Island Fever

Private

Genre: Feature

Director: Thomas Herold

Cast: Maya Gold, Steve Hooper, Violet, Andrea Morati, Soffia Gently, Tony Di Sergio, Silvia Lancome, Lara Stevens, Katja Kassin
Non-sex by Thomas Herold

Length: 98 minutes

Date of Production: 7/02

Extra's: audio commentary with the director-I thought his English skills were great but he needed to speak more (lots of dead space here), making of featurette (very short though), text interview with the director, trailers, cast biographies, production notes, double sided dvd cover, photogallery

Condoms: No

Audio/Video Quality: The picture was presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen color. It looked very crisp and clear with only minimal grain. I didn't see any artifacts or video noise but some parts weren't lit as well as they should have been, relying far too much on natural lighting without any filler lights. The audio was presented with the usual choices Private is known for, with my viewing choice being the Dolby Digital stereo English version. For the most part, the separation between the channels was minimal but the mix between the vocals and music was decent (and clear).

Body of Review: Private is an international company known for making some very high quality porno's. This is true of their compilations, vignette series and features as well. In the case of their feature movies, director Tom Herold presents the latest one, filmed in Ibiza to boot, called, Island Fever. Before you go fussing at me about the title, please note that I wasn't the one who named it after the well-known Digital Playground Island Fever series, and I think the company might have been wise to name it something different. Both releases have their own merit and fans of Private will not likely confuse the two anytime soon. The movie centered on a writer, played by Tom himself, who is busy writing a screenplay while all those around him take advantage of the sexual opportunities surrounding them. In short, it was a typical porno except that the cast was really attractive and the technical qualities very well done (for the most part). Here's a breakdown of the scenes by cast:

Scene One: Maya, a lean and very hot looking blonde with a killer body, took care of Steve by an outdoor pool. She did most of the work here as she bounced on his lap while helped make it a good scene but the moans and groans seemed dubbed which bugged me a bit. The sex was oral and straight but not bad, just a bit shorter than I'd have preferred.

Scene Two: Violet, another attractive blonde but with bigger breasts, started off this scene by masturbating with a glass dildo outside by the pool. After a few moments, Andrea walks by and tosses her dildo into the pool, giving her a fleshy substitute to work with instead. The sex included anal this time and was also pretty well done.

Scene Three: Soffia, a lean brunette, and Tony, had a scene on the deck of a small catamaran. The sex included a fairly long foreplay scene before they got down to business. The sex included oral and straight only but was the longest one of the movie with some real chemistry.

Scene Four: Silvia, a curvy brunette with a natural body, and Andrea, the stud from scene two, had a playful scene outdoors. The sex included anal with a facial and was very warm for me.

Scene Five: Lara and Violet, after warming each other up by the outdoor pool, took care of Steve. The lighting here was most interesting in how it used the sunlight to full advantage. Apparently, the cloud cover kept coming and going which made the scene often seem almost surreal. The gals then left to swim while he got to try out Katja, in her Private debut. I wish she had had been in the scene the whole time as her sexual prowess in other movies has really, really worked for me.

Scene Six: Maya and Tony had a short ending scene on the mansion. It was pretty tame compared to the others but erotic enough that romantic couples will enjoy it a lot.

Summary: To be frank with you, the movie wasn't anything exceptionally different from what Private usually offers in terms of the plot and the sex was a lot more couples-oriented than most of their other titles. This leads me to think that they knew up front that they were shooting for a title that might get some sales based on the release by the other company. That said, I think it was well done enough to earn a rating of Recommended for those of you who don't like the circus act sex, want something a bit harder than you'll find in many domestic features, and appreciate higher end production values. Private is definitely on the right track but they need more spit and polish if they're going to succeed in gaining market share from other companies making feature movies.