Virgins of the Screen

Combat Zone

Genre: Gonzo

Director: Kenny Brandon

Cast: Jasmine Jones, James Deen, Summer, Reno, Aubrey Banks, Nick Jacobs, Allison Pierce/Price, Talon, Evelyn Lin, Mark Wood

Length: 145 minutes

Dates of Production: 3/11/2006, 3/15/2006, 3/29/2006, 4/11/2006, 4/15/2006

Extras: While I wasn't exactly expecting a plethora of extras, I was pleased that the 14 minute long Behind the Scenes feature went out of the way to provide some pleasant footage of the ladies. I've noticed a trend at several popular companies to shoot footage of a girl or two and leave the rest behind as though they were somehow less appealing. Interestingly enough, the ones they leave off tend to be the ones that make it big faster, perhaps foreshadowing the future in a reverse sort of manner. The BTS this time seems to spell out a lot of the attitude that showed up in the scenes, from the shy nature some gals had to the "I'm going to make it big" muses of others. If you like seeing gals on the verge of a porn career; don't miss it. The other extras were definitely minimal with a photogallery, cumshot recap, and a picture disc DVD featuring Jasmine Jones.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Virgins of the Screen was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in by director Kenny Brandon for release by Combat Zone, his directorial debut from the looks of it. The lighting was generally good and that helped keep the grain, video noise, and other flaws to a minimum. The fleshtones were accurate and the camera work was generally good with the composition of the shots enhancing the ladies' looks most of the time. The focus was lost a few times and the editing might've helped clean up some of the technical matters surrounding the inexperienced cameramen but like the new performers, the new crew was in need of a few lessons too. There were no compression artifacts or significant shadows to contend with so I found the picture moderately appealing. The audio was nothing special although encoded in 2.0 Dolby Digital English. The processing done in post production aside, the vocals were seemingly recorded in monaural and the music not a big factor so it wasn't a problem but it wasn't anything worth extra points either. I was surprised that the volume was so low on the vocals (especially a couple of the earlier scenes) and hope this area is improved upon in later efforts by the fledgling director but it was a solid first effort overall in terms of the visual elements.

Body of Review: Combat Zone is the new kid on the block with regard to offering gonzo scenes of depravity for your stroking pleasure. With such a crowded field to compete against, the company sure has its work cut out for it to offer something better, stronger, and/or more stroke worthy. Their latest release is called Virgins of the Screen, a set of scenes where the ladies are supposedly new to porn. This claim is made by a great many series by a horde of companies so I tend to take it with a grain or twenty of salt these days but in most cases, the ladies were unpolished enough that I believed the claim. Personally, I prefer women with some experience since they tend to provide better stroke material for me that way but I know this is the hot trend in porn going on three decades so I took the title for review just the same. I'll say at the onset of this review that if you like newcomers with all the rough edges they bring with them, you'll want to get a copy of this DVD regardless of my recommendation, but here's a detailed breakdown of the scenes by cast and action, noting no condoms were used:

Scene One: Jasmine Jones, the little hotty on the front DVD cover, was up first in her colorful bra and blue jean skirt as she sat back on the bed and complained about James Deen taking so long. The front DVD cover advertised that this was her first, and last, performance and while the 18 year old looked familiar, I can't say that I've seen her in any other releases. Her all natural body alone sparked some interest in me though the virtual interview that James tried to give her was mighty lame (and she was far too shy to provide any answers worth noting). He bent her over and spanked her but she looked like she could kick his ass and while she was pliant to his positioning of her body, she was definitely in need of some training. I know some of you prefer the "deer in the headlights" look some of these new gals offer (Jasmine being a prime candidate in fact) but I prefer enough mileage to know I'm going to get a show. He warmed her up with his hand and tongue, causing her to open up a little bit more but as much as I think she enjoyed his ministrations, I was ready to see what she had to offer besides looks. Her blowjob showed a gal with limited experience, though I'm sure her mouth was no stranger to small cocks like his, and this led to them screwing vaginally. They tried several positions but she seemed uncomfortable in all of them with the slapping and choking not working to get her any hotter. There were several points in the movie before the facial that she looked like she was wishing James would go away, and I could sympathize with her given how lame he was at getting a decent performance out of her. Maybe she'll make a come back after going to "Don Houston's School O' Porn" where she'll learn to provide a better performance but I somehow doubt it.

Scene Two: Summer, a hot blonde that looked much like Tiffany Rayne (perhaps her kid sister), was up next on a large ottoman wearing hot lingerie as she provided a passingly fair interview to the accented director. She also claimed to be 18 and while I wasn't clear on her specific age, she was a lot closer than most in the industry making such claims (I've seen gals in their late 20's suggest this so maybe I'm jaded). There were still a lot of awkward silences in the interview but I would have preferred she be given more of a chance to show that fantastic ass off than she was allowed. Her freshness factor was a notch or two below Jasmine in this sense but I thought she had all the right stuff to succeed (or suck seed) so pairing her with muscular Reno made sense over a scrawny dude like James. He took her to the large bed, warmed her up orally, and then started banging her pussy. I liked her out of control breathing more than the way she kept looking at the camera (as if to see if she was having the desired effect on the director) but she had enough rough edges that I believed she was new to porn. The spanking had the opposite effect from what was intended (it caused her to appear more self conscious) but she gave a decent vaginal ride when she was on top. It was head and shoulders better than Jasmine's scene but I hope to see her twenty scenes from now when she's in full bloom. The scene ended with him stroking out a moderate load to her face as she kept her mouth open to receive what little he could aim her way (not bad for an Iowan).

Scene Three: Aubrey Banks, a skinny blonde with an all natural body, claimed to be 20 years old and looked much like a stripper turned porn performer as she sat on the lap of interviewer Nick Jacobs. I've seen her in a few scenes previously and while she may not be a virgin to porn, I'd bet that she worked a pole or two in her professional life before this (my money would go on her working as a stripper for the previous couple of years). He took some time warming her up and she seemed content to let him drive during the scene, showing a girl next door attitude to go with her facial looks (she was a better looking gal than he was for a man). He went down on her and she reciprocated nicely, proving her level of skill to be greater than the last two gals put together. It was slow going but she was never too advanced to handle him like a newcomer, with the camera work coming off kind of poorly as a result. She was an occasionally active vaginal ride but the camera kept screwing up (note to Combat Zone: get new cameramen) and she started mechanically reciting standard porn lines like she were parroting a script. She had some potential but much of it went largely untapped, evidenced by her ending line "That was so hot" said with all the emotion of a neutered politician (like Michael Dukakis).

Scene Four: Allison Pierce/Price, a smiling gal with light hair and a nice fleshy ass (long legs too), sat in the lap of Talon as he pawed and interviewed her. She was transfixed on the camera but seemed a talkative type as she answered his questions about her anecdotal past. When she stood up to show herself off, her ass looked far leaner though but he liked spanking it and after some more comments, they both did some oral. His oral was the mechanical porn performer style while hers seemed more natural and admittedly rougher edged, but her main sexual act was anal; a first for the Texan gal according to her comments. She gave an active vaginal ride and a close up view of her asshole made me wonder about her comments of her never having done any in the past (it looked pretty worn) but he did all the work at tapping her ass and even if she drove a truck into it the week before, I hadn't seen an earlier seen of her doing anal that I can recall. He ended the scene by rubbing out a moderately large load to her mouth but she didn't swallow and while she may have some physical appeal, she wasn't my type when all was said and done.

Scene Five: Evelyn Lin, a very appealing Asian gal, had a petite figure but beautiful face as she teased to the beat of some lame music. Her tease was polished enough that I figured she either watched as much porn as I have recently (a near impossibility) or she'd been working internet scenes for awhile now. Whatever the case may be, she was paired up on the couch with both Mark Wood and Talon to give the last show of the movie. Talon liked to spank her as she sucked Mark off, eventually sucking Talon off and boning both of them in turns. She was an active rider who did vaginal and anal with a DP to boot, handling all three bodily invasions like she had been doing so for years. The men might not have been hugely gifted but there's no way she was new to this kind of thing the way she rode them, greatly lowering the "look I'm new" factor in favor of a better ride. Were this any other type of porno, I'd have rated the scene very highly as a result but she simply didn't seem to be new to this kind of thing. It ended as expected as she an anal creampie and a facial, marking the most polished performance of the show by far.

Summary: Virgins of the Screen was not my favorite release from Combat Zone but it was worth a rating of Rent It nonetheless. If, on the other hand, you like the newest gals in porn, you'll want to drop everything and pick up a copy to stroke yourself silly too. I found the hotty assisting Aubrey on the BTS to be the second hottest gal on the DVD (after the wonderfully appealing Summer but the technical issues with the camera work and editing combined with the lack of polish on the ladies to be too distracting for me. As always, your mileage will vary significantly depending on what you're looking for but keep in mind that my own bias is against unpolished newcomers in favor of the seasoned professionals.

For substantially better choices in porn, check out: 2005's Top Porn List, 2004's Top Porn List, and 2003's Top Porn List as well as the latest Blue Room Column