Movie Review –  John Stagliano’s Voracious

by Coleen Singer at sssh.com (with some help from her hubby, Dan)

Movie Review –  John Stagliano’s Voracious

Occasionally, my hubby Dan joins me in the sack or tub to try out the latest and greatest new sex toy, but the thought of doing movie reviews with both of us watching together, and then writing up our reaction as a couple seems like an idea whose time has come.

Read on…

We watched Voracious! “Imagine deep dark scary vampires killing and fucking and struggling with power while riddled with internal emotional agony and torment. What do you get? “Twilight”? NO WAY! Voracious, Season I, by John Stagliano. As another mega-project, Stagliano continues on from his enormous success with the “Fashionistas” trilogy and has created this high budget episodic series which Dan and I recently bought the boxed DVD set of Season I (saving this one up for the 72 inch plasma in the living room was quite the wait, but we really wanted to see this in its full HD spendor on something a lot bigger that a desktop monitor or iPad. Size does matter in some instances!)

Here’s the synopsis from the Season 1 press pack:

Dripping with blood, sweat and cum. Under the Victory Column in Berlin, barely hidden from view, a priest offers guidance to a tormented vampire. Manuel arrives in search of Amira, his true love salvation, only to find that perversion and priesthood go hand in hand. Amiras’s doubts about being a vampire are brought to the attention of Vlad. He has just returned from killing a rogue vampire. Our confused Amira knows one thing with the force of all her ex-humanity, she will not give up! Unfortunately, anything that threatens the survival of our vampire clan will be eliminated by Vlad in the most gruesome way.

Heavens To Screaming Purple Prose! That Evil Angel synopsis wets the appetite, but was a bit short on details, so here’s more from AVN:
“Voracious” awaits devotees of John Stagliano’s fetish-laden, sexually intense cinema as well as fans of Gothic porn. The fashionably vampire-themed movie, shot in Budapest, Berlin and Los Angeles, is composed of 10 individual episodes (each running approximately 30 – 60 minutes and featuring at least one very elaborate sex scene).

A host of Evil Angel directors and performers helped bring Stagliano’s vision to fruition, including Manuel Ferrara, Rocco Siffredi, Omar Galanti, David Perry and Steve Holmes. Galanti plays the lead vampire in an almost superhuman performance, and starlets Brooklyn Lee and Lea Lexis were instrumental in the creation of the movie—Lexis was Stagliano’s co-producer in Budapest.

Describing some of the action in “Voracious,” the director also known as “Buttman” says, “For sure there is lots of ass play, but this is not at all like a Buttman movie in terms of style.” He refers to his award-winning, hardcore fetish-fashion trilogy when he adds, “I wanted to do another feature film like ‘Fashionistas.’”
Okay. We’re now getting the idea that this is a huge project, and between the vampire paradigm (yes. vampires ARE highly erotic in a spooky kind of way), with lots and lots of rough anal sex (as Mr. Stagliano is known for), and with such notables for excellent hardcore as Rocco Siffredi, Omar Galanti, David Perry and Steve Holmes, Voracious is certainly is not “just another porno production”. It’s probably not a “new to porn” viewer recommendation either for couples looking for soft and squishy romantic erotica or “feminist porn” (whatever the heck that is). Caveat emptor!

The whole project is thrillingly frightening, brutal and disturbingly sexy.

The series is shot brilliantly, in a shadowy style that pays homage to such classic gothic horror thrillers as The Exorcist (1973), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and The Omen (1976). None of this modern day emo “Twilight” crap anywhere to be seen in the series. Just solid writing, direction, cinematography and acting win the day.

PVVOnline hit the nail on the head, saying: “The sex in this series is not for porn amateurs, nor is it for the faint of heart. It is almost wholly comprised of “extreme” depictions typical of Evil Angel productions, with the levels turned up even further via the theatrical and bondage elements (blood and bites and clamps and whatnot). And I admit that the face fuck scene in Episode 5 between Brooklyn’s Amira and Rocco Siffredi’s Vlad was almost too much for me… though her icy eyes throughout were just incredible. If this level of content and sort of production interests you, I highly recommend Voracious. The Evil Angelic play with social and cultural hot-button issues and folklore pushed the boundaries of porn and filmmaking… and vision.”

Let’s take a peek at the what John Stagliano has to say about the series:

With performances from…
Lea Lexis, Brooklyn Lee, Ian Scott, Rocco Siffredi, David Perry, Manuel Ferrara, Steve Holmes, Omar Galanti, Sandra Romain, Bibi Noel, Ivana Sugar, Zorah White, Alice Romain, and Tricia Devereaux (non-sex). Directed by John Stagliano for Evil Angel. Series played only online during 2012, and the box set of Season 1 was released in September 2012. Season 2 is now playing on the internet, but we’re going to hold off on watching it until it comes out with the full season on Blue Ray DVD.

Coleen’s Rating: 10 out of 10.
I’m a bit of an oddball when it comes to my tastes in any sort of adult film genre. I am pretty much just as entertained, turned on and happy with anything from low budget gonzo all the way up to the lofty high budget films as long as one need is met: the movie has to look like there was passion and care put into it by both the actors and creators! Voracious gave me a thrill (and multiple orgasms) on both points and I LOVE this series. Mr. Stagliano explores social and cultural hot-button issues all on a solid foundation of folklore and again pushes the boundaries of porn and filmmaking… and vision. Oh. And Sex. Really, really great sex in copious quantities.
TWO THUMBS UP!

Dan’s Rating: 9 out of 10.
When Coleen said for our next Fleshbot movie review we were going to hunker down for an entire Sunday and watch NINE HOURS of a high-minded artsy porno about vampires, I was a little reluctant to dive into this epic that runs about as long as a Richard Wagner opera cycle. But, as I couldn’t figure out a plausible excuse to suggest we just watch a 71-minute compilation of Bang Brothers Greatest Pickup Lines, I loaded up the fridge with some beer and chip dip and settled down to do my husbandly duty that promised to take up my entire day (rather than raking the leaves).

About 20 minutes into Episode 1, I realized something: This was “special”. In a good way “special”. Unlike Coleen who has watched Stagliano’s Fashionista Trilogy at least 7 times, my experience with “Buttman” was previously limited to enthusiastic and well-light, but pretty predictable 4-position anal pounding flics. WOW! Did I get a surprise. This series is one of the most amazing porn projects I’ve ever seen, Even with all the blood and emotional internal conflict and stuff….. (and, yes. I have seen a LOT of porn over the last 30 years).

I am, however, pulling one point off from it being a “perfect 10” for some of the dialogue and expository scenes that sadly fell a bit flat. Yeah. It’s hard to get Hungarian gals to do Shakespeare in a believable way, but other than that, I can seriously recommend this film to any couples that don’t mind some rough sex, anal and scary vampires.
TWO THUMBS UP!

[This review originally was published on my guest columnist blog at Fleshbot.com]