Mass Appeal (1999) Online

Bisexual porn never seems to have developed into a genre unto its own, more like a fad that didn't really catch on. The reasons for this are fairly obvious. While there was almost certainly an "unserved audience" waiting for it, characteristically stingy porn producers figured it was but a small contingent of the video buying and renting masses. Therefore, they weren't going to spend big bucks on these features, which they probably regarded as side shows to begin with, hence discouragingly low production values. Another problem was the performers. Once AIDS (formerly known as the "gay cancer") reared its ugly head, the dichotomy between the straight and gay sides of the adult industry became ever more difficult to bridge. The "bisexual chic" of the '70s - with high profile performers like Jamie Gillis, Wade Nichols and Zebedy Colt almost casually moving from one end to the other, so to speak - was by now most definitely a thing of the past. This meant that the only males willing to act in these movies were from the already stigmatized gay part of the industry, which tended to pose a problem whenever they had to work with women, whom they weren't always all that into. The situation being what it was, it's understandable that those ladies also weren't the hottest starlets at the time but rather older and/or less popular performers whose physical appeal might already have launched its inevitable downhill slope. As a result, possibly "bi-curious" yet essentially straight members of the viewing audience were less than enthralled. In an effort to save face, the more adamant producers - again, mostly from the gay side of the industry - increased the all male ingredient to appeal to homosexual viewers, who presumably had little use for the present ladies, further alienating the heteros. In the end, they got stuck with a product that nobody seemed to want.

Of course, there were exceptions to the rule. Occasionally, one of the gay porn directorial legends got it right, most notably Jerry Douglas with BOTH WAYS, Wallace Potts with MORE, MORE, MORE and Tom De Simone (a/k/a "Lancer Brooks") with the excellent BI-COASTAL. Pansexual Paul Norman, who made a splash on both sides of the industry, probably made more and better bisexual erotica than anyone else with his long-running and commendably outrageous BI & BEYOND series. Ultimately, that may have been what the fledgling genre needed to evolve into something more substantial than its initial novelty status, a filmmaker with roots in hetero as well as homo hardcore, giving equal weight to either practice. Enter Michael Zen, already something of a gay XXX legend due to his early '70s classic FALCONHEAD and its '80s video sequel. In addition, he was anything but a stranger to the whole male/female thing with minor Golden Age hits like REFLECTIONS with Annette Haven and THE FILTHY RICH with Vanessa Del Rio, not to mention his uncredited employment helming loops for (8mm) home cinema pioneer Swedish Erotica. More recent fans may know him from award-amassing blockbusters like SECRET GARDEN with Ashlyn Gere and Ona Zee or the Jenna Jameson vehicle SATYR. Zen hit on a recipe so simple yet so effective that it's something of a miracle that no one bothered with it before. None of the sex in MASS APPEAL is exclusively straight or gay. Though it may start out as either one or the other, a third party will always be introduced along the way to make matters, shall we say, more interesting. Something for everyone, indeed !Production's a class act all the way as well. Cult director Wash Westmoreland, who recently crossed over from adult to mainstream, did the gorgeous cinematography. Rock Hard's ambient music makes a delightful change from the thumping techno that has all too frequently accompanied gay & bi features. Special credit should go to Andrew Rosen whose razor-sharp editing really keeps the pace pumping.

The very simple plot (credited to producer Jim Steel, who presumably didn't need too many cocktail napkins to jot it all down) has hedonistic couple Sky and Jon Eric picking up Marine on weekend leave Ken Ryker for fun and games with their circle of friends at their preposterously luxurious villa. Sliver of a story aside, this movie can boast as having one of the downright prettiest casts ever assembled for a bi-porn production. Sky, best known for replacing Lexus (Locklear) on Paul Thomas' revived DEBBIE series, looks like a more voluptuous version of Kate Hudson and really knows how to turn up the heat in the opening stretch Limo scene with Ryker and Eric and an even more scorching bathroom sequence - one of the film's highlights, in fact - with Ryker and perky "T.J. Cummings" a/k/a Nick Steel. The latter would go on to become something of a fixture in bisexual erotica with 1st Strike's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE VAGINA at least the most delectably titled of that lot ! Steel's exquisitely erotic shower seduction of Ryker reminded me somewhat of a similar scene in Cameron Grant's DINNER PARTY featuring Norma Jeane and Sean Michaels. He also shines in a later number with yummy Rick Chase (memorable in Jerry Douglas' first-rate DREAM TEAM) and the always awesome Chloe, incidentally the best thespian in this crowd as well. But of course all you fans out there are dying to know how Ken Ryker pulls off his fence-crossing debut. Well, for a straight-acting superstar (whose best overall appearance still remains in Gino Colbert's fine Matinée IDOL) it comes as a bit of a shock to witness just how squeamish he gets whenever there's pudenda in the proximity. Either with submissive Steel or extremely easy on the eyes Eric (who deftly dominated the latter part of Wash Westmoreland's outstanding TECHNICAL ECSTASY), his gaze remains firmly fixed on his male partner for arousal sustenance rather than the women. Fans can take heart that the object of their erections is very much a gay man after all !