One of the better "couples films" around and certainly the best movie Vinnie Rossi has ever made, DESIRE gets an A for trying even if the actual results are still not that great. With a name that conjures up all sorts of devious mob connections (hey, the guy's Italian, give him a break already !), Rossi rose to prominence as the producer of Fred Lincoln's deliciously dirty SERENA, AN ADULT FAIRY TALE, took a crack at couples carnality with insipid fare like FOREPLAY prior to settling into a career of shot on video anonymity with disposable features with cutesy titles like JACK HAMMER and MAX BEDROOM. If nothing else, DESIRE certainly represents his most ambitious effort with a decent storyline framing a series of occasionally effective erotic encounters, all of them nicely photographed at least with gorgeous gauzy lighting. From the evidence at hand, I'm convinced that this really is the best that Rossi could do, therefore allowing him a certain degree of f*ck film fan boy indulgence.
Wealthy young Toby (Herschel Savage, looking quite handsome) is madly in love with the beautiful Lilly (smoky-voiced Tamara Longley, whose sad haunted eyes make her look like a dainty Chloe Sevigny) yet she still leaves him after a passionate bout of lovemaking, offering the single word "desire" as her reason for doing so. Many a decade later and now a lonely old millionaire, Toby (played by industry institution Bill Margold) seeks the help of psychiatrist Kay Parker in trying to figure out just what Lilly meant. In some fancy private clinic setting, Parker attempts to define desire through a series of test cases. Cocktail waitress Mai Lin gives it up to two guys, Scott Irish and Mark Harris (the passionate plumber from Gary Graver's very active UNTHINKABLE), the latter severely struggling with "wood problems" foreshadowing what's to become a common problem in this movie. Much better is stand-up comedian Ron Jeremy's fantasy of making it with a store window mannequin come to life in the shapely form of delectable Misty Dawn, nowadays better known as Laurie Holmes, widow of the late great John. A still very new to the business Bunny Bleu, sporting an unbecoming Annette Funicello hairdo, relates lesbian longings with the appealing Becky Savage, herself the star of another ill-fated Rossi couples feature TOO MUCH TOO SOON. Barely out of the gate, this Sapphic duet segues into Parker's fantasy of making it with her hot to trot assistant Ruby Smart. Bleu gets another shot at glory of sorts with her seduction of she-male Angelique Ricard (who did a killer scene with Vanessa Del Rio in Ron Sullivan's awesome VIVA VANESSA), abruptly aborted at the moment Angelique's "equipment" is revealed.
Parker had a reputation to uphold as one of the industry's revered class acts and you wouldn't think that her teaming up with the equally dyed in the wool Randy West (as an iron-pumping athlete) could pose any problems. The two of them had, after all, performed admirably together in Pedie Sweet's hit 'n' miss BODY TALK a few years earlier. Whatever fired up their performance then was definitely no longer there however. Rather surprisingly, she's banged far better by bearded Jerry Davis, a notorious switch-hitter who amassed an impressive list of credits on both the gay and straight side of the industry. Inbetween all this groping, Rossi injects wistful flashback footage of Toby and Lilly's whirlwind romance, culminating in her spectral appearance as her lover lies on his death bed, revealing that it was his desire for wealth and luxury over her that drove her away. Okay, so it's not the best twist ending ever devised but delivered in Longley's deep tones you will never think of the word "desire" and not hear it pronounced as she does here it seems almost profound. Rossi clearly poured his heart and what modest talent he possessed into this endeavor, making for an extremely likable if only fitfully effective fornication flick.
Wealthy young Toby (Herschel Savage, looking quite handsome) is madly in love with the beautiful Lilly (smoky-voiced Tamara Longley, whose sad haunted eyes make her look like a dainty Chloe Sevigny) yet she still leaves him after a passionate bout of lovemaking, offering the single word "desire" as her reason for doing so. Many a decade later and now a lonely old millionaire, Toby (played by industry institution Bill Margold) seeks the help of psychiatrist Kay Parker in trying to figure out just what Lilly meant. In some fancy private clinic setting, Parker attempts to define desire through a series of test cases. Cocktail waitress Mai Lin gives it up to two guys, Scott Irish and Mark Harris (the passionate plumber from Gary Graver's very active UNTHINKABLE), the latter severely struggling with "wood problems" foreshadowing what's to become a common problem in this movie. Much better is stand-up comedian Ron Jeremy's fantasy of making it with a store window mannequin come to life in the shapely form of delectable Misty Dawn, nowadays better known as Laurie Holmes, widow of the late great John. A still very new to the business Bunny Bleu, sporting an unbecoming Annette Funicello hairdo, relates lesbian longings with the appealing Becky Savage, herself the star of another ill-fated Rossi couples feature TOO MUCH TOO SOON. Barely out of the gate, this Sapphic duet segues into Parker's fantasy of making it with her hot to trot assistant Ruby Smart. Bleu gets another shot at glory of sorts with her seduction of she-male Angelique Ricard (who did a killer scene with Vanessa Del Rio in Ron Sullivan's awesome VIVA VANESSA), abruptly aborted at the moment Angelique's "equipment" is revealed.
Parker had a reputation to uphold as one of the industry's revered class acts and you wouldn't think that her teaming up with the equally dyed in the wool Randy West (as an iron-pumping athlete) could pose any problems. The two of them had, after all, performed admirably together in Pedie Sweet's hit 'n' miss BODY TALK a few years earlier. Whatever fired up their performance then was definitely no longer there however. Rather surprisingly, she's banged far better by bearded Jerry Davis, a notorious switch-hitter who amassed an impressive list of credits on both the gay and straight side of the industry. Inbetween all this groping, Rossi injects wistful flashback footage of Toby and Lilly's whirlwind romance, culminating in her spectral appearance as her lover lies on his death bed, revealing that it was his desire for wealth and luxury over her that drove her away. Okay, so it's not the best twist ending ever devised but delivered in Longley's deep tones you will never think of the word "desire" and not hear it pronounced as she does here it seems almost profound. Rossi clearly poured his heart and what modest talent he possessed into this endeavor, making for an extremely likable if only fitfully effective fornication flick.