GENRE: Anal Fetish Compilation
DIRECTORS: John Strong
STARS: Lauren Phoenix, Katrina Kraven, Tyla Wynnm, Jada Fire, Ashley Haze, Taylor Rain, Michael Stefano, John Strong
DATES OF PRODUCTION: 2004
LENGTH: 160 mins with bonus material

It's amazing what a shift in tone will do. Indeed, gonzo has built its entire risqué reputation on how people respond to seeing sex in a more "naturalistic" or raunched up setting. Shaved of all the glamour and glitz of straight feature filmmakers, the amateur and extreme smut peddlers secure their place at the adult title table for one simple reason: a lot of people like their XXX rough and raw. Yet there can be such a thing as too much crudeness. In the world of outsider sex films, vulgar and nauseating things are often captured on camera. However, some of these same acts can be featured in an upper echelon adult entertainment and individuals barely bat a ball. It's all in the atmosphere and attitude presented in the piece.

A while back, the Dirge reviewed Tease Me, Then Please Me, a tawdry little title by filmmaking partners Michael Stefano and John Strong that featured more female degradation than the Miss American Pageant and MTV's Real World combined. It was a quasi-violent affair where ladies were used like cum scum buckets, with a little faux verbal and physical abuse added in for open hand slap happiness. Approaching Ass 2 Mouth, another offering from the same salacious team (this time, Strong, not Stefano, is behind the camera), the old anxieties were awakened. Would this be another helping of humiliation, gals being gagged and whacked for the hardcore Hell of it? Or - ***shudder*** - would it be something worse? Amazingly, Ass 2 Mouth is neither. It is an intense, but tempered compilation collection that sees the same actors doing similar sexcapades to a new group of girls. But the difference here is tone. Please/Tease was all about male domination. Ass 2 Mouth lets the ladies speak up for themselves – and, surprisingly, they match up against the men blow for body blow.

The DVD:
As filmmakers, Michael Stefano and John Strong are cut from the same jib. For them, hardcore is like a prizefight, or Thunderdome: two people enter, one satisfied sex fan cums out. The camerawork is sloppy and slapdash. Edits are infrequent, adding to the authenticity of the act. But there is also a tendency to repeat each position dozens of times, as if quantity begs quality for the right to ramrod. Their 'no holds barred' brand of pornography arrives with one great big carnal caveat, however: rough does not always equal hot, and getting too physical can make less adventurous smut samplers uncomfortable. Luckily, Strong manages to find a decent balance between titty and twister in Ass 2 Mouth. Unlike other installments in the Stefano/Strong catalog, this is a sizzling set of scenes where each dude is perfectly matched with an equally opportune piece of poon. All the ladies here handle themselves well, never once letting the S/S contingency get the balling better of them. As a result, Ass 2 Mouth is a far better helping of hardcore than other Platinum X Pictures product. Since Stefano and Strong are the only male performers, it's up to the gals to spice up the sexual smorgasbord. Looking at each sequence individually, we see that a couple of these cunts are better than others at delivering the dicking:

Scene 1: Lauren Phoenix, John Strong, Michael Stefano
From the opening shot, there is a fear that Ass 2 Mouth will be another foul, fetid film where woman will be presented like trash and the men will treat them as such. Lauren is on a leash, being "walked" along the hallway by John. She seems subservient and shy. Just when it looks like we'll have another numbing domination scenario play out, Lauren grabs the chain, looks Mr. Strong directly in the eye, and demands dong. After a couple of playful ass slaps, he concedes. The blowjob goes on for a while, with Ms. Phoenix fellating the fuck out of John. There is deep throating, and a strange sequence where Strong stuffs the chain in Lauren's mouth before she continues puffing. Next, John takes out a lavender butt plug and fucks Lauren's rancid rosebud with it. Within a scant few seconds, we get our first glimpse of the title act (and we will see hundreds of examples of it throughout the running time) and Ms. Phoenix even sucks off John and the purple pucker plower simultaneously. John shoves the toy back into the Hershey highway and Lauren crawls across the floor to where Michael Stefano is laying, prone, on the couch.

At this point, the scene de-evolves into a mindless, if rather erotic, frig free-for-all. Rest assured, every orifice Lauren has is larded with cock, toy or a combination of both. We witness some salad tossing and taint play, anal doggy with lots of member switching (Stefano plugs the pooper, then John steps in while Mediterranean A to M is enjoyed), gaping, anal cowgirl, DP in the reverse cowgirl manner, concurrent V/A to M/M and DP in the cowgirl format. Add in some pile driving, a course of standing DP, and lots of repetition (every act here is frequented at least three separate times, maybe more) and our dudes are ready to drop their ball bombs. Lauren takes the loads all over her face and mouth. The reason this scene works, beyond all the hot and horny hardcore, is Lauren Phoenix. She is an equal opportunity plooker and can't wait to handle as much prick as she can please. In a realm where Strong and Stefano can be overly aggressive, she stands tall and takes it all, giving back a good portion of the pounding she endures. The result is a sizzling sex scene where you can tell the performers actually enjoyed themselves. Score: 8 out of 10

Scene 2: Katrina Kraven, John Strong
An area where Ass 2 Mouth really works well is in the one-on-one dynamic. When Katrina and John finish fucking, there shouldn't be a dry seat, lap or face in the house. This is perhaps the best scene in the set, a scorcher that practically turns your TV into a Sleazy Bake Oven. Katrina starts out with an anal probe already positioned in her plump rump and she kisses John's feet and sucks his dick (with lots of ball action) before the carnal cork is removed (naturally, as with all scenes in this set, there is lots of A to M whenever ANYTHING is removed from the butt). These lewd lovers lunge into salad tossing, spit sharing, toy tooling, face fucking, face sitting (both sexes) and some DP featuring a plastic stand-in for the second shaft. John then jones for Ms. Kraven's crack and there is anal doggy, spooning, reverse cowgirl, gaping, straight anal, pile driver, A to M mouth mounting, cowgirl, toe jobbing and standing butt sex. Naturally, the couple retrace their shark steps a few more times before Mr. Strong is ready to shoot. He pops his personal peter plaster directly into Katrina's mouth. She swallows with a satisfied grin. Sweat slicked and spent, this duo really delivers. For this one scene alone, Ass 2 Mouth is worth checking out. Score: 9.5 out of 10.

Scene 3: Tyla Wynn, Jada Fire, John Strong
In a new specification for this scene set, Strong takes on two women in a wild, wanton scene that provides plenty of pussy power. Tyla, who is Caucasian, and Jada, who is African American make a nice ebony and ivory same sex situation and they get us started with lots of lesbo longing. They kiss and fondle each other, do a little masturbating and eventually make a meal out of each others mounds and mons. In walks John, who can't believe his luck, and immediately the overheated gals glom onto his groin. They share the sucking responsibilities and even salad toss Mr. Strong. Next, the dick-to-douche daring-do occurs, with John fucking one wench, then switching immediately to the other. There is anal spooning (with A to M practiced by the non-crammed concubine) and cowgirl, where the same shifting shitter sharing happens. Soon it's time for John to ride the range, and he teaches both babes a thing or two about being a cowgirl (from both the front and backward backdoor direction). After a little standing rodeo, John positions himself in Tyla's junk trunk and delivers a nice creamy filling for her fudge factory. Seeing that Strong has deposited his confection in her buddy's butt, Jada takes the opportunity to tongue the treat out of the porked pie.

If there is a downside to this scene, it is that when Strong is stuffing one gal, the other doesn't have very much to do. Instead of really cranking out the Sappho sluttiness, the unattended girl just lies back, or disrupts the flow of the fucking by sticking her head into 'the heat of the moment', to coin a phrase. While erotic and exotic, a little more lesbianism would have sent this sequence over the top. Score: 7 out of 10

Scene 4: Ashley Haze, Michael Stefano
Again, our performers go uno-to-uno and the results are resplendent. Ashley and Michael make a magnificent pair and when they finish their personal fuck fest, hardcore critics should be exploding with delight. Ashley begins the ball with some primp and preening cabaret, sticking fingers in her butt and tasting her own orifice. Spying Michael on the divan, she makes her way to his asshole, where she tosses some salad, and even works over the taint for good measure. She then gives Michael a healthy session of oral, before the Italian Stallion returns the favor. He also goes for a little female frenching as he routs Ms. Haze's Romaine with relish. After a red butt plug is played with, Ashley gapes for the camera. Michael enters her pussy and pumps away. Then he eats out said slit before the anal antics are engaged in. From the rectal region, the lovers launch into spoon, cowgirl (normal and reverse), pile driver, and doggy. Stefano even steps in during one of the pauses and licks out Ashley's open asshole. Though his cock has been in her mouth throughout the course of Ass 2 Mouth, Ms. Haze insists on finishing Michael off orally, and she swallows his load with gagged efficiency. While not as outright passionate as the pairing of Strong and Kraven, Stefano and Haze really give it the old carnal college try. And for the most part, they succeed. Perhaps the lack of real sizzle comes from Ashley simply being outclassed. Lauren and Katrina set the balling benchmark so high it's hard for anyone else to live up to their XXX-pertise. Score: 7 out of 10.

Scene 5: Taylor Rain, John Strong, Michael Stefano

Our final installment of amped up anal comes courtesy of the fiery threesome of Rain, Strong and Stefano. Taylor takes the lead, doing a little naughty cabaret for her men. Michael takes out some butt beads and slowly inserts them into Taylor. Then John grabs a rather large faux-phallus and plows some pussy with it. Eventually, a real dick takes the place of the dildo, and with love globules still crammed up her crack, Taylor is required to handle an odd session of DP. Eventually, the plastics particles are given a fine oral rinsing in Ms. Rain's mouth and the real sexcapades can begin. John goes for anal spooning. Michael goes for the pile driver doggy dimension. Next, we see some shared anal cowgirl as Taylor travels from one tool to the other, constantly moving back and forth between the beefsticks. Michael and John penetrate their paramour, in both the reverse cowgirl and standing saddlebag positions. Ashley responds by lunching on log, even giving the nutsack a little suckle while she's at it. After a final facet of anal spooning –with mandatory gaping and A to M – it's money shot time. Taylor takes a throat full of both men's shaft sauce and she swallows the slime with ease.

There is only one problem with this final scene of guy-on-guy-on-gal action, and it's something that occasionally plagues all the scenes on Ass 2 Mouth. Instead of letting one position play out for a few minutes, our adult actors have some manner of hardcore ADD and quickly move from one configuration to another. Then to really confuse things, they return almost immediately back to the original arrangement. This over-reliance on repetition makes some of the scenes seem longer than they are. And nothing kills penis (or pussy) pleasure than routine. Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Make no mistake about it: Ass 2 Mouth definitely lives up to its title. There is more 'dirt box cock to waiting lips' explored in the five scenes here than in any 20 regular hardcore titles. Oddly enough though, the A to M here doesn't feel like a novelty. It plays more like a necessary element in the non-stop position switching and jock jesting going on. Every one of the actresses here appear content to gleefully munch on butt basted baloney, so it's not really a problem anyway. Since Stefano and Strong are the only male performers here, it's worth a word or two to comment on their capabilities. Stefano is the more aggressive of the two, using a more dominating approach, even when a lass is matching him lick and stick for suck and fuck. Strong, on the other hand, will mesh with his fellow fornicator, creating a single sexual entity out of an original coupling. His scenes are more successful than Stefano's in presenting porn of a more even keel variety. Overall, the gals here are great, each one offering a different take on the tool to tushy format. At almost two and a half hours, there is a lot of hump happiness to be had with Ass 2 Mouth. And it's nice to know that, in the world of Michael Stefano and John Strong, not all sex is sadistic.

The Video:
Starting out a little dark and growing lighter in its image elements throughout the course of the running time, Ass 2 Mouth has the definite feel of a homemade production in its 1.33:1 transfer. There is no real cinematic value to the title, just people fucking on video. The camcorder conceit provides all the pre and post production configurations here. While the flesh tones are fine and the overall color scheme correct and concrete, we still get a sense of watching something crafted on the sly, not specifically created for a wider market. This may speak to its glorified near-gonzo ideals, but it makes for mediocre picture quality.

The Audio:
Strong obviously enjoys nu-metal, that punk-funk combination of hip-hop and hard rock that is already sounding derivative and dated. Said sounds open the DVD and are used, with some frequency, as the bumper music for the scenes. Overall, the Dolby Digital Stereo sounds good, with nice clarity and a real sense of space. Like other Platinum X Pictures, the volume control is crazy, with the occasional scene soaring sonically, while others are barely audible. Overall, the presentation is palatable, but this is not some exercise in aural excellence.

The Extras:
PXP provides some paltry bonus material for this title, none of it being very exciting or interesting. The Behind the Scene featurette interviews Lauren, Katrina and Ashley, and the gals have nothing but praise and puffery for their co-stars. It's interesting to hear how much they enjoyed being completely canoodled by the Strong/Stefano team, but some more insight into their own personal proclivities would have balanced out the praise-a-thon. In the extra sex department, we are treated to a few outtakes from the films, moments where positions were changed or uncomfortable acts were halted. None of these balling "bloopers" are really necessary viewing. Add in the standard gallery garbage, a few of your typical trailers and a cum shot recap that is only appealing to those who want to relive the movie's spunkier moments, and the added value on Ass 2 Mouth is minimal. Thankfully, the film is much better than the DVD presentation. Otherwise, there would be no real reason to partake of this digital desert.

Final Thoughts:
With the hundreds of anal-oriented titles in the marketplace, it is easy to envision something like Ass 2 Mouth getting lost in the hinder hobble. Even fans of these performers – both male and female – may think this is just another pooper-based production and skip its shitter situations. But that would be a mistake. Ass 2 Mouth is a hot helping of hardcore ready to blast your pocket rocket – or if you are so inclined, jaunty juice box – into unknown realms of erotic pleasure. On the Disco Dirge Peter Meter, this compilation earns a 7.5 out of 10 and is recommended. And while it may seem like couples would cringe at all the aggressive action here, the overall tone is so tantalizing that even the most miscreant maneuvers will act as a marital aide. As a result, a Cohabitation Certification is easily granted. It seems odd to say it now, but there once was a time when the Dirge considered Michael Stefano and John Strong a blight upon the adult entertainment industry. Of course, such an onerous opinion was crafted after a single sampling of their hardcore histrionics. Ass 2 Mouth redeems the duo in this critic's cocked eyes. And it's all because of tone. Tease Me, Then Please Me was just plain mean. Ass 2 Mouth is a better bit of butt.