DVD Review: “Joey Buttafuoco Caught On Tape”

"We were somebody else's guest," Evanka Buttafuoco said of the illicit documentation of her cavorting with her husband, Joey. "We're a little freakier when we're at home."

While the story behind the release of the second sex tape in three months from two thirds of the players in 1992's "Long Island Lolita" scandal is hard to believe, history (at least theirs) teaches that truth is often stranger than fiction.

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"Joey Buttafuoco Caught on Tape"

Studio: Red Light District

Director: Joey Buttafuoco and Evanka Buttafuoco

Cast: Joey Buttafuoco and Evanka Buttafuoco

Review by Gram Ponante

A room, a bed, the sounds of sirens and a barking dog. Maybe "Joey Buttafuoco Caught On Tape" was staged, but at least it draws you in to the point that you want to kill the goddamn dog, too.

The marketing for this movie, following by three months the release of "Amy Fisher Caught on Tape" goes something like "What happens when Joey Buttafuoco and his wife steal away from a party at a friend's house to catch a raw and steamy hour alone?"

This setup is a distraction, and indeed the first few minutes of the movie are littered with references to not opening the door, "Isn't this better than a barbecue?", and other needless establishing dialogue that convinces viewers that no one was "caught" doing anything, that instead this was a calculated move.

"I didn't know the room had cameras in it," Evanka Buttafuoco told me. "I just chose a room."

"So I'm innocent," Joey Buttafuoco said.

The story is that the pair were attending a party at the home of porn producer Rob Spallone. Spallone was shooting a movie at his party downstairs, and the Buttafuocos slipped away.

So what about releases?

"We signed releases just to be there," Evanka said. "Then they used them as consent when Rob discovered the footage."

Let's just say unlikelier things have happened.

But this should not capsize your interest in what becomes, like its predecessor, a document of older married people behaving like porn stars for the camera, not nailing the letter, but more than compensating in the spirit.

To fill out the hour, the toned and amicable Evanka puts in a lot of time in bra, panties, high heels, and jewelry blowing her husband. This outfit eventually comes off (as does her husband), but it is she who is running the show for most of the movie, providing quotable qupis like, "Joseph, I'm a biter."

Joey, in fact, looks like the least practiced of the two, at least in terms of standard porn techniques. At one early point, it looks as if Joey has come in her mouth - he heaves, he groans, his head tuns to the side. Did he just fake an orgasm? Maybe he had a stroke? In any case, Evanka keeps going.

The first image in the movie, taken from the foot of the bed, is of Joey's face obscured by a book. He seems reluctant. Evanka walks in and immediately takes charge. Mr. Buttafuoco seems grateful.

And grateful is a word that can be applied to both Buttafuoco and Lou Bellera. Both are in their 50s and paired with women who look significantly younger (although the Bellera/Fisher age difference is greater). But though the Amy Fisher tape is technically superior — actually, a 7-11 security camera would be technically superior — to the Joey and Evanka tape, the latter has more instances of the words "I love you." When do you hear that in a porn movie? Not enough outside of a porn movie, either.

As staged as it was, the "I love you"s were real, and "Joey Buttafuoco Caught on Tape" was better than a barbecue. (Not to mention better than watching Gene Simmons).

· Red Light District (rlddistribution.com)

· Buy "Joey Buttafuoco Caught on Tape" (gamelink.com)