Brad Armstrong is clearly the most successful Adult filmmaker of a decade ago, turning out big-budget super-productions as if he had a David Lean complex. This one starring Jessica Drake, released in fancy DVD packaging denoting its "importance" is quite poor by the standards of its genre: vignette fantasy/short-story films.
It's a very popular format with many interesting examples to choose from, ranging from Aurora Snow's "Perverted Tales" to even the crazy gonzo series (running a whopping 37 volumes) from Jim Powers titled "Perverted Stories". Armstrong's is the most pretentious and least interesting, a fact he corrected five years later with the fine "Craving II".
Looking backwards, Armstrong almost reveals what went wrong in a bonus segment on the DVD, where he introduces a 13-minute deleted scene (starring himself) which he refers to as "Cinderella's Nightmare". It's botched with poorly lit night visuals and his tale of woe concerning what went wrong during filming it (Jessica fainting dead away due to too-tight corset; recalcitrant horses pulling Cindy's carriage) is almost amusing.
Problem is that the actual 81-minute feature comprising five usable segments is botched as well. Given his carte-blanche status at Wicked Pictures, he shot on 35mm film and rather than enhancing the visual quality, the technical aspects are awful. Many scenes have large areas of the widescreen frame out of focus, an artsy effect reminiscent of so many '60s movies where such gimmickry was briefly popular, but merely defective here. Other shots suffer from the same malaise as the "Cinderella" sequence: grainy visuals that look like a messed-up blow-up, again likely due to post-production attempts to compensate for poor lighting.
Drake narrates the tales and stars in most of them, certainly the draw here (though how this junker qualified for 10 industry award nominations and even took home two wins is inexplicable when viewed calmly a decade later).
Silliest vignette is "The Pied Piper", a pantomime with Randy Spears most unimpressive in the title role. Brad's uncredited script tries to be naughty, substituting whores for kids (I guess for porn the kids had to go, in any event), and Spears' flute or recorder lures them out to hump him. It's a dumb reverse gang-bang, and I was irritated as usual by Wicked's refusal to give screen credit identifying several of the lovelies who did not put out for XXX content amongst the big names like Brooke Haven and Kayla Carrera who did.
Interracial sex is provided by Tyler Knight in "Little Red Riding Hood", as Chelsie Rae gets humped by his Big Bad Wolf. Drake performs as "Sleeping Beauty" in a sequence more notable for Brad's fancy art direction than either its narrative or sexual content.
A rather elaborate take on "Rapunzel" is done with a sinister edge, but again reflects the project's misguided attempt to be "cute" in its twists, nearly all of which fall flat. Even a prolific schlockmeister like Jim Powers seems more attuned to injecting a surprise or evocative novelty in his bargain-basement short stories, certainly proving that just throwing money at the screen as Brad does is not the answer.
Finale is a real-time waster, as Princess Jessica iteratively smooches a series of frogs she finds on her travels, turning them into princes and learning a lesson. It merely demonstrates that Drake is a real trouper, and that even her all-time great status in the Adult field might have reached more satisfying heights if she had found a more talented Von Sternberg than Brad to stylize and pilot her inner Dietrich.
