From the Blue Room Feature 'A Look at Andrew Blake'

The final title in my look at the work of Andrew Blake is Dollhouse, produced in mid-2003, and it's an appropriate title to end on. It captures everything about Blake that this fan has become disillusioned about. The film intercuts scenes of creepy hardcore with the kind of erotic-fantasy posing that Blake has become known for. And damn, if there isn't some strange kink going on in this film.

Starring Jacqueline, Dahlia Grey, Monica Mendez, Nike, Jade, Rachel Rotten, and Celeste, Dollhouse is a strange and weirdly colorful Ken Russell phantasmagoria of porn. After a promising boy-girl scene starts things off (ever seen a tattooed cock?), Dollhouse descends into one of the strangest scenes I've ever seen in porn: a lesbian cunnilingus scene in which the licker alternates her tongue between a vagina and a plate of raw beef. She then proceeds to smear the beef against the vagina and take "bites" out of both. Okay, I can see the statement here, but is it a statement I want to see in a film that should be arousing? Nope. And what of the scene involving the insertion of a lit cigar into a waiting pussy? Shades of the Oval Office, surely, but is it hot? Where is the market for Dollhouse? Who is Blake making movies for?

On one hand, you get the feeling that Blake has lost his mind, finally and irrevocably. You also get the feeling, in this film and in HardEdge, that he has responded to his critics, even to his audience, and tried to create something with more hardcore elements—but in doing so, Blake has cranked the kink element into otherworldly strangeness and left the vast majority of us behind. Grade: C-

The image quality of Dollhouse is similar to that of HardEdge—intentionally grainy but detail-generous. Colors are oversaturated again, accurately so. The 1.85:1 anamorphic-widescreen transfer is really quite effective. The digital 5.1 audio track offers the same aural quality of recent previous efforts. The Raoul Valve music is again very fun.

The extras on Dollhouse are reminiscent of those on HardEdge—a plethora of featurettes and a long behind-the-scenes piece that add up to over 90 minutes. The featurettes, again, are short films, and these—like all the rest on all the discs—could be scenes left out of the main feature. The real draw is Andrew Blake's Dollhouse: Behind the Scenes, which is made, this time around, by Blake regular Monica Mendez. Right away, I knew I was in for a treat, because I get to hear Blake say again, "World-class pair of tits." All in all, Monica is a quieter documentarian than Celeste (in the documentary on HardEdge), and so there are long moments of contemplative silence in this one—an interesting stylistic change, but not as entertaining. This is more of a fly-on-the-wall approach to some of the scene setups. Still, there are a couple of tantalizing moments.

That documentary ends with a telling moment involving Blake. For about 10 minutes, he's been setting up and shooting a scene in which two beautiful women lounge atop each other, slowly writhing, and looking sensual for his camera. He guides their bodies into many positions, capturing different angles and pouty expressions. Near the end, both girls look exhausted, and one is simply slumped over on the bed, lifeless. At that point, Blake considers her and says, "Okay, now what can we do with her?" Fade out.

I get the feeling that the moment encapsulates the mood on Blake's sets for past 7 or 8 years. This is a man who has all the tools and talent to create scintillating porn, and yet he's contenting himself with capturing bizarre, languid, often static images of seemingly uninterested women. Where has the passion gone, Mr. Blake? I can watch bored gorgeous women for only so long before I have to press the Off button on the TV. As evidenced by your early work—for example, in the just-released 3-disc box set, reviewed here—you are a legendary chronicler of hardcore passion. To this reviewer, your strange and dark explorations of upper-class ennui and softcore kink are getting increasingly monotonous.

The porn industry, besieged by filth, is primed for your return to form. The stage is set for you to revolutionize adult entertainment once again. Please come back.