Club Ginger

Vivid Entertainment

Genre: Feature

Director: Bruce Seven

Cast: Rebecca Lynn, Francois Papillion, Peter North, Ron Jeremy, Patty
Pettite, Ginger Lynn, Sharon Mitchell, Tom Byron, Bionca, Paul Thomas, Randy
West

Length: ~85 minutes

Date of Production: 1986 (credits), 2/8/92(box)

Extra's: The extras were the same ones Vivid used to put on their DVDs years ago and included some biographical data of the lead, some trailers, a labyrinth (maze) where you could see bits of other Vivid scenes, typically edited scenes though, phone sex commercials, and not much related to the actual feature itself. They've come a long way thankfully.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Club Ginger was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in so very long ago (nearly twenty years at this revised writing) by director Bruce Seven for Vivid, then a start up porn company that wisely propelled itself into the limelight by signing Ginger Lynn to an exclusive contract for several years. This is what I said about the DVD around five years ago (and it still holds true today): "I saw this on tape when it first came out 15 years ago and I remember it looking better than this. This DVD looks like the source
tape was worn since we see so many drop-outs and other tape problems in addition to the weak transfer it seems to have received. The picture often looks faded with a soft focus and grain too. The sound is somewhat hollow and the music is that droning stuff we used to hear back in the old days too."

Body of Review: I've met numerous porn stars in my day, from the up and coming hopefuls to the fading cuties of yesteryear, and while most of them were nice to me, I'll always hold a special place in my crotch for Ginger Lynn Allen. Here's what I said about her in my review of Club Ginger years ago: "Ginger Lynn was "THE" superstar back in the 80's (whose sole competition for the spot light was the infamous youngster Traci Lords). She made scores of porn movies before her retirement and inevitable comeback. This was one of the many movies she made with Bruce directing. They were seemingly churning them out faster than a speeding bullet and the public was buying them up like there was no tomorrow. Due to the age, keep in mind that the cast is hairy, there's no condom epidemic, and the editing is lame. That said, we proceed to the movie itself. The premise here is that Ginger, a porn superstar, holds a contest to reward her loyal fans. They submit their fantasies and she or one of her associates fulfill them. Sounds pretty cool, huh? In any case, there are 8 sex scenes, with many of them pretty short, and some minor fast forward fodder." With that said, here's a look at the scenes from the movie as I originally saw them, noting that the movie was old even when I first saw this DVD version of it:

Scene One: Rebecca Lynn gets it on with Peter North and Francois Papillion. Francois is supposed to be a Texan who wants to watch his girlfriend get a hot hard one while he watches. Aside from how lame he looked and how no one from Texas would ever be fooled by him, the sex had some heat to it. We see Peter fingering her to get her ready and then the mandatory oral show followed by a threesome. Not a great scene for the technical stuff or the sex.

Scene Two: Patty Pettite has Ron Jeremy tied up as a living canvass as she paints him various colors. He is initially tied up-probably because the movie's caterer only had enough food to give everyone one meal-and then the two have some oral and straight sex. She was past her prime here and he never had a prime so the sex was about what I'd expect if I peeped in on some elderly neighbors.

Scene Three: Tom Byron has a fantasy about dancing for a group of horny women. Instead of a group, he gets Ginger Lynn and Sharon Mitchell. A fair deal, to be sure. While he screws Sharon, Ginger puts anal beads up both of their asses (ie: Tom and Sharon). He then orgasms from providing Ginger with some backdoor fun and the beads get pulled out. Good old Bruce and his anal tricks. The scene was very warm.

Scene Four: Paul Thomas and Bionca have a little get together in his study. She
blows him and he screws her in a very short, tame scene.

Scene Five: Ginger Lynn consoles Patty Pettite who was ruffed up by a stranger. The two lick each other a lot and use several toys on each other including a strap
on. Patty gets a technical DP and the scene was very warm.

Scene Six: After a good Ginger Lynn scene, it's tough on the following people.
This scene is no exception. It has Tom Byron and Bionca in a fairly short, tame scene. If you rent the movie, you'll notice that most of the scenes are edited into other scenes. This was one of Bruce's biggest problems back them. He simply couldn't let the action flow consistently.

Scene Seven: Sharon Mitchell, Rebecca Lynn and Peter North have a technically good scene. I would have preferred Sharon get more scene time but then she has always been an acquired taste. She enjoyed sex more than most performers though she
wasn't the stereotypical blonde, large breasted female that most guys like.

Scene Eight: Ginger Lynn and the contest winner, Randy West, were up last. It's funny but he even looks old here-15 years ago. I guess it's true what doctors say about the
effects of the sun. Anyway, he plays a guy with a super huge ego (eyes rolling at the lack of acting ability he'd need to pull that stretch of the imagination off) who used to screw ginger before she turned pro. Admittedly, the scene was among the strongest since it didn't get edited into two or more other scenes and the energy level was fairly high. I liked that she finished him off with a double-handed hand job.

Summary: Club Ginger was made around the time that videotape took over from film as the method of production and it showed far too often. For those who complain about the nature of gonzo shoots, they should research productions both before and after the advent of taped movies to get a real feel for the way things went in the toilet (in many ways) years ago. I rated this one as a Rent It but here's what I said about it initially: "I always liked Ginger and her recent comeback was good news for me.
She's not older-just more experienced. That said, this was not her best movie from the old days-not even close-but it had a few pretty good scenes and it's dirt cheap to buy. Sure it has technical problems. Sure it's editing was done in the dark by a blind, deaf monkey but it still had some worthy moments. She also stands way above the crowd for looks here but Sharon was as good sexually. I got it on sale at Adult DVD Empire for $5 (sorry, sale's over folks). At the low end, it's a buy for anyone who's ever called themselves a
Ginger fan. At the high end, it's a rental for anyone who wants to see what the fuss was all about over one of the biggest stars of the 80's.

Note to Vivid: It's not your fault that the editing sucks, nor is it your
fault that the source material is faulty, your fault lies in how you treated
the extra's-as always-and DVD mastering. It would've made more sense to lose
the crappy extra's and focus on the feature here and elsewhere. Please
consider doing a market survey of some sort to see what the public wants.
Thanks!

This Don Houston "retro-review" was written long ago before the so-called Professor of Porn had much experience writing reviews. Since that time, he has found Vivid Entertainment to have a lot of good releases and seen more porn than almost anyone reviewing on the internet. Keep in mind that his comments accurately reflected his fresh viewpoint of the time he first saw the movie.