I have known about this movie for years, but I wasn't really curious about seeing it until recently. I listened to a couple of podcasts. One was by Projection Booth and the other was an interview with director Gregory Dark, both featuring porn historian Ashley West of The Rialto Report. I would recommend listening to them either before or after you watch the film to give yourself some behind the scenes context.
The plot is simple. Two slacker friends, Jamal (Jack Baker) and Jimmy (Jamie Gillis) are hanging out drinking beer and watching porn one night. They believe their lives would be better if they could be pimps and open a crazy escort agency called New Wave Hookers, Inc. The theory is that the women working for their agency would get turned on by listening to New Wave music and they would get all the sex from them that they want. They fall asleep and the majority of the film is their fever dream about the various women who service their clients as well as themselves in their office. Steve Powers played Dog, who has telepathic powers to sense when the phone rings. He is literally like their pet. One wonders how much of the budget was spent on coke when you think about these types of characters.
Despite the absurd premise, I actually liked this film as a whole because the Dark Bros were doing something different that no one else was doing at the time in adult films. They would show up at their premieres dressed up as pimps and declared that "porn is dead". Even though they are unseen, the Dark Bros are just as much as part of the film as the performers due to their surrealistic vision. As a result, this film established the alt porn genre.
The camaraderie between Jimmy, Jamal, and Dog was funny at times in a sophomoric way. My favorite scenes were the opening scene where we are introduced to the hookers to the tune of "Electrify Me" by The Plugz, the threesome scene in the office with Desiree Lane wearing roller skates (which might have been Paul Thomas Anderson's inspiration for Rollergirl in Boogie Nights), another threesome scene with Peter North as a sheik with Brooke Fields and Kimberly Carson, and the big orgy at the end. The orgy was staged in a cool way because the three ladies (Kristara Barrington, Desiree Lane, and Gina Ferrera) are tied up to a big red wheel. They were left there for a while listening to the New Wave music and were more than ready to take part in the action with Jimmy, Dog, and Jamal. Two corrupt vice cops played by Greg Rome and Steve Drake soon decided to join in as well. Not sure why they were added, but I figured it was probably just an excuse to add more studs to the scene. There's elements of BDSM in this film and Kristara takes the most of it.
The female performers had that great 80s look with big hair, colorful makeup, and a funky wardrobe. The women had more natural bodies than the performers of today, which made them hotter, in my opinion. The sets were interesting and creative, reminiscent of the music videos that MTV were playing at the time. The direction, cinematography, and editing were done very well and it was shot on film instead of video. I also enjoyed the eclectic soundtrack and it's understandable why the women would be aroused to the music. But I love the 80s aesthetic and music anyway.
What I didn't like. My least favorite scene was with Kristara Barrington as Kammy, Dog, and Jimmy. It was another scene in the office again and I felt like it was redundant and ridiculous. It was decidedly unsexy when Jimmy gobbled up a bunch of sushi while Jamal was - er - servicing Kammy on the desk. This scene did nothing for me.
Much has been made of Ginger Lynn's DP scene with the two college nerds played by Tom Byron and Steve Powers in a double role. As much as I think Ginger is hot, I have seen so many scenes like this over the years that I thought it was just okay. I can see why it caused a sensation back in the day, though.
This film is also infamous because of the scandal involving Traci Lords. She was underage when she shot her scene as The Devil with Rick Cassidy as The Angel, who was in his 40s at the time. As a result her scene was cut out. In the Projection Booth podcast they mentioned that thematically the scene didn't fit with the rest of the film so cutting it out didn't impact the story.
I can see how this film will offend some people because of its racial sterotypes and the way the women are portrayed, as willing sex objects who are controlled by the guys playing New Wave music. On the contrary, the women seemed dominant and in control of their sexuality to me, but that's just my opinion. Strangely enough, I wasn't that offended by it. The two male lead characters are losers anyway and I expected them to talk and act the way they did. Plus, the majority of the film was their shared dream. I had to keep reminding myself of that because I noticed continuity errors like how did they get their clothes off so fast. I didn't take anything too seriously because I also thought about the time period it was made. This was the 80s and the pop culture of the time tended to be cheesy, campy, and over the top. Dark had a thing about addressing racial issues in his films and he mentioned that in the podcast as well.
The end is a hoot because we are left thinking, "Was it really a dream?" Just perverse fun from beginning to end.
If you love vintage porn, you should definitely check this one out.