No-nothings who support gonzo porn and ridicule the "acting & storyline" wing of the industry should rush out and see this Private release from over a decade ago, shot on location in the highlands of Scotland, at Loch Ness. It's built around an ancient legend and delivers equal parts hot sex and concise storytelling.

Biggest surprise here is the attention to detail and lavish nature of the production -not a huge budget enterprise but rather an intelligent use of materials to support the story. The casting, locations, costumes, lighting, direction, acting and various technical departments are superior to many mainstream films and practically all those videos or movies masquerading under the trendy rubric of "independent cinema".

Director Gazzman, whose prolific output includes dozens of stimulating (if vapid) "Young Harlots" jail-bait features, proved to me recently he could handle a narrative with his clever and sexy "Down on Abby". But here he has created a classic of sorts. The DVD has a useful director's commentary (in tandem with star Tony DeSergio) recounting the arduous location shoot.

Fable revolves around the Lady of the Loch (played by Private contract star from Australia, Jodie Moore) who remains in limbo since the 13th Century, hoping to be reunited with her lost love Robert Mohr, killed in battle.

Steve Hooper (uncredited) plays Robert and his reincarnation, latter with two buddies (Tony DeSergio and Mark Sloan) at an inn near Loch Ness where they are each transported by spirits to remote locations to be sexually tested. These tests supervised by the Lady of the Loch involve drinking from a holy Grail, and though our heroes pass the erotic phase of the tests swimmingly (bedding down with a lovely set of Hungarian starlets), they flunk the key test due to greed and lust. The Lady returns every 100 years at solstice time to continue her quest.

Film has a very satisfying surprise ending which fits the legend and is superior to the resolution of not only porn films but most mainstream love stories and romances.

It is the romantic as well as Romantic with capital R content that makes "Loveknot" so different from run of the mill erotica (title refers to a fancy brooch that the Lady wears as a necklace). Without dwelling on the plot too much, or straying from the requisite sexual content for too long at a stretch, Gazzman creates that rare beast - a porn movie that is interesting in its non-porn content, creates empathetic characters and does not slack off in terms of delivering the XXX goods. If porn theaters were still in existence or if repertory/revival houses were more broadminded, this would be an ideal booking to represent what Adult material is capable of producing.

helpful•0