Black & Blue

Girlfriends Films/James Deen Productions

Genre: BDSM, Feature

Director/Writer: James Deen

Cast: Janice Griffith, Erik Everhard, Ramon Nomar, Michael Vegas, Jade Nile, James Deen
Non-sex roles: Kacy Lane, Candy “Smile”, Michelle, Danny Wylde, Age Wilson, Connor Helvey, Billy O’Toole, TK Hero, Big C, Matthew Kalik

Length: 161:45 minutes

Date of Production: 2015

Extras: There was a pop shot compilation from the scenes and trailers but the best extra by far was the 82:03 minute long Behind the Scenes feature. The BTS had more sex, interactions with the mostly unlisted crew, and was a lot of fun to appreciate.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Black & Blue was presented in anamorphic widescreen as directed by James Deen for Girlfriends Films. Sigurd Jarlson was the director of photography, Johnny Savage the first assistant camera operator, Danny Wylde the gaffer, Luka Fisher the electrician and Set Decorator, Brother Goat handled sound, and Mrs. Myers was the editor, Shay Ryan serving as the PA. Okay, a lot of the camera work using the RED PRO 5.0 system was basic, the first two sex scenes too cramped to get a good mix of shots, the third best balanced, and the fourth looking like most of it was shot with a single static camera shot. The editing of the feature elements was the best technical aspect of the show, the inclusion of various establishing shots and even a restaurant scene with patrons present, a change of pace. The flesh tones were accurate in all but the first sex scene, the colors a bit saturated due to lower level lighting. There was no company watermark which should please many of you. The aural components consisted of some modest attempts at music that I liked when they were used, easily heard vocals, and some ambient noises, a lot of polishing up needed to compete with the usual feature directors and established crews but clearly a step in the right direction for the director compared to previous works.

Body of Review: James Deen has been making gonzo porn as a director at Girlfriends Films, surpassing what many thought he was initially capable of doing but what about his far more creative feature work? In the just released Black & Blue, he continues to explore the rougher side of sex with co-star Jade Nile, the plotted points sounding strangely like a certain trilogy of best selling novels involving fifty degrees of kink, so to speak. Janice Griffith and a handful of men were included in the production but I went into it with a skeptical eye, so many in porn giving their take on the oft told tale involving a rich man who gets off dominating a younger woman. The back cover described the movie like this: “In this tale of submission and dominance, a young woman and a wealthy businessman meet and fall in love. The life of Alison (Jade Nile) appears mundane and stressful, until she spills a drink on Patrick (James Deen). Used to having his way, the unforeseen incident sparks Patrick's interest in her and leads to the romancing, and eventual overwhelming sexual domination of Alison. The unlikely pair's BDSM sexual escapades are supported by Alison's friend, Tiffany (Janice Griffith), who in true comic form, cares more about the sports cars owned by the man she has sex with than their personalities. Patrick ushers Alison into the world of BDSM and shows her how emotions and sexual games can go hand in hand.” Here’s a brief look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were used for those still interested:

Scene One: Janice Griffith, a tiny blond, was up first in bed with Porsche driving Erik Everhard, the gal wearing purple bikini underwear as he molested her while wearing all black. His hand warmed her up as local dogs barked up a storm, her top discarded before he started peeling off his mafioso attire for her to slob his knob. He spanked her perky ass and fingered her as she sucked the head of his turgid pecker, her drool flying all over as she continued working him orally. He was far too big for her to throat but she slid into a 69 so he could gobble her gash as well, the single camera used showing only her portion of the oral before she mounted him for some moderately active vaginal riding positions. Her bald beaver took a beating and she had some fun, more oral by Erik given her before her pussy drained his dragon of semen to grace her chest and neck area.

Scene Two: Janice Griffith, next up in a deliberate pacing idea that didn’t work for me, finished jogging with her room mate only to go to bed with Ramon Nomar and Michael Vegas. Her workout attire was cast off quickly and she blew Ramon as Michael devoured her crotch orally. Though she was aggressively working the top third of his cock, Ramon was having some issues getting fully erect, his mullet haircut looking quite interesting as Michael swapped places with him to get some head from the gal. Ramon boned her balls deep and Michael remained even more flaccid than Ramon had, the action taking much longer to consummate in front of the single camera approach. Her hand to gland friction and nut nuzzling had more effect on him, the trio again switching places so Michael could tap her in doggy as she inhaled Ramon, the process repeating itself over and over mechanically until she milked their balls dry of sperm, Ramon nutting on her face before Michael plastered her lower torso with their manly fluids. Janice then gave them each some post coital head. If there was any chemistry noticed on set, it was not obviously conveyed in the final cut of the scene.

Scene Three: Jade Nile, next shown in a slinky black dress, then went on a date with James Deen, the two looking far too familiar for a first date. The two then engaged in some dialog on a bench where the grain was horrible, no sense of time passing before they were at his place kissing (nothing happened on the first date). He then started making demands of her, slapping her ass and pressing her against the wall as he lowered her top, peeling off the rest of her dress to show her substantial bush. The dominant side was not eased into at all, James choking her and asking probative questions as he defined the tryst for her. While it rang false in several ways, she was soon begging for his boner, sucking him off with a hand assisted hummer while using moderate eye contact. She pumped away until he bound her hands above her head as she continued blowing him, the couple vaginally fucking with him doing most of the work until some intermittent head led to him tossing off on her face.

Scene Four: Jade Nile, next wearing a gifted collar with some dark bikini undies, then knelt in the middle of the room as James Deen fastened a ball gag in her mouth, her arms and legs bound together behind her back. He caressed her and bent her over to spank her, the man testing her devotion as he fingered her while whispering comments invoking his darker side when she did not please him. He dragged her around the floor a bit and paddled her from there, more oral and vaginal sex leading to him blindfolding her while putting the gag back in her mouth. He rewarded her in the usual way, fingering her snatch, before reverting to paddling and some flogging, pushing her too far which seemed strange given the smoothness of how the rest went out of nowhere.

Summary: Black & Blue by director James Deen for Girlfriends Films was more of a romanticized version of the 50 Shades phenomenon than anything else, the lack of sexual tension between the characters keeping it from making as much an impact as titles like the Emma Marx series or other industry takes on the material. Sexually, too much depended on Jade Nile and Janice Griffith, their relative lack of chemistry with their partners worse than any limitations in the acting by the principles here. The technical aspects and feature elements lacking, the sexual portions of the show had some replay value and strokability but not as much as James’ better gonzo efforts, fans of the ladies involved here are welcome to consider the movie a “must have” as a showcase for the two regardless. Taking everything into account, I believed the movie was worth a rating of Rent It, none in the cast possessing even close to the quality of acting skill James provided and his character was so limited in range that it fell short. Jade Nile was definitely a cutie though and showed some potential but she has a way to go to excite like some of her more skilled peers do, Janice Griffith never given enough material to shine as more than a dispensable gold digging fuck bunny. In short, Black & Blue may well go on to become the best selling title in the universe thanks to great marketing, friendly distributors, or factors apart from the movie itself but I actually enjoyed the BTS feature more than the story so check this one out but don’t get your hopes up too high. And for those who continually fuss about the company always spelling things wrong, the cover credits caught my eye by spelling Jade’s name wrong, not a good idea so early in a performer’s career.