core audience of this board and my core audience only overlaps about 15-25% (just a guess).

I started a yahoo group to get feedback, but the folks there didn't provide the kind of discussion found here. That's why I hang out here on the GIMP. But even though I feel this group is weighted to "plot guys", I would still love to see some discussion of zee-ef-ex's post. Is what I like unique? Is plot the holy graille in a bondage flick? Or is it just window dressing - getting in the way of what you really want to see.

Ralphus, if you read between the lines above, you may understand why I am such a big insex fan. What he does is so intense that it feels non-consensual in my head. I know, absolutely, that's not true. I've shot insex models after all. But if I don't buy the plots anyway -- his stuff provides the kind of visuals I build my own story around. And that story is "I like, I take, I torture." To me it's the cruelest fantasy of all. You give me the image -- I'll fill in the backstory!

I will probably go back to lurking soon. I love when discussion on this board gets serious. Sadly participating actively is a luxury. I shouldn't be writing this, I should be editing/finalizing my next vid or prepping my next site update!!! ;)

But I'll see what all of this discussion stirs up. You may even tempt me into continued postings!

Oh, kind of a ps: I take the comments on this board seriously. Scribbler you will be happy to know that I am shooting less "dutch angle" shots these days. I thought you zinged me a bit, but I still had to admit your points were valid, even if my bruised ego required a massage. Of course, if you peruse my last post you'll realize it may be a while before you get to see less of them. And Ralphus; in the meantime I am trying to be sensitive to your whiplash as I edit the vids. The dutch shots are still there, but I am trying to group them so that you get to tilt your head one way at a time!!! heh! ~Dan

Like Dan mentioned, ZFX employs plot more than most bondage producers. And the absolute champs are the Japanese. They spend lots of money and really try to tell a story, not just a brief setup. Some of the Clover's Night tapes I've seen, for instance, are masterpieces in taking you every step of the way, and of course, they always pay off and the girl gets what's coming to her. And the Japanese really know how to tie their women and dish out the rape and torture.

Speaking of which, Baronorca: Go check out the GIMP Links page above and click on Video Mayhem for reasonably priced Japanese tapes.

Cut: Looks to me like this is a project by some film students. I hope you get your DVDs, but if it's already 5 weeks and no response to emails, don't hold your breath. Either they have more orders than they can handle, or the film isn't really done, or anything could be the problem.

Quantity Discounts: Gonzo mentioned...

don't you think your loyal GIMP members deserve a discount? I can think of half a dozen titles that I would love to have, but it would be an expensive proposition at full price. Any chance on a volume discount for GIMP members?

Personally, I think this is a great idea. Adobe bundles software, why not ZFX bundles. Doesn't have to be just for GIMP members, can be for people who buy direct from the ZFX store. ZFX has a bunch of series stuff that would make great bundles I would think (all in series for price of one! buy now and save!) Also could bundle by 'best of Lisa' or something. Or if not bundles, then quantity discounts all by itself is a good idea. Cause Gonzo is right, it adds up fast. If DVDs are $30 (I don't know that they are just making a guess) then 5 is $150, so what about 5 for $100, 1/3 off deal. $75; half off deal!

Sub-grading of Videos: After SOB7 got the overall grade of B-, but then hearing Elaines scenes which amounts to about 45min would get an A all by themselves, I'm thinkin' maybe subgrades would be helpful. Like SOB7 = B-, Elaines scenes 45min = A , Lisa scenes = C, Ashley scenes = D, or something. High Strung got a B, which is a little high from my point of view, for me overall High Strung = C, brandy's scene (the 1st half) = A-, Lisa's scene (2nd half) = D+. Just a thought, if not too time consuming. Also depends on structure of video.

Silent Ashley: Haven't seen SOB7, but additional audio -- screams, moans, even dialog if her lips are offscreen -- can be dubbed in after the fact. Pretty easy to do. Lot of the moans you hear in vanilla porn is overdubbed. Maybe something for Rick to consider.

Dan:

Scribbler you will be happy to know that I am shooting less "dutch angle" shots these days. I thought you zinged me a bit, but I still had to admit your points were valid, even if my bruised ego required a massage. Of course, if you peruse my last post you'll realize it may be a while before you get to see less of them.

Sorry if I 'zinged' you! I do try to be more tactful these days, tho I still tend to say what I really think. Steve probably hates me now cause I pointed out his press release. Oh well.

If you have Final Cut Pro or AfterEffects or other nonlinear editor or composite software, you can try various things to fix those overly tilted dutch tilt shots. You can try rotating them straight. But because of the 3:4 aspect ratio, you'll have black bands or areas of some sort on the sides, and some of the image will be offscreen. Then you'll have a few things you can try depending on content. You can zoom out so the whole image shows, but the black areas will get bigger and the image may be too small. You can leave picture size as is, or zoom in, and move the whole image down or up if that's the more important content, or you can do slow panning of the content depending on what you want to see. If you don't like the black areas, you can add a lower video track of a still image from other part of video and it'll act as background, maybe blur it a lot, or some, if that looks better. Since you shoot on DV, if you zoom in until the black areas are gone or mostly gone, the image shouldn't look to bad, and you can always try different image enhancing techniques to sharpen or smooth it.

You see I am a serious movie buff. Let's talk about how D.W. Griffith defined the language of cinema...

Did you take a film appreciation class recently, buy a history of film book! Actually, I think it's cool if you did. More adult content producers should study the medium.

To me, for it to work requires a "script", story boards, costumes, locations, good acting, a production schedule, a sound engineer, post production sound studio, foley artists, performers who will be there all 8-10 days of production and return to loop their dialog, special effects supervisors, four or five technical shooting assistants, props that are built specifically to the scenario, etc. Hey, maybe I could make it on the cheap -- shot on digital video -- for only about $45-$65,000. If I get lucky.

Well, you know, there's a whole realm of possibilities in-between what you do now and this proposed bondage indie production. You could make a seriously good bondage video for a whole lot less. Aside from the production days (shooting the video), all the pre and post production stuff can be done these days on a decent A/V computer system. Depends what the ultimate goal is I suppose. If its for the adult, mostly male, market wanting "turn on, wank off" material, a lot of these expenses would be overkill.

BDSM and force video plots: Of course we've had various discussions on this over time, but who wants to go searching the archives, so at the risk of repeating myself: I think plots in and of themselves do not 'make' a BDSM or force video (I think a variety of things go into that). Plots though, done well, can be an asset (like anything else done well); done poorly, as they often are, can actually hurt the video. So what's the best course IMO with plotting these videos: use minimal plot, use recognizable characters or interesting characters you make up (avoid generic non-descript boring ones), can use the same plot sometimes but don't use the same plot for every video, wrap it up in one video don't stretch it over multitapes, use appropriate sets for the stories. Easy aye!

Oddly enough, though, for me, plot is what fast forward buttons were made for.

And that's the great test isn't it, of whether what's up there on the screen is good or not; whether it's got your eyes glued fast with attention to the scene, completely absorbed by it, excited, or has you uneasy, yawning, somewhat bored, and even annoyed: that strong desire to hit the fast forward button. This can be the fault of how plot is handled in some videos, but to me, it's mostly just bad editing, bad pacing. Too much footage, that should be on the cutting room floor, is in the video. I've said this before: A strong 30 minute BDSM or force video that you want to see over and over again beats hands down a 90 minute bloated video that you aren't all that excited to sit through again ever. And the cool thing about a strong 30 or 45 minute video is you can put 3 or 2 of them on one DVD/tape (like that's ever going to happen!)

On the other side of this coin tho are the moments that go by too fast, as in when any article of clothing is removed. These moments are often poorly shot or go by way to quick for me. Slow motion isn't the answer here (tho might work sometimes depending), but I leave it to the producers to figure out how to make the most of these moments. There are ways. I guess this would be the rewind button test (damn that was quick, let's see that again, where's my slo-mo!)

The product manager wrote me back and apologized profusely, saying there was a flood in Northeast Ohio and they had lost most of their product. And I was assured that I will definitely be receiving my copy by July 26, 2003, which is tomorrow. So, we'll see. It explains the delay, anyway, and I'm confident it should be here soon. Hey, all this waiting just makes the anticipation all the more greater, right?

Scribbler: Great comments, and always appreciated. You should post here more often because you add a lot to the board.

To all you lurkers out there -- and we know you're out there because we count the number of hits -- Quit lurking and speak up! You don't have to write six paragraphs, but step forward and contribute, because your opinions are important, too.

I agree with Scribber, and I have long posted on this board, about slowing down the action. For him, he likes to linger over the removing-of-the-clothing scenes. Me, I like to linger over just about anything, the final click of the last handcuff coming into place, the slow sliding of the penis gag into the mouth, the removing of her clothes, whatever. Part of the problem is that the pace of filming and editing is very different from the pace of viewing. I think the director's best art is getting into the mindset of the viewer and the viewer's pace. So instead of it being, "Okay, let's do scene 25, this is the one where we tie her to the bed and gag her", it is instead, "Okay, let's do scene 25, this is the gagging scene". Make it all about a slowed down, artful, good gagging scene. The first "scene 25" I described could probably be broken down into 25 different scenes of its own. And if each, or at least some of those, was filmed slowly and lovingly, the film would be so much better. Maybe practical issues would get in the way, but I'd like to think if I was a director I could make an entire movie out of scene 25 (tie her to the bed and gag her). I hope that makes sense.

Dan and Ralphus, you make excellent points about how we all bring our own fantasies to scenes. One of my all time favorites is the bondage sequence with Jamie Gillis and Constance Money in Barbara Broadcast. It still goes by far too fast for my taste, but it is nevertheless slowly and malevolently paced. Very well filmed, a good template. But one of my favorite parts is also that Constance Money, even though not gagged, says nothing except a few moans or grunts while she is being sexually tortured. Like you were saying, Dan, I bring my own plot inside my head to this story, for me, that she is a deaf mute coed who can't speak, and this enhances the film for me, adds another element to her bondage (hemmed in by her physical limitations).

It seems oftentimes that "good" scnes or fliks happen almost by accident. I'll be watching a mainstream flik, and the girl will be on her back and arching her back while being teased down below, with her arms outstretched over her head and her hands hidden undert the pillow. If the position she is in lasts long enough, I don't even need bondage, I can supply my own, in my head imagining that her hands remain stretched up like that because she is tied. If tied is implied long enough, or any other feature any of us like is, then it's amazing how strong the imagination can be in supplying the rest.

But it is SO jarring when the scene you were lingering over is cut short, and most of the time, it is. The girl suddenly takes her hands out from under the pillow and hugs her lover's/tormenter's head while he is kissing her belly. The illusion that she is bound and being tormented vanishes in an instant. Those crashes are so disappointing for a viewer.

But when it's done well and there is no crash, but the scene lingers, those 2 minutes or 10 minutes of a movie can be worth 10 hours of a movie which keeps shattering the illusions, I agree.

I have no knowledge of film theory. I just know that sudden disruptions to the flow of a movie ruin it, and, seem to be the norm more often than not. That's why I haven't adopted DVDs, since I can't record them. I, too, am disappointed in most movies I see. It might take renting 10 pornos to find 1 good one that's a keeper.

I don't mean any offense by this, but in one way I see the job of filming bondage fliks, at least in terms of this pacing issue, as 10 times easier than filming something mainstream. You've got the model tied up, for godssake! If she's bound and gagged, is it really that hard to linger over the applying of the nipple clamps - you can take all the time in the world on that, right?

A lot to think about, I know, and easy for us armchair quarterbacks.

zee-ef-ex

I guess I do have a plot then as you describe it! ;) And lord knows I spend much time filming the women in their ultimate bondage positions! So I would think you like my videos (at least most of the time).

I try and linger over scenes as long as I can, but there are two limiting factors. First is simple $$$. The model's time is the most expensive element during a shoot. The second is that the bulk of the stuff in my videos is very real. The model is usually very uncomfortable by the time the nipple clamps (etc.) are going on. For the combination of these reasons I need to move pretty briskly.

I do the best I can on this...

Scribbler:

You and zee-ef-ex are probably both right that my long post was a tad over the top. My secret ambition to make a movie that could be shown at Sundance or somewhere is showing through... ;)

Of course there are levels of movie making between grabbing a camera and hoping for the best to attempting to make T3!

As to editing I used to use the Casablanca and then the KRON stand-alone editing appliances exclusively. Now I am using Pinnacle's Studio 7. These don't have the capabilities you described.

I have purchased Pinnacle's Edition which seems very robust, but I am still struggling with the learning curve and some bugs. Still I hope to edit DH44 on this device. As always time is the limiting factor. What I would like to acheive in both filming and editing needs to be weighed against the costs. If I only put out two videos a year I would very quickly go broke.

~Dan

The long wait on the independent film "CUT" turned out to be well worth it. Based on the trailer I had seen on the site, I was expecting good things. And CUT delivers big time. It's clearly a student film, shot in natural light with shaky, handheld camerawork and sometimes jarring editing. Too often, the blaring rock soundtrack drowns out a bit of the dialogue and makes it hard to hear what the characters are saying. But its amateur style actually benefits the whole production and gives it a "cinema verite" feeling that makes you believe that what you are seeing is really happening. I don't know whether that was the actual choice of the filmmaker or just a happy accident, but it works in this case.

The story revolves around a group of college students who intend to get their revenge on cute little Jody, played by Angie Morris. The reason? She's the daughter of the college dean who got the students suspended for infractions earlier. "She was probably the one who told on us anyway," one of them deduces.

"Exactly," the other replies. "The bitch deserves some reckoning!"

Mike (Jesse Sorrells), the leader of the group, is described as a "sick bastard", so we know what kind of sadistic fun he has in mind for his victim. Mike's sexy stoner girlfriend, Gretchen (Cynthia Zimmerman) has a reason to get even with Jody, since her dad got her kicked off the swim team, and she's supporting her man all the way. She calls up Jody and invites her over to a "party", setting the trap. Little does Jody know that she's going to be the guest of honor when she gets there.

She's greeted by a camera thrust into her face as she enters the room. They're going to get all this on tape. She's quickly grabbed by Mike. Gretchen smashes a bottle over Jody's head, knocking her to the floor. When she comes to, she starts screaming, but a well-placed knife to her throat shuts her up.

As the others drink beer and laugh at her, Jody is tied to a chair with her hands behind her. "Know what a snuff flick is?" Mike asks her. "Well, you're about to find out!" He stuffs a black cloth in her mouth to gag her, tying it behind her neck.

The reason this movie works so well is the sense of fun the students have in watching their prisoner suffer. They are clearly enjoying themselves and constantly pepper her with nasty, teasing comments that give the film a real sadistic edge.

They force open Jody's mouth and pour water laced with Roofies down her throat, making her choke. Then they put a large tub of water at her feet and wire up her toes with connections from a car battery. They force her to put her feet up over the water and hold them there. Her legs cramp as she has to hold this position for 10 minutes to avoid being shocked. But Mike gets tired of waiting and forces her feet down into the water, and she's given an electrified ride while the others laugh and cheer.

The guys make a run to the store to buy more beer and some condoms to use on their victim later, leaving Jody alone with Gretchen. Gretchen smokes some dope and then gets distracted looking for some Jack Daniels in the kitchen. She doesn't notice that Jody has worked out of her ropes and escaped, until she returns to find her missing.

But a plot twist eventually allows Jody to be recaptured again, which leads up to an intense scene where they drag her into the basement and chain her arms above her head to a rafter in the ceiling. She's clad only in a sheer, light pink bra and panties, which gives the illusion of nudity. They tape her mouth shut with white tape and gloat over their prized catch. Then they have fun torturing her with a knife, leaving long red slashes against her skin. After removing her gag, they further humiliate her by spitting beer in her face and intensify her pain by spraying pine cleaner on her open wounds. Jody screams her head off and then suddenly slumps in her bonds, leaving the gang panicked as they realize something has gone terribly wrong.

That's as far as I can go without spoiling the ending, but stick with this one to the very end. CUT is not for the faint of heart, but for those who can take it, it packs an emotional wallop. Director C.P. Quiros, who also plays one of the students, has made a taut little film (running about an hour) that never lets up. The performances are solid all around, particularly Jesse Sorrells and Cynthia Zimmerman, who bring a scary realism to their roles, and Angie Morris is perfect as the sweet, innocent victim. The DVD extras include outtakes and an alternate version of the harrowing basement scene, so we get to see Jody tied up and tortured one more time, and I'm always in favor of extras like that! I could see this film becoming a cult favorite as more and more people discover it. And remember, you read it here first. My grade: A-

Nope, no actual nudity in the film, but you can see through her underwear when it gets wet, so there's not much left to the imagination there.

It is a cool movie, and for $19.95 it's a good bargain. The footage here is hotter than most commercial bondage tapes, IMO, despite the lack of nudity. Remember how I always give tapes extra points for convincing, threatening dialogue? That's what this film does best. The atmosphere is that it's a big party and the entertainment is watching this girl suffer, and everyone is having a good time joining in. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

I appreciate any and all comments regarding this film and welcome anyone to post reviews on my website.

I haven't had much luck with people in the area with this genre, but who cares, I really enjoyed making the film. Step up and get your copy today!

Yeah, you're right about there being extra footage in the director's cut, but it's only two short shots, a total of about 4 seconds in length. However, those 4 seconds technically made the bondage scene into a bondage rape scene, since in one of the shots Woody Harrelson is fucking his captive in a standing position while her wrists are still tied to her ankles.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS RAPE SCENE

The extra footage goes by too fast, so I looped it on my highlights tape. It's still a real nice mainstream scene.

When the movie first came out, they described a scene about there being a tied-up girl in the hotel room in the newspaper review of the movie. And perv that I am, I rushed out to the theater that very day :)

Regarding Monica Moore and Christina Anderson: Into big-chested screamers, are you? Me, too. I'd venture to guess that both are gone. Monica most assuredly is gone, since she's from the Chandra era (I think they were friends), and we're going back at least 4 years since Rick last shot her. I believe Christina is a Minnesota girl, and Rick usually does most of his work in Florida. She wasn't in the last 2 SOB flicks that were filmed primarily in Minnesota, but only Rick can answer whether she's still available to work. Let's hope so.

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/underworld/

For those of us that like ZFX horror and sci-fi, this looks really promising. All the corsets, leather and PVC don't hut, either!

Peace.

Scribbler: Didnt notice you (kinda) wrote the title before me. Didnt mean to steal your wind! As for me, well, my name is Danny and I own a few VHS tapes... 20 or so... ZFX wise, I own SOB 2,3,4 & 7. (7 just got on DVD) I also have Supermax, Vacuum & Reporter. I think ZFX have the best bondage tapes. Trying to get more on DVD.

The others I have are Nightmare of Discipline, Bad Girls get Punished, Hard Whips for Soft Bodies and Queens of Mean (TWIST productions) and arent bad at all. I also got a thing for Summer Knight. Maybe Rick Masters can get her to star in one of his future movies?

Others I own: Cinderella in Chains, White Slavers (LBO), Party of the Damned (BonVue), Prison World (Vivid Raw) and I few others I forget. Anyone wish to comment on these?

Danny

Ralphus - sorry about taking so long to get back to you and the board. I haven't gotten to check my e-mail in a while and I'm amazed your mail was still there with all the SPAM in my box, bleh. :P

Anyway, the following link has the "listed" e-mails of the people at Toe Tag Pictures, but it looks like Fred Vogel's (the guy that directed/made August Underground) is no longer listed. I'm guessing he had it removed as he was getting a TON of e-mail interest on August Underground.

http://www.toetagpictures.com/seance_IE.asp

The site does have August Underground listed as being available for sale for 20 dollars but I'm not finding a link that I can click on to order it. I would e-mail one of them to try to find out how to order it, but e-mail is a bit sketchy for me at the moment. I still have the address they gave me previously to mail in payment, but since I'm going to be in and out for a bit, getting that is on hold for now. I REALLY want to get a copy of this however.

Thanks much for the review of "Cut" sounds pretty decent, and I may have to spring for it once things have settled down. Although, I have to say after reading your review of Cut and the reviews of August Underground, it seems a bit "timid." Still sounds good, I'm a huge fan of partial wet (see through) clothing on bound victims. :)

BTW - any word from Rick on what his next original release will be?

And with that I'm off to check to see if he's gotten either the Alien Probe series or Beyond Driven series converted over to DVD yet. Not to mention Forced Entry and a whole host of others I'm waiting on re-purchasing on DVD.

Oh, and one last thing, when I get repurchase some of the ZFX Vids on DVD, is anyone interested in purchasing my VHS copies for fairly cheap? All in original boxes, etc...

SB