The Movie:

Ninn Worx has more or less cornered the 'art porn' market but that doesn't mean that they've been resting on their laurels. Yes, there has been some seriously disappointing repetition from the studio as of late in that they've been recycling the music and using a lot of the same girls again and again but with The Catalyst, directed by the one and only Tall Goddess, they once again prove to be the most creative and artistic studio in the business (when they're trying and not just going through the motions at least).

Scene One – Kimberly Kane And Scott Nails: This scene begins with Kimberly all decked out in a latex body suit, her hall up and spiked and her mascara slightly messed up. Behind her is a trash can with mannequin legs sticking out. After she shows off for the camera for a while, Scott enters the frame and they start getting down to business together. She starts to suck his dick for a bit and then it soon segues into straight out fucking as he takes her reverse cowgirl for a while. After she's done riding him she stands up and bends over, and with her cheeks spread giving us a great view of what lies in waiting, he slams into her doggy style. From there things get a little more aggressive and he gets her on her back to fuck her missionary style, putting her legs up for better, deeper access.

Scene Two – Faith Leon And Marcus Leon: Marcus beings the scene by watching someone through a telescope. He's obviously watching something he shouldn't be and when the mannequin near him comes to life as Faith, he soon forgets about the telescope and concentrates more on the lovely task at hand. She starts things off but giving him a fantastic blowjob in which she really uses her eyes and her pretty face to bring a lot of enthusiasm to the cock sucking – this can make all the difference in the world, and here it does! From there he gets on her back and she climbs up on top of him to ride his prick reverse cowgirl style. Once they've had enough of that she gets down on all fours and he fucks her doggy style which is how it ends when he pulls out and covers her ass in cum.

Scene Three – Adriana Sage, Daisy Marie, And Emily Marilyn: The cover art for this release shows you how these three girls look for this scene. Emily is directing the scene it would seem as she never really participates, but she doesn't say anything here either, it's almost as if she's willing the action to unfold the way that it does here – an interesting artistic choice for the scene, bonus points for creativity can be awarded to pretty much every aspect of this production. The two girls start things off by kissing and then they work their way down one another's body until they're both eating each other out fairly aggressively but never to the point where it gets violent as in some of Belladonna's more recent work. There's some raw sexual aggression shared between the two girls but it never seems forced or contrived, instead it seems like they're really into what they're doing which is accentuated by the fact that neither one of them ever uses a sex toy on the other – this is literally girl on girl in the best way. Daisy eats Adriana's pussy out and then Adriana turns her over and returns the favor. From there Daisy gets Adriana's pussy sloppy and wet by using her tongue and her fingers on her and to close it all out the three ladies all finger themselves to a group climax.

Scene Four – Jassie, Jerry And Marie Luv: Marie sits in a bathtub bathing herself (she does this a lot, like in Atomic Vixens for example, not that I'm complaining) while a mannequin sits in the wall behind her. While Marie takes care of herself in the tub, we see Jassie and Jerry move into the frame and start exploring one another. Jassie has a bit in her mouth that Jerry allows her to take out only so that she can suck his cock for a bit. Once she's done that it goes back in and he licks her gorgeous pussy. From there he gets her on her back and slowly and deliberately slams her pussy missionary style. She comes, or at least gets really close, and then he pulls her off and fucks her doggy style while she's standing up. Marie is in the background, though the camera periodically keeps her in the frame, and we get to watch her play with herself while the other two go at it. This is really well directed scene with some seriously cool art direction and a fair amount of kink laying underneath the action.

Scene Five – Britney Manson And Mario Rossi: When this scene starts off, Britney is doing a sexy little strip tease for the camera and looking very good while she does it. Mario comes into the frame and she goes down on him, giving him a very deliberate looking blowjob that should get most of you out there pretty interested in what comes next and she looks fantastic doing it. Mario eats her out and talks about what a great pussy she has before she climbs up on top of him and rides him cowgirl style. She rides him that way for a bit and then turns around for some reverse cowgirl fun and it becomes really obvious just how wet she is at this point, always a nice touch. Mario gets her down on all fours and goes at her doggy style for as long as he can take it before pulling out and coming all over her shapely ass.

This is a very well put together disc. The sex is hot from start to finish, the girls all look great, everyone is obviously into what they're doing and it's shot very well. The sets are edgy and interesting to look at and the wardrobe used throughout for not only the female performers but the male ones as well is eye catching and colorful with a lot of feather and vinyl and odd little twists to make things look different. It works. The art direction might be too over the top for those who just enjoy flat out gonzo fucking and nothing else but if you want to see a porno that's actually directed as opposed to one that simply records two people fucking, then The Catalyst is a strong, sexy choice.

The DVD

Video:

Shot in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen, this transfer is a mixed bag. The cinematography makes excellent use of the shadowy interiors and there are obviously some lighting gels being used to cast some color onto the set from off camera. This makes for some pretty interesting compositions, the kind you don't expect to see in pornography. The problems with the image lie in the source material in that because it was shot on digital video, there's a fair amount of compression evident on the image and sometimes when the action starts to move a little faster, you'll notice some blurring if you're watching on a larger set. Skin tones look nice and lifelike, however, and there aren't any issues with print damage.

Sound:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix is perfectly sufficient and noticeably better than your average porn movie. The classical score mixes in with the more modern background music composed for the film and, when played out overtop of the rather sadistic and taunting dialogue, it makes for an experience that borders on the surreal. Everyone who speaks can be hard cleanly and clearly and there aren't any problems with hiss or distortion on this set at all.

Extras:

Aside from the interactive menus and the chapter selection, this release also contains a behind the scenes featurette that gives us some nice footage from the production and a few candid moments. An interview with a few of the girls in which they talk about location shooting and the trials and tribulations of the work proves to be pretty interesting. We see some photo shoot footage, some sex scene footage from a few different angles not used in the final cut of the movie as well as more relaxed moments like when the girls are getting into wardrobe and make up. All of the girls get a minute or two in front of the camera and most of the guys involved do as well, though there really aren't any formal sit down interviews here, just mainly impromptu moments captured during the production. This featurette clocks in at just over thirty-seven minutes in length.

There's also a photo gallery and thankfully it's a pretty good one containing over one hundred still shots, many of which are of the hardcore variety, from the feature spread out over roughly ten minutes and playing out set to music in slide show format.

Final Thoughts:

Great looking girls having sincerely hot sex with both male and female partners set to some interesting music and placed on top of some truly interesting sets makes The Catalyst a unique and truly interesting sex film. Highly recommended.