Melt

Wicked Pictures/Faraway Films, Inc.

Genre: Feature

Director: David Stanley

Cast: Julia Ann, Randy Spears, Lindsay Meadows, Barrett Blade, Mikayla, Eva Angelina, Marcus London, Justine Joli, Paola Rey; Roxy DeVille and Tommy Gunn in the bonus scene only

Non-sex role: Evan Stone, Shannon Kelly, Lourdes, Just Nipples, Ida Know, Corporate Vampire, JL Abraham, Chris Spore, Caton Cactus, Devinn Vine, Yvette Tryptamine, David Stanley

Length: 102:29 minutes

Date of Production: 12/1/2006

Extra's: Some of you will appreciate the bonus scene from Rapture In Blue starring Julia Ann, Roxy DeVille, and Tommy Gunn the most (it lasted 14:42 minutes for those who care). I prefer unique material but I described the scene below for those who haven't seen it. Personally, I enjoyed the 25:01 minute long Behind the Scenes feature by Jax (edited by Aldo Hoffman & Cliff Cummings) a lot more as it had interviews with the key players of the movie and some additional sex footage. It was a solid little feature by the guy with a decided emphasis on David explaining the ideas going into the project, also giving the ladies some quality time but it did provide some stroke value and material for the fans. The extras also included the generic Wicked Pictures DVD catalog, a photogallery, company profile, Casino game, 6 Star Galleries, Award Winner and Nominations special, 3 Star Stat pages, desktop photos (all on DVD Rom), trailers to shows like Rapture In Blue, Around The World In Seven Days, Mobster's Ball, Manhunters, Gossip, 1000 Words, Camp Cuddly Pines Powertool Massacre, and Sleeping Around, and a double sided DVD cover and slip case.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Melt was presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen color if was shot in by director David Stanley for Wicked Pictures. I always prefer an anamorphically enhanced picture so it was pleasing to see David return to the sanity of providing one, even if this was not his best work to date. The lighting seemed more natural than average for a Wicked Pictures release, resulting in minimal grain, minor video noise, and shadows. The composition of the shots was good, enhancing the look of the ladies but sometimes showing too much propensity to move when a static shot would've worked better thematically. There were some compression artifacts but they really weren't a big issue for me as infrequent as they were here and the bitrate seemed to frequently hover in the upper 4 Mbps range so it could have looked worse. One of the issues I had with the movie was the sheer amount of green screen special effects that softened a number of the scenes but it was not a bad looking fuck flick, even for a smaller budget release from the company. The audio was presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English track or a 2.0 Dolby Digital track in Spanish. My Spanish is rusty and limited to technical fields but it seemed to convey the general mood of a porno even if never looking lip synched up like much of the anime I review seems to be. The main track was showing a 384 Kbps bitrate (twice the normal rate for a porno) did have some separation between the channels but most of it appeared to be related to the musical score, which was very pleasantly handled; adding value and enhancing the mood of the movie more often then not.

Body of Review: David Stanley can almost be called the X-factor at Wicked Pictures for the types of movies he makes at the company as one of their extensive stable of directors these days. Brad makes their best straightforward features, Jonathan makes their quintessential comedies, Stormy covers the female perspective nicely, and Michael tends to provide their pretty porn so very well so David's niche is secure as the quirky one capable of surprising even jaded old porn hounds like me. His latest release shows him once again stretching the envelope with a quaint little feature called Melt where she learns to deal with the death of her husband via the soul searching efforts she engages in with a mystic. I know it sounds pretty lame and truth be told, I think David needed more polishing up here but it was a cute effort that had some of the most natural sex I've seen in a porno of late, never getting too formulaic but always managing to deliver the admittedly basic goods. I don't want to ruin the limited plot for those of you that see it but it was one of his better efforts and the use of Julia and Randy as the leads worked out nicely given their acting chops. Here's a quick look at the scenes by cast and action, noting that condoms were used in all the scenes where a pecker penetrated:

Scene One: Julia Ann, the contract MILF from the front cover, was up first with Randy Spears in bed as the couple enjoyed each other in the buff. She slowly slobbed his knob as if savoring the taste of his pecker, crouched between his legs as sunlight poured through the window, and he made little noises as she jerked him off into her mouth. He nearly lost it as she did so but managed to hold out for a few positions of vaginal sex where she actively participated (to a degree, it wasn't her best work). It looked more natural than most porn and ended when she gave him more head with a handjob capper into her mouth. While it wasn't the most varied of her recent scenes, the pair did have some nice chemistry going for themselves that lent it some replay value.

Scene Two: Lindsay Meadows, a lean brunette with light skin, was up next in bed as Julia Ann walked in on her and Barrett Blade engaged in the nasty on the bed during a party (interrupted by some funny dialogue by David discussing his desire to donkey punch women during sex). This was one of those impromptu scenes where Julia could not take her eyes off the pair as he banged away on Lindsay, jumping in to provide him with a blowjob and hand assist in the darkened room until Randy walked in and Barrett busted a nut of population pudding into Julia's mouth. The sex was more natural, like the last scene, than most pornos and a pleasant alternative that was strokable but not truly long enough for my tastes.

Scene Three: Mikayla, a busty brunette with a soft touch, was up next in a metaphysical romp with Randy Spears during a vision quest of sorts that employed a visually stunning backdrop courtesy of some weird special effects. Randy stayed in character as he nervously cheated on his wife with her, the two feeling each other up before she laid him back and went to work on his cock with her oral skills. My only real complaint was the slow motion used for the scene that limited the heat with her ass cheeks rippling as he plowed deep inside her for a couple of active positions. I understand it was part of the nature of the scene in the feature aspect of the movie (like the other scenes) but it still came off as forced to me and the ever present condom made absolutely no sense in the context of the event due to the whole idea behind it. He popped a huge load onto her lower abdomen at the end but it wasn't as interesting as the previous two scenes.

Scene Four: Eva Angelina, a sexy Latina wearing her trademark eye glasses, was up next to a car as she blew muscular Marcus London enthusiastically on her knees. Eva is always a treat in porn and the lack of build up did little to hamper her energetic oral that was followed by him reciprocating as she propped herself up on the car. The lighting was once again naturalistic and too low for what I prefer in porn but I could see what they were doing and all of her favorable physiological responses too. They only did a missionary and doggy vaginal screw here and she was not exactly all that active (those positions are tough even under the best of circumstances, never mind a house garage beside and on a car) but it wasn't a bad bit of boning thanks to their chemistry; ending with him rubbing out a facial.

Scene Five: Justine Joli, a cute redhead that only does women (honest sweetie, I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body) and Brazilian Paola Rey were up last in another special effects scene with the couple wearing some fine lingerie (Paola had on a thong and pink satin corset while Justine wore a skimpy purple bra and matching accessories). The clouded background had the two fingering, kissing, and going down on each other in heated fashion, with some foot fetish work to round out the usual lesbian tricks. Booth showed appreciation for each other and I did not get a lipstick lesbian vibe from them but the scene ended too soon for my tastes even if it complimented the admittedly twisted feature aspects of the show.

Bonus Scene: Rapture In Blue: Julia Ann, having been led around by her enlargened teddy bear (don't ask), and sexy brunette Roxy DeVille, were up next with studly Tommy Gunn in a representation of Randy watching porn on a large make shift TV set. Roxy was the focal point and got all nasty as she slobbed his knob, applying all sorts of kinky moves on his as she worked his meat pipe over thoroughly. Julia gave him a titty fuck too but her own oral was more indicative of the ice queen she portrayed in the movie, showing only a bit of her usual passion. Roxy took the vaginal pounding fairly well but Julia was passive as he banged her on the couch; some minor lesbian antics warming it up a little bit. The gals cumswapped his spew with a lengthy kiss and it was over before I realized.

Summary: Melt by director David Stanley for Wicked Pictures was not designed to satisfy the raincoater crowd and I advise those types to stay far away from it but the couples crowd or someone new to porn might find the action quite suitable to share with a loved one and the story elements were handled better than expected by the cast and crew so I rated it as Recommended. In short, Melt was the type of porno you expect from David and Wicked Pictures; something off the beaten track with pleasing couples engaging in various coital activities for your mutual pleasure that shows some modest replay and stroke value you won't be ashamed to see.