The Movie:

Wesley Emerson's 1993 directorial effort, Dirty Books, stars Ashlyn Gere at the peak of her career alongside a few other notable stars of the late eighties and early nineties. Ashlyn plays a bookstore owner whose business is on its last legs. Unsure of what to do to keep her business afloat, she follows her friends advice and starts carrying adult material. This in turn attracts a new clientele and reinvigorates her heretofore dwindling cash flow.

Here's a look at the movie's slap and tickle quotient...

Scene One - Ashlyn Gere And Jonathan Morgan: After discussing finances, Ashlyn drops to her knees and gives Jonathan a blowjob in his office. She strips and sits on the desk and he eats her pussy for a bit before fingering her and then fucking her missionary style. She rolls over for some brief doggy style action and then drops to her knees to finish him off with a big, enthusiastic looking facial.

Scene Two - Tyffany Million: Tyffany goes into a video booth in Ashlyn's store to check out a movie and the mood strikes her. She fingers her shaved pussy and uses a silver vibrator on her self until she climaxes.

Scene Three - Ashlyn Gere And Mike Horner: Ashlyn and Mike are in bed together. Feeling randy, she starts the action off by sucking his cock. He rolls her over and fucks her missionary style and then he pulls off of her and leaves here there all by her lonesome. Drama! She responds by playing with a dildo she has stashed by the night stand.

Scene Four - Ona Z. And Mike Horner: Ona is 'Vanessa' - a porno star who was doing a signing at Ashlyn's store. Mike takes her back to the apartment after the day's work is done and she sits on his lap and then gives him head. She rides him cowgirl style and then he eats her out, then fucks her missionary style for a bit before flipping her over and doing her doggy style. He pulls out and shoots his load onto the top of her ass.

Scene Five - Ashlyn Gere And Kelly O'Dell: A late night at the office becomes more interesting than usual when Kelly and Ashlyn start kissing one another in the back room of the store. They strip and play with one another's tits and then Kelly gives Ashlyn's pussy a very serious licking. Ashlyn responds in kind by slamming Kelly onto the counter and munching her rug with a serious fervor, slurping away and fingering her until she comes.

Scene Six - Ashlyn Gere, Kelly O'Dell And Mike Horner: Kelly and Ashlyn are still going at it at the store and Mike walks in on them. Ashlyn convinces him to join in with them and before you know it, the girls are taking turns giving him head. Poor bastard. Mike eats and fingers Kelly and then he fucks her missionary style, and then after he's had enough of that Ashlyn bends over the desk and he pounds her pussy from behind. The girls drop to their knees and finish him orally.

While the plot is pretty thin, the sex is hot and the cast all perform admirably. The movie is well shot and has definitely got better production values on display than most shot on video porno movies of the era and this gives the movie a bit more atmosphere than you might expect. While this isn't an instant classic it is a good showcase for the lovely Ms. Gere and fans of her work will enjoy the fact that she's in four of the scenes in this movie and that we get to see her with a guy, with a girl, and with a guy and a girl at the same time. Variety is the spice of life, after all. The sex is prevalent enough to matter but never so over the top that it'll alienate anyone, and this would probably make for a good couples' film.

The DVD

Video:

This feature was shot on video and is presented on this DVD fullframe. For a movie that's roughly fifteen years old, Dirty Books doesn't look terrible here. The colors are a little faded and there's some aliasing in some scenes and there are minor problems with the contrast but the picture is clean and clear and stable for the most part. It's far from reference quality but for an older production, it's perfectly watchable.

Sound:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix is in English and is pretty standard stuff, no better, no worse. Dialogue comes through clear enough and there I didn't notice any problems as far as synching or levels are concerned. It's hardly an Earth shattering mix in any way, but it serves the film just fine and the cheesy Casio soundtrack sounds alright.

Extras:

Extras are limited to trailers for seven other VCA/Hustler DVD titles, a still gallery of a few hardcore images set to music from the movie, an internet link, phone sex ads, still menus and chapter selection for the feature.

Final Thoughts:

Ashlyn Gere fans can consider Dirty Books highly recommended as she's in it a lot and she makes the most of her screen time. Those who don't belong to the Ms. Gere's sizeable cult following could still do a lot worse, as the film contains a marginally amusing plot and six steamy sex scenes. VCA's presentation looks and sounds fine though it's light on extras.