Fashionistas Safado: 10 Disc Collection (Blu-ray & DVD)

The Trailer

Summary Narrative: The original Fashionistas movie was such a major hit that it spawned a show in Las Vegas and two sequels, "Safado The Challenge" and "Safado Berlin", the two sequels amounting to a single movie split apart but released sith a lengthy break in between them.  I hated the idea of how that was done and the original extras were weak but now that they are combined as one, with a nicely enhanced Blu-ray version spicing things up even more (the only way to buy it is to get this entire set), I have revisited the strokable smut-fest known to most as "Safado" in a favorable light.  Katsumi's name has been altered to reflect her current nomenclature and Sasha Grey, then a newbie that few cared much about, has been given a nod as this was her first decent release in porn.  The technical values have been upgraded and overall it has become a "Must Have" for those interested in kink and fetish sex, the kind that Evil Angel has long been known to offer fans above anything else.  I'm not a fan of rewriting history so I'll just say that by current standards, this packed box set is head and shoulders above what any other company provides in terms of Blu-ray & DVD packages, the heated sexual trysts and copious amounts of genetic juice it should inspire such that the replay value and strokability are very solid indeed.  Here are my original observations of the two movies, noting that the DVD version is in anamorphic widescreen but the Blu-ray version is clearly the way to go for those properly equipped.

The Boxed Set Extras: The extras package was substantially enhanced with this release, the commentary tracks worth checking out for fans of the cast. There was also a double disc CD treatment of the audio score for the show, courtesy of Douglas Mariah, to upgrade the clips bouncing around in MP3 format that I’ve heard over the years, the fourth DVD providing a set of Behind the Scenes looks at the production as follows: an 18:51 minute long Pre-Production feature by John and company, a 54:18 minute feature on the Shooting of the movie, Transforming Katsuni lasting 12:54 minutes, 18:51 minutes of “Lighter Moments”, 13:47 minutes of Latex Land, and 11:08 minutes of “Deep Inside Nacho Vidal”. There were then 3 video commentaries where cast members would watch portions of the film and comment, starting with Melissa Lauren lasting 14:38 minutes, Sasha Grey lasting 11:49 minutes, and Rocco Siffredi clocking in at 24:29 minutes (John interjecting his own disappointments). There were also filmographies, many photogalleries, a cast list, trailers, and websites. I would have enjoyed it more if the extras were also given the high definition upgrade but frankly, with smut as nasty/dirty as this, you won’t be visiting the extras a whole lot.

Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge

Evil Angel

Genre: Feature

Director: John Stagliano

Cast: Adrianna Nicole, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Flower Tucci, Marie Luv, Jewell Marceau, Caroline Pierce, Lia Baren, Sasha Grey, Mr. Pete, Erik Everhard, Christian, Jean Val Jean, Chris Charming, Mark Davis, Belladonna, Voodoo, Melissa Lauren, Rocco Siffredi, Jenna Haze, Gianna, Judith Fox, Oona, Dunya, Constantine, Annette Schwartz, Peg, Sintia Stone, Vanessa Hill, Steve Holmes, Jazz Duro, Manuel Ferrara, Katsumi, Nacho Vidal
Non-sex roles: Amber O'Neil, Marceea Moreno, Rachelle Dominique, Alexandra Zevalking, Amanda Nowak, Jill Crook, Jeffrey DeBarathy, Yon Cock, Robb Sapienza, Danielle Rueda-Watts, Steeley, Kazantseva, Nici Sterling, Victoria Ribeiro, Ricky Anys

Length: 249.5 minutes

Date of Production: 9/15/2006

Extra's: Considering the length of the movie, expecting a whole lot of extras probably isn't fair so I wasn't surprised that there were some trailers, a convoluted cast list, and a second side to the DVD cover with the promise of more when the second part of the movie is released in January. Still, there extras sucked goat balls when looked at strictly as a limited package of extras in the two disc set (no wonder why the competition released their big hits on THREE disc sets). On the second disc, the lack of extras was notable too but at least the excuse here will be that the movie was longer on this one. There was a set of limited filmographies and a couple of lengthy photogalleries but that was it.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge was presented in 1.85:1 widescreen color that it was shot in by director John Stagliano for Evil Angel. Considering this was the company's big movie of the year, I stood amazed that it didn't take full advantage of the anamorphic widescreen processing (it adds no cost, just about 25% more detail for those with a decent television set up), especially considering how the darker scenes of the movie showed a lot of grain and video noise compared to other high end offerings. Still, John is a master director in the gonzo field so while this was a feature in name, the sex was largely vignette or gonzo driven with the kind of dynamic those types of scenes offer. The composition of the shots here seemed to deliberately negate some of the attractiveness of the ladies in favor of the stylish attitude of the fetish world; a manner that will find proponents I'm sure but not me. I have long been on record as stating I like to see what hole is being tapped, whose doing whom (the camera work seemed to go out of the way to cut people's heads off; men and women), and static enough to see if the women are getting off or just mechanically going through the paces. As Art, Sadafo might work better than as a stroke flick but it could have had it all. The editing was a bit less refined than I expected; an area that John has never truly been as skilled as his ability to capture hot ass in gonzo scenes, making me think the deadline for AVN awards played a role in the process (he even thanked them in the credits). The rushed appearance definitely showed a need for some polishing up and maybe a future director's cut of the movie will fix the many glitches observed when watching the movie at normal speed. The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English with minimal separation or dynamic range; another porno in this aspect of the game. The vocals were generally clear although some bits sounded either out of synchronization or looped, the balance slightly off when heard through headphones. The music was another story for me in that it was original, interesting, and driven to the point where I thought it might have worked better if fine tuned a bit. It was stark and mechanical; much like the themes of the movie, adding another layer to the anti-sex of some of the scenes.

Body of Review: John Stagliano has long been on the bleeding edge of porn as an artist, a provocateur, and an innovator which is largely why his company, Evil Angel, has succeeded so wildly beyond his original expectations. Several years ago, he set out to make an ambitious feature based on fetish themes that became one of the most awarded porn releases of all time, a small caper known as Fashionistas. The multidisc set boasted lots of extras, a great length, and proved to the world that John wasn't strictly limited to shooting gonzo porn; earning the awe of many who saw it as a truly Alt-Porn release. For raw passion and sensuality, there are still very few titles to match it, even if my sole viewing long ago left me with the feeling that the movie was more for acquired tastes. Well, at long last John decided to invest the time and resources into a sequel, Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge, using many of the same characters reprising their roles and adding the spice of a new sexual dynamic in the form of a competitor to the Jesse and Antonio (Rocco Siffredi and Belladonna) kink fashion designing company. I won't ruin the convoluted plot for you since it became immediately apparent that splitting the movie into two parts weakened this initial section of the movie (part two will come out in January from what I hear; an interesting marketing stunt to coincide with the AVN Show I'm sure). Sexually, it was not your typical porn and most raincoaters will want to go right to the final scene of the first disc or skip it altogether for the orgy sequence on disc two with an emphasis on tease and style over hardcore sex and substance as in most porn. That said, here's a look at the twisted scenes by cast and action as sort of outlined on the disc, noting that no condoms were used by the performers:

Scene One: The Orgy: Adrianna Nicole, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Flower Tucci, Marie Luv, Jewell Marceau, Caroline Pierce, Lia Baren, Sasha Grey, Mr. Pete, Erik Everhard, Christian, Jean Val Jean, Chris Charming, Mark Davis, Belladonna, Voodoo, Melissa Lauren, Rocco Siffredi, Jenna Haze, and Gianna, were up in the house after a successful show and the resulting media frenzy. While there were some very limited teases and passing nods to sexual conduct, this was the closest thing to being the first actual hardcore scene of the movie, beginning at about 30 minutes into the movie. The people paired up into small groups with a lot of spanking, cock sucking, slapping, and tributes to the voyeurism in all of us as some simply watched. The men wore generic clothing while most of the ladies wore shiny plastic (PVC, latex, leather, whatever) outfits as they sat on faces, ground their hips into them (and women), and other sexually explicit acts. Melissa and Bella did nothing here, nor did Manuel, at least until pairing off into separate rooms or waiting for other parts of the movie.

Scene Two: Private Room: Jenna Haze, Gianna, and Rocco Siffredi broke off into the study to do one another, making best use of what talents each brought to the scene. Gianna's bountiful ass and breasts were deployed on Jenna's tiny face, and her DSL's wrapped so tightly around Rocco's cock that I was surprised she shared it with Jenna. For her part, Jenna came alive with Rocco's cock though she wasn't able to handle more than a couple of inches inside her mouth; using her hands until Gianna showed her how to tame the meaty monster. The titty fuck was hot and Rocco sat on Gianna's face a little for a rim job with Jenna getting plundered into her pussy by the one eyed trouser trout before Gianna offered him her ass. Whatever Rocco's tongue wanted, his cock only got pussy until he took Jenna's perfect pucker slowly, letting him do all the work due to his size. She's a hotty but the scene lost points thanks to her inability to handle his cock, the gals slipping into a warm 69 as Rocco switched to the more active Gianna as a lay. There was a lot more spanking and he coated Gianna's breasts to close out the first disc of the show.

Scene Three: The first part of the second disc began with some more of the story where Rocco was going crazy trying to figure out the mystery of Safado but went to a number of inter-related vignette teasers (for lack of a better word) that were labeled as such:

Pipes: Judith Fox
Boiler Room: Oona, Dunya, Constantine,
Doggie in the Window: Annette Schwartz,
Hanging Out: Peg, Sintia Stone,
Stairway to Heaven: Vanessa Hill,
Devil's Due: Peg, Constantine,
Spider: Dunya, Oona, Steve Holmes, Jazz Duro,
Tit Towers: Annette Schwartz, Vanessa Hill, Steve Holmes, Jazz Duro,

These included some tease sequences like in Devil's Due where Peg (a dyke with a unique look and more tattoos on her then just about anyone) implied she was going to anally rape corn hole boy Constantine but it was never shown, Hanging Out, where Sintia was in a precarious position at Peg's mercy, or Jazz and Steve spanking and getting head from Dunya and Oona in Spider. If you're into spreader bars, clamp torture, and all the trappings of the fetish world but not wanting to see sexual intercourse in your porn, the stroke value of these bits will blow your mind but if you'd like something more conventional, they tend to drag on without end and are best taken in small doses.

Scene Four: The Orgy Pt. 2: Adrianna Nicole, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Flower Tucci, Marie Luv, Jewell Marceau, Caroline Pierce, Lia Baren, Sasha Grey, Mr. Pete, Erik Everhard, Christian, Jean Val Jean, Chris Charming, Mark Davis, Belladonna, Voodoo, Melissa Lauren: The movie then reverted back to the orgy with the players actually screwing one another. Sandra was on fire as always thanks in large part to Erik, Flower seemed ready to rumble, Nicole and Voodoo shared some quality time, and Melissa finally joined in to have some fun as Pete went all out on her in his best impersonation of Erik to date. I was thankful that Nicole took on Bella as Marie sucked off both Chris and Voodoo but there were so many pairings that keeping track of it all would drive a completist nuts so the emphasis on oral and anal this time (lightening up on the fetish aspects of the scene ever so slightly as if to foreshadow something about to take place). The scene ended in a bunch of sloppy facials for those keeping track but it was a decidedly mixed orgy (orgies are tough to handle right and even talented directors like John Stagliano are subject to the dynamics of trying to edit in all the best material without losing track of the big picture. Had there been multiple angles allowing for several static cameras to catch all the fun, this scene might have worked far better than it did.

Scene Five: Girls on Stage: Melissa Lauren, Belladonna, and Manuel Ferrara, played around in the closed down theatre with some oral but no actual penetration. The potential of the scene was so great that it pissed me off they weren't allowed to carry through with it.

Scene Six: Violet & Safado: Katsumi, the central sexual female figure of the movie, was up next as she worshiped the cock of a creepy Nacho Vidal. He was sporting a megalomaniac complex (I wonder if he's been hanging around a guy named Kurt?) and she serviced him orally on his cock and ass; never missing any part of him as she showed off her wonderful body in that purple outfit she wore on the front DVD cover. He spanked her hard enough to cause even her to wince a few times, leaving hand prints that made me all excited (NOT!) and the scene ended with he blowing his load onto her awaiting face.

Scene Seven: Violet Designing: Katsumi, still sporting the load to her face (at least that which she didn't swallow down), abused Sintia Stone, who was wearing a black latex outfit with inflatable breasts next. The heavy duty fetish aspects like the gas mask were silly and Nacho joined them until the manly role was taken over by Jazz Duro. Katsumi sat on his face for some smothering and was rewarded with a blowjob or two by Katsumi and Sintia after each had been thoroughly satiated. This led, of course, to more anal play with toys and then his cock, both gals riding it before he gave them a large dose of population pudding to swap and swallow.

Scene Eight: Jesse & Antonio: Belladonna and Rocco Siffredi were up last in a frightfully short scene that included oral, a few pumps in her pussy, and more oral until he took her anally (she did some ATM too). The slow motion was about as welcome here as in any other movie, coming across as pretentious with the movie ending before he launched his load or tied up any of the loose ends of the show to head off to Berlin (where the sequel is supposed to conclude).

Summary: Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge was not the watershed project of John Stagliano for me as it was for some of my peers but it has aged well, far better than some of the competition in fact and works better as part of a whole as released in this boxed set.  The Blu-ray portion enhanced it substantially in places too though few would complain too loudly about the technical merits of either version of the movie. As someone who has himself evolved into appreciating John's kinkier visions in recent years (remember that this came out nearly five years ago, two generations in porn-speak), I found this to work better now than before so give it another shot if you are into the fetish/tease/hard core market. As such, it could easily be rated as Highly Recommended by a wider audience given the boxed set approach on top of the high definition Blu-ray addition.

Fashionistas Safado: Berlin (Fashionistas 3)

Evil Angel

Scene two showed plenty of lighting effects too.

Genre: Feature, Fetish

Director: John Stagliano

Melissa Lauren and Annette Schwarz looked good together.

Cast: Sarah Sun, Melissa Lauren, Steve Holmes, Joachim Kessef, Jazz Duro, Katsumi, Nacho Vidal, Annette Schwarz, Judith Fox, Sinita Stone, Vanessa Hill, Rocco Siffredi, Zlata the Contortionist, Peg the Fetishist, Fraulein Schmitt, Steffie, Sarah Sun, Tricia Devereaux, Jazz Duro, Chrissi, Katja Louis, Simon Thaur, Dunia Montenegro, Dominique, Nacho Vidal, Steve Holmes, Ronja, Lulu, Maximae, Dutch Diesel, Frank E., Succuba, Bam Bam, Tom, Pit, Fashner, Venus, Dan C., Andrew, Rubbertik, Suren St. Lousi, Doublestone, Latex Ronni, Stephen Anz, Belladonna
Non sex role/cameo: Manuel Ferrara, Angie, Kiara, Jessy, Dea, Lizzie, Sasha, Xarah, Noranymph, Liebedom, Claudine, Karin Faust, Signe, Justin, Mike, Harreg, Alex, Daxhan, Alice, Elliot Spencer, Gutmann, Dino Dinelli, Dr. Nibor, Frank Heinz, Pablo Rodrigues, Bianca, Miss Ruby, Nick

Zlata the Contortionist was most flexible.

Length: 270:09 minutes

Date of Production: 9/18/2007

The ladies lined up to get some loving from Rocco.

Extras: With such an incredibly lengthy running time, the movie itself incorporated most of the expected extras in the form of additional fetish footage thrown about the release rather than mechanically severed and placed in the extras section. Whether or not this suits your needs is up to you since some people would rather have a more “tightly” edited feature but John is known for breaking the rules to create a different sort of atmosphere in his high end movies and this was what happened here. The first disc began with the option of watching a promotional clip lasting 10:57 minutes from Fasionistas Safado; the first half of this particular movie and the second in the series franchise. I would have liked it a lot better if it had left the AVN accolades out (I have nothing against AVN but especially with so many awards and nominations, the text got in the way of catching up on the story for those not wanting to start from scratch). The only other extra here was a comprehensive cast list that gave some insights as to who was present in the movie’s varied scenes. The second disc had three filmographies, a set of seven text filmographies for some of the ladies, websites, and repeated the ever important cast list that proved so invaluable to me in writing this review. The principles of the sex scenes are all established and well known but the bit players were likely real life enthusiasts recruited to enjoy themselves; making it a special kind of project. The DVD set came in a slip case version of the cover too; marking it as another in the Prime Evil line of special projects.

Condoms: None

Fraulein Schmitt, Steffie, and Sarah Sun engaged in some clothespin fetish.

Audio/Video Quality: Fashionistas 3 was presented in a very visually appealing anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 as shot by director John Stagliano for Evil Angel using the standard MPEG-2 codec (a lot of people consider the trilogy to be first up when Evil Angel starts releasing titles in Blu-Ray though). The movie having been shot in conjunction with Fasionistas Safado over a year ago, there was a lot more time for editing and polishing up the many hours of raw footage shot by the crew; also enough time to properly master it in the best way possible without the rush of an awards deadline the previous volume in the series faced. The movie was originally going to come out much earlier this year but the wisdom of scheduling it later on not only kept it fresh in the minds of the public (and critics) but added to the ability to get it right this time; the rough edges of volume two weighing in heavily for those few critics that invested the substantial amounts of time needed to properly detail the title when it came out. The Director of Photography in Berlin was Don Crane while Alex Gray was Director of Photography in the USA; each seemingly providing the kind of visual style John commissioned for them with all the nuances expected of their individuality. The movie is dark, like its predecessors, so there was grain and other related visual aspects that added texture to the experience but the anamorphic process seemed to assist in making it look better, albeit with heavy tints leaning towards a reddish look much of the time (which could artistically be explained in numerous ways but I’ll let you come to individual conclusions since I subscribe to the theory that “art” is as subjective as tastes in porn). The visuals highlighted the multifarious sex acts and fetishes explored in the movie far better than Wal-Mart lighting ever could; adding a mystique to the sex that may well influence people to check out some of the tricks on the small screen. To me though, the entire project seemed designed for a large screen and that’s a shame because even my big screen TV was not enough to fully expand all that was going on at a given time in several scenes. This impacts replay value as you can get something new every time you watch the movie but it caters to the wrong type of dynamic at times as well. If you’ve ever watched an epic mainstream movie shot in 70mm on a 15” television, you’ll know what I mean. Still, aliasing, grain, and tint aside, the movie had many points of interest for fans to enjoy but it’s a particular kind of look so watch the trailer to get a better idea of whether it might appeal to you.

Tricia's ass was reddened but I was glad to see it back in porn.

The audio was presented with a choice of either a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English (in 384 Kbps; twice the usual rate) or a remastered 2.0 version at the usual 192 Kbps bitrate. The surround tracks took far better advantage of the music by Douglas Mariah and score by John Stagliano for separation between the channels and dynamic range on my home theater but the vocals did not really improve that much as expected (and some vocals were split off onto the side channels). The surround speakers engaged at times but there was little of the headspace associated with a large scale project; this being indicative of almost all porn these days. In short, it was better sounding (despite some wooden performances) than most porn in the less immediately noticeable ways that added some value but I hope future projects of this scope employ a 5.1 specialist for a better experience. The sum of the audio and visual aspects of the movie is that it provided an experience different than most porn but one that was not dumbed down as most porn tends to be these days; making it a mixed bag of tricks for many.

Candlewax is a fetish only a limited number seem to care for.

Body of Review: John Stagliano really needs no introduction to fans of porn thanks in part to his works at Evil Angel but even before the company existed, he was setting trends and elevating the bar beyond what many in the industry were capable of offering. His best asset has long been his absolute love of ass and women, a dynamic not shared by many in the industry known for misogynistic efforts to degrade the ladies. John is one of the few directors that can allow both genders to explore their darker passions without judgment; allowing them to engage in nasty, kinky, and depraved sexual antics that some find too much for their sensitive nature yet retain their spirit (liking how a sex act feels should not label you according to his way of expression). Well, it being that time of year again, his blockbuster offering for awards consideration is out, a movie called Fashionistas Safado: Berlin (Fashionistas 3), the sequel to Fashionistas Safado that was so well received at the AVN awards show earlier this year. This is the volume so many have been waiting for, concluding the trilogy with more fetish than any other movie of the year, tying up the cliff hanger ending that drove people crazy as Rocco set out to learn what was going on. I’m not going to spoil the feature aspects of the movie for you since you really need to experience it for yourselves without prejudging the plot but I’ll give a short look at the many scenes making up this 4.5 hour epic to let you know it was what most people expected in terms of mirroring the same kind of hardcore action its two predecessors provided. The back cover said it like this: “The final episode of John Stagliano's blockbuster award-winning Fashionistas trilogy opens with Antonio (Rocco Siffredi) traveling to Berlin to discover more about the S/M world of sinister Safado (Nacho Vidal). He follows the intriguing Violet (Katsumi), trying to learn more about her, while learning a lot about himself and his sexuality in the process. Jesse (Belladonna) watches Antonio's progression from afar. Lauren (Melissa Lauren) and Safado push each other's boundaries in what will surely be one of the most memorable sex scenes of the decade, while Antonio pushes himself in a scene with four dominating, strong sexy females. Nacho's persona of the Safado character is chilling and compelling. Who will win the devotion of Violet? What will Antonio discover in the underbelly of Berlin's S/M world, and will he return to Jesse? Find out in the conclusion of Fashionistas.” If you’re still interested, here’s a quick look at the credited scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were worn and some of the best stroke material did not technically involve sex at all:

Melissa Lauren was the thematic lead of the movie.

Kit Kat Club: Sarah Sun, Melissa Lauren, Steve Holmes, Joachim Kessef, and Jazz Duro, were up first in the sex club where the ladies serviced the men in slow motion with a fair amount of tease footage being the main draw. I’m sure this is how the action would appear to those of you hitting the “X” tabs really hard at a rave but I’m not going to lie to you and say it was my thing. Any real sexual tension drained out quickly as a result of the choices made to explore the sexuality this way, Rocco gazing on during the droning disco beat with a nod to Katsumi left uncredited in the cast credits. It was also short so those of you expecting a lot of hot action will have to wait. 

Latex nuns played by Katsumi and Melissa Lauren with transvestite Nacho.

Lauren’s Reward: Melissa Lauren, wearing her sweat inducing latex outfit, was up next at the factory as Nacho Vidal brutalized her in front of Rocco and Katsumi. Nacho proved he could take the nipple clamps as well as dish them out but the anti-erotic nature of the slapping, choking, and beating of Melissa was such that it bypassed “edgy” and went straight to “mean”. Katsumi helped spread Melissa’s ass cheeks and Nacho proved able to get his submissive off using his hand, but all the salad tossing and throatfucking in the world as shown here will not change my opinion that the scene is best left to hardcore BDSM fans. Katsumi got more involved as the scene progressed too, from fingering Melissa to sitting on her face as Nacho pounded his cock inside of her ass; the starkness of the setting assisting to make it something nastier than usual. I liked that she was so turned on by the end that she jerked him off to her face, sucking up all his population pudding as though it were nectar but keeping Katsumi on the fringe for the most part. 

Nacho and Annette Schwarz; the female sexual lead of the movie.

The Red Room: Annette Schwarz, the German anal queen escalating up the ranks of the gonzo crowd this year, was up next as she was tormented by Melissa Lauren in a latex covered lesbian scene that was more about pushing limits than offering mutually appealing sex. The spanking, slapping, breast pump, and other toys were used to explore Annette’s limits as Melissa seemed to need to prove she could dish it out in charge as well as take it (such as she did in scene one). 

This butt's for you!

”Is this what Safado wants to teach me?”: Annette Schwarz, Judith Fox, Sinita Stone, Vanessa Hill, and Rocco Siffredi, were up next at the club that included some background kink thanks to Zlata the Contortionist and Peg the Fetishist (the credits listing the latter two ladies as “Performance Artists”). The music was weird, using a simulated clock ticking initially and moving on to a dramatic score. After the floor show broke up, Rocco became the center of attention with Annette proving she was far from a gal to be trifled with; spitting on him, joining in on the face sitting, and beating him around before the gals used some traditional methods of pleasure to embrace a duality of pleasure & pain the series is known for. Sinita was particularly strong here as she forced him to go as far as possible, the defiant Rocco learning how to “suck ass’ as the ladies did each other as much as him with a lot of oral complimenting the generic screwing they all did as part of the action. The scene was a lot slower in terms of gonzo sex play than usual but fans of fetish sex and BDSM will be able to overlook the loose editing style and other transgressions here for the amount of raw energy alone. If you like salad tossing, role playing with women in charge, and all the excesses the series is known for, you will probably find this scene more balanced than any of the others on the first disc but it appeared to be more of an attempt to provide an over the top sense of style than genuine heat. 

Belladonna's cameo role was far too limited.

Bomb Shelter: Fraulein Schmitt, Steffie, and Sarah Sun, started off the second disc with some lesbian clothespin torture action. If you like this kind of thing, you probably won’t see this much of it in a large scale movie though the setting of a bomb shelter was too cramped up and the action too restricted for my tastes. 

Breast Bondage: Tricia Devereaux, in the first scene I’ve seen her do in years, was up next as studly Jazz Duro, worked over her ample breasts. There was no exchange of bodily fluids here (important due to her medical status) but it still added something to the mix of heavy fetish action even without the more traditional sucking and fucking taking place. Fans may also appreciate that her reddened ass cheeks showed she has not let herself go to pot; even if I think she could do a full scene with the director in a future epic as a nod to her ability to show life isn’t over when you catch something. 

Candle Wax: Chrissi and Katja Louis were then up in a nod to dripping hot candle wax for a moment; Katsumi catching the action on her camera as the two ladies progressively got more into it. 

The Wet Room: Melissa Lauren was then submissive to Simon Thaur as Katsumi watched in great disapproval in the red room with the glass blocks forming a wall. He used a riding crop on her, dug his hand deep inside of her (leaving out the thumb; pussy!) and abused her before the big orgy took place. 

Orgy/Group Scene: Annette Schwarz, Melissa Lauren,, Judith Fox, Sinita Stone, Vanessa Hill, Dunia Montenegro, Sarah Sun, Chrissi, Steffie, Katja Louis, Fraulein Schmitt, Dominique, Nacho Vidal, Steve Holmes, Jazz Duro, Joachim Kessef, Ronja, Lulu, Maximae, Dutch Diesel, Frank E., Succuba, Bam Bam, Tom, Pit, Fashner, Venus, Dan C., Andrew, Rubbertik, Suren St. Lousi, Doublestone, Latex Ronni, and Stephen Anz, were up in what will surely be remembered as the largest, most disjointed orgy of the year; the action all over the place in terms of quality but just as I could spend pages documenting all I saw (needing to rewatch it several times at least), suffice it to say that there was anal, oral, vaginal, fetish sex, and all sorts of twisted kink going on but I couldn’t find a spot to snap a screen capture on since there was always someone penetrating another or otherwise having sexual relations. I was interested in how short the scene was compared to many other orgies of the year, the editing seeming to happen in real time rather than make sure the home viewer got to see all the couples and groups of people as is typically the case in a porno orgy. There were definitely people getting the lion’s share of the spotlight here too but it rotated among them so if you’re not happy with something onscreen, just wait a moment to see something else. 

Latex Nuns: Katsumi, Melissa Lauren, and Nacho Vidal, were up next as the ladies dressed up like latex nuns (as on the front cover) and he wore women’s garter & stockings with some make up to enhance his effeminate effect. The ladies jerked him off but little came of it (pun intended) as Rocco interrupted and the related church scene described below began. 

Safado’s Church: Annette Schwarz, Melissa Lauren, Judith Fox, Sinita Stone, Vanessa Hill, and Nacho Vidal, then showed that religion and porn do mix for some people. His transvestite priest dominating a group of green latex attired hotties was weird to say the least, Annette once again shining as the sexual star of the movie (far and away, she was the movie’s best sexual focal point and most versatile performer) as she so actively engaged Nacho and her female friends. The emphasis was on oral and anal screwing but there was copious amounts of fetish action too that went far beyond the standard gonzo flick even if the pacing was again substantially “off” to me. Melissa did a decent job but Annette was the only lady consistently into the action in an aggressive manner; even taking his load to her face before spitting it out onto the crotch of an anonymous twat. Fans of milk enemas might appreciate that nacho took the resulting expulsion on his face with a smile but it was a mixed bag of tricks as far as I was concerned. 

Safado’s Back Room: Katsumi, Melissa Lauren, and Rocco Siffredi, then gave a heated performance as the ladies, looking like something out of a remake of Monster Zero, were made to service his needs orally. He smacked them around and used a belt to tie them together, using his cock to beat their faces as they took turns giving him head. The expression on Katsumi’s face told me all I needed to know about how much she did not seem to want to be there, at least initially, but as the scene wore on, she seemed to accept the action more readily. He first used up Melissa before turning his attention on Katsumi though, making it seem as though he was taking her by force and killing the scene for me altogether. Her cries and almost resigned look that she wanted it to be over with no matter what it took were the biggest drawbacks for me; Katsumi actively bouncing on cock to hasten the process from the looks of it but it just kept going on and on instead. There was foot fetish material here too and maybe this was the best version in porn of what I would call the Helsinki Syndrome but if you want to see Katsumi beat up like Melissa was in scene two; this is probably the best example in the whole movie. 

Jesse & Antonio’s Work Room: Belladonna, having been reduced to a cameo role for most of the movie where she watched Rocco’s exploits via the internet, was up last with Rocco Siffredi, and Katsumi in her office. This was strictly a blowjob scene with Katsumi not actively participating in the sexual activities all that much; confined to adding clothespins and brandishing a riding crop on Bella’s body at times. Bella gave good head but she has done far better in the past than here so it was anticlimactic as far as I was concerned. 

Summary: Fashionistas 3 was decidedly better as part of a set too, the length of the production enough to give anyone pause at first but earning a place in the porn pantheon of big budget productions.  Some of the things I wasn't originally fond of have grown on me and the weirder aspects of the show seem to fit into modern porn better these days, perhaps the oft stated "John is ahead of his time" proving true in this case as well.  The darker material worked much better in high definition where it could be more properly displayed and as such, it merited more than just a fresh look but a fresher rating of Highly Recommended as part of the overall upgrade.  I don't know many people that could make it through this entire show without rubbing a few out or taking a break but ultimately, those looking for something special can find it here.