REEL PEOPLE
www.pornstarclassics.com
REEL PEOPLEOVERALL RATING: C- (Classic, but not very strokeable)
PICTURE QUALITY: B (Great transfer, old original)
DVD EXTRAS: F (None)
82 Mins
Arrow
DIRECTOR: Anthony Spinnelli
THEMES: Amateurs, Outdoor Sex, Classics
CONDOMS: None Noted
2001
6/82
STARS: Richard Pacheco, John Leslie, Paul Thomas, Juliette Anderson, Gayle Sterling, Pricilla Shields
REVIEW:
I was all set to pass this DVD on to another reviewer from DVDPornReviews.com, but after my last ‘classic’ review and the shitstorm created by some interested parties; I just couldn’t pass it up. When Arrow released Taxi Girls and Reel People, it billed them both as all time classics. We’re still sorting out TG, but I can tell you that Reel People is a movie that actually led to some of the most popular lines of the late eighties and nineties. Director Anthony Spinnelli’s idea of putting real people into porn scenes with pros may not seem all that special now, but remember, this is long before Ed Powers put his debutantes on display. Spinnelli starts the movie by talking about sexual fantasies and sexual liberation, actually calling his movie a documentary. I don’t know if I would go that far, but the idea of seeing real people fuck in a time before video cameras and eBay made any college guy with a hot girlfriend a ‘film maker’ and any stripper in need of three hundred buck a ‘porn star’ is still appealing a quarter of a century later.
Some quick technical notes so I don’t have to pound them home later. This is an old movie, so it’s going to have some issues with film stock and lighting. That is to be expected and I’m not going to judge it against something shot today. With that warning, I will say that like Taxi Girls, the DVD transfer on this movie is pretty fucking good. Beyond that I do want to poke a little jab at the opening music. I swear I expect to see Michael Myers showing up looking for his Ritalin.
Marcy is the first real person to show up. She’s 29 years old and a housewife from Northern California. After nine years of marriage, she is ready to act out some sexual fantasies on film. (Hey, she’s a stay at home mom getting naked for the camera. Wouldn’t Dr. Laura be proud?) She’s pretty decent looking and is comfortable during the short interview. Spinnelli brings in porn stud Richard Pacheco to fuck her. While they start getting it on, the interview continues as a voice over. This style will take some getting used, but doesn’t last the whole time. The oral sex is short, with much more time spent on her pussy than on his cock. Most of the fucking is mish which isn’t bad except for the fact that for the majority of the scene we see their heads only or his ass. (People wanted examples of how sex is shot better now, no shoulder shots is a good example.) An unseen internal popshot, complete with Pacheco overdoing his climax howl closes out the first scene.
Jim is a 34 year old guy who also lives in Northern California. He is paired with Edwina who is a school teacher from Canada. These two look like 70’s hot tub swingers, like someone got to the Keatons before the Family Ties days and caught them on a wine and grass night. Jim’s interview is kind of funny because he comes off as such a touchy feely hippie dude. As they start to rub up against each other, Edwina comes on and talks about a flirtation with an eight grade boy. Their sex is slow and sensual like a real couple might be, with just a hint of porn talk coming from Jim. After a long 69, Jim starts tying her up with scarves. That sort of pulls her leg back, making it much easier for the camera to get a good shot and giving a hint of bondage to the scene. Her reaction seems genuine and he only slightly overacts the unseen cumshot.
Chuck is a 33 year old flight instruction from Portland who could play a young and dorky Bill Gates. His fantasy is about young girls so he gets two to play with. Gayle and a rather pretty brunette named Pricilla start off by doing a little show for him. (Check out the Flash dance fashion my friends.) He eventually moves over and has his hands full with these two cuties. There is a lot less voice over in this scene which is good because Chuck didn’t have much to say. With no credits, I can’t say who the brunette is, though she looks a little like Beverly Bliss who later starred in Savage Fury and Hollywood Heartbreakers. (The nipples don’t look the same though.) I saw Gayle in other movies and don’t remember her looking this good. (Of course, I was 18 and very much smitten with Christy Canyon, Kim Carson, Ginger Lynn and some chick named Traci at the time.) This guy Chuck has a pretty big cock on him and he manages to keep it hard for the girls. (In pre-Viagra days, that’s a whole lot more impressive.) Not to get away from the sex, but I don’t think I ever saw leg warmers with a garter belt before. Holy bad fashion. Gayle is quite greedy and actually persuades Chuck to stop fucking Pricilla and give her the meat instead. He does so for a very brief moment, exploding on her belly and watching as Pricilla licks some of it up.
Sabina is a 29 year old red head who works as a legal secretary. She has a really pretty face and needs to be introduced to Paul Thomas. Sabina’s body is pretty nice looking and it’s revealed to us slowly as she keeps talking about what she finds erotic. I like hearing the actual sound of the scene because she’s very open in talking to the guy behind the camera. It somehow makes it that much more real and helps make up for some extended shots of the back of PT’s head. The fucking is very short with Thomas dropping his load on her back.
Juliette Anderson is still looking pretty good in this movie. She does a phone sex scene that is pretty fucking sexy, but the most staged thing we have seen from this movie so far. I don’t know if she ever actually worked in phone sex, but she sure has the dirty talk rap down. When she finishes, she hooks up with a short haired brunette chick who doesn’t say a word as they slip into bed. It’s porn and it looks like a typical porn scene. Anderson is pretty good with girls, but this one lacks the reality appeal from the other scenes.
Lucy is a redhead who gives an interview that is a whole lot more real than the typical porn chick fare. She has literally no fantasies and isn’t all that crazy about men. John Leslie is brought in to change her mind. Long before Leslie became the best director in the history of porn, he was quite the on screen stud. He takes her little attitude turns him on and he turns on the charm. Believe it or not, she doesn’t want to fuck and they cut it off there.
Leslie is back with a woman named Candy. They say she is 19 years old and certainly has a tight little body. They move quickly to the fucking as she tells us that she’s really not looking for a steady relationship. Hey, a good fuck now and then works for me. Candy is the best example of the good things about women back then. She has tiny tits, all real, no tattoos and yet she still fucks on camera. (Pop quiz, name 3 current porn chicks with no fake tits and no tattoos.) Sexually this is the best scene by far. Candy is cute, looks really good with her legs high in the air and even takes it on the face. (Why current sex shooting is better part two- directors know not to cut away from a pretty face to a guy doing a fake orgasm face at the climactic moment.)
What can you say about a movie that helped inspire the careers of Ed Powers, Randy West and a whole host of others? You can say it was really good idea that holds up pretty well over twenty years. We already covered the technical aspects, so I’ll just say again that the transfer is good so you get the best quality possible for the old original. There isn’t supposed to be a plot and only one scene really comes out as porny at all. (The Juliette Anderson scene really plays like a typical pro scene from that era.) The girls are all nice looking enough I guess. Candy really sticks out for me as the best looking, but none of them are ugly. The sex is vintage and you can take my feelings about that into consideration when you look at the overall rating which is pretty high because this is a movie that still feels real after a long time. This one deserves the “Classic” label.
