DVD Review: “Corruption”

The They Might Be Giants song "Stormy Pinkness" kept going through my head as I watched this movie—and "Corruption" is not a They Might Be Giants-style flick. Instead it is a dark and misanthropic fuckfest with a lot of crying. What I was thinking was "Sexy Bleakness".

Read our review of "Corruption" after the gap.
- GP

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Corruption

Studio: Sex Z Pictures/Porn Faktory
Director: Eli Cross
Cast: Hillary Scott, Kylie Ireland, Bryn Pryor, Alana Evans, Herschel Savage, James Deen, Tyler Knight, Staci Thorn, Sandra Romain, Arianna Jollee, Mark Davis, Kelly Wells, Steve Holmes, Derrick Pierce

Review by Gram Ponante

Just as in Hollywood, porn has its prestige movies. These are high-budget scripted affairs using multiple locations and all-star casts. Where most U.S.-made porn movies that find their way to store shelves and VOD downloads cost between $15k and $30k, "Corruption" cost over $150k, not including marketing.

But in the era of falling DVD sales it is often a movie that might lose money that convinces consumers the producing studio's other titles are worthwhile. Especially if that movie is tailor-made to win AVN awards.

The movie opens as Senator David Walker Helms (Bryn Pryor) rehearses his campaign speech to a mirror. He knots and reknots his tie as his slave Natasha (Hillary Scott) blows him below. Thus begins an ambitious tale of a power-hungry misanthrope's unraveling.

"Corruption" is a white collar sexy-bleak porn movie about men and power. No one wears board shorts, calls each other "Brah", high-fives over a pouty stripper's ass, or addresses the camera. Instead the men wear suits and the women don't dress like hookers. It is very, very dark, both thematically and in its photography, and there is more "acting" in it than any hardcore movie, ever.

"Corruption" is not a feel-good movie. It is, in fact, relentlessly depressing. Pryor's Helms has nothing but contempt for his constituents. It should be no surprise that he reserves his greater hate for himself, often daydreaming about cutting his own throat. His wife, Catherine (Kylie Ireland), supports his whoremongering as long as it doesn't lose votes.

Helms meets with some shady union officials, led by Gennero (Herschel Savage). They discuss killing a clean air act that would be good for the state but would harm Gennero's business interests. Speaking of business, the full name of the bill is the Kernes/Fishbein Clean Air Act. Coincidentally, Kernes and Fishbein are the surnames of the senior editor and president, respectively, of AVN.

Not about to be bullied, Helms videotapes Gennero being serviced by Natasha for blackmail purposes.

When Catherine determines Natasha is more of a liability than a wholesome means of her husband blowing off loads, she colludes with Helms' assistant, Ms. Perkins (Alana Evans) to do something about it. Natasha is kidnapped and brought to a boiler room (Freddie's from "A Nightmare on Elm Street"!) where Catherine tells her a thing or two. For this scene Ireland is decked out in her finest breathable bondage gear and her fans will be well served to see her knocking some sense into Hillary Scott's anus.

Meanwhile a photojournalist (James Deen) is wondering about Natasha's identity and follows her to the warehouse. When Helms discovers Natasha's absence, he interrogates Ms. Perkins most elaborately.

Orgies, double-fisting, and sex scenes that will probably get this movie banned in some counties follow, as well as Helms' undoing and Natasha's sort-of redemption.

The filmmakers stress that the narrative would be lessened by the removal of sex scenes (thus no "Pirates" G rating) and that the sex would be meaningless without the narrative. I agree. That the main character uses sex to dominate and humiliate his underlings requires there to be a lot of rough sex in the unfolding of a story about a ruthless man. But the movie isn't fun. The thought of rubbing one out to this movie seems as far-fetched as having Nick Cave sing at your two-year-old's birthday party.

What the movie is is technically adept. It is well-shot, well-lit, and well-acted for a porn film. That Pryor used a "stunt cock" (Chris Cannon stood in for Pryor's sex scenes) presents a dilemma. Were Pryor to be nominated for Best Actor at next year's AVN awards (and he should), he would be the first actor in a non-sex role to be so honored. There is a category for Non-Sex roles, though those parts are usually cameos; Pryor is in most of the film.

We know that Academy Awards boost sales of movies that receive them. I am not sure what getting an AVN award does for sales. Past winners like "Fashionistas" and "Pirates" sold well prior to their awards. "Corruption", which seems to be a lock for nominations in several categories, holds a mirror to a world of wealthy older guys in suits surrounded by sexually submissive women. If that isn't Porn's entrepreneurial class, I don't know what is.

The question is, will the people giving out awards next year like the reflection?

"Corruption" opens with a quote from Caligula Caesar. Another big-budget porn movie, Bob Guccione's "Caligula", opened with a line from the Book of Matthew ("What profiteth a man to gain the world but lose his soul?") that would have been appropriate for "Corruption", too.

"Corruption" is a much better movie than "Caligula", but with its bleakness, no matter how sexy, what profiteth a porn film to gain an AVN award but lose my erection?

"Corruption" is a four-hour movie with an extensive slate of extras including a behind the scenes documentary that reveals the close working relationship between director Cross and Pryor, as well as a helpful handbook on how to plan for a porn shoot.

· SexZ Pictures (sexzpictures.com)
· Porn Faktory (pornfaktory.com)
· "Corruption in the boiler room" (gramponante.com)
· Buy "Corruption" (gamelink.com)

Previously: Porn Valley Dispatch Archive