If you ask him, Video-X-Pix owner Steve Morowitz has a story to tell. It stretches back more than 30 years, when his dad, Arthur, was producing and distributing some of the best films ever to hit the adult theater circuit, and in the early days when XXX tapes were selling for just under $100, VXP was thriving.
"We've been mothballed for such a long time!" Morowitz exclaimed. "In the early days, we were doing great, but back in about ’89, when everybody was cutting their prices on VHS, my dad decided just to hang it up. He had other income, so he really didn't need what he was making from the old movies, so he just put that all away. But now, with DVD taking over, we decided to revive the line, so in about mid-2002, we restarted the company."
Trouble is, after being gone for more than a dozen years, VXP hasn't been the highest-profile of the eight or nine companies that market classic movies.
"To this day, people call us thinking we're VCX, because it's easy to confuse VXP with VCX, and VCX was distributing our titles for a time," Morowitz noted. "But we're doing things a little bit differently. We're keeping our price points higher, we're not using shit quality masters if we don't have to; we're going that extra step."
AVN has been reviewing classic VXP titles for nearly two years, and some of the company's titles that have scored AAAA or above include Felicia, Female Athletes, Sex Drive, Angel Buns, Jack 'n' Jill, Misbehavin', Bel Ami, Inside Jennifer Welles and Tigresses and Other Maneaters. But not being sure which titles he'd already sent, Morowitz recently shipped us his entire 90 film catalog, and therein, we found some particular gems, several from a director who only made about a dozen films in his entire career, Armand Weston.
"Armand Weston was based entirely on the east coast," Morowitz noted. "Before he got into directing, he was a painter. He made adult films for several companies, but did most of his work for Chuck Vincent, Joe Sarno and Cecil Howard. His first movie was Personals (1972), with Tina Russell, which he made with Cecil Howard, and I understand Armand died about 20 years ago.
VXP carries a good selection of Weston's work, perhaps the best of which is Take Off, an updating of Oscar Wilde's story, "A Portrait of Dorian Gray." In the film, Lesllie Bovee finds herself at a raunchy party on a Dutchess County estate, and after spreading for Eric Edwards on a playroom couch, she accidentally activates a movie projector that displays a B&W film of Georgina Spelvin having sex with a very old man.
Shortly, the party's host Wade Nichols introduces himself, and he and Bovee take off in his Mercedes convertible as he tells her the story of a man — himself, of course, though Bovee doesn't yet know that — cursed with eternal youth. As Nichols recounts his sexual adventures, viewers get to see him score with some of XXX's hottest classic performers, including Spelvin, Annette Haven and Bovee herself, as well as lesser-known hotties such as Brigette Lynn and Susaye London. And let's not forget the terrific girl/girl scene between WWII refugees Haven and Ursula Austin. The film successfully combines comedy and drama, and is an AVN Spotlight Pick.
Another Weston classic is Expose Me, Lovely, which closely mirrors the mainstream noir thriller genre. Handsome Ras Kean is a private eye hired to track down beautiful Cary Lacy's lost brother, but every lead seems to take him to one of the guy's ex-girlfriends — who, needless to say, are horny and willing to divulge info only after a good fuck.
This AAAA film has four superior sexual interludes, though the first consists simply of lovely Jennifer Welles, wriggling enticingly on a bed behind the opening credits. She really gets to strut her stuff, however, in the final sex scene, where she rides Kean's cock like there's no tomorrow before giving him a taste of her pussy and letting him fuck her spoon and missionary. Nearly as good are Kean's seduction of Lacy, where he licks her nipples as she squirms and preens on his cock, and sculptress Jody Maxwell's equally good bounce before bending over for doggie that ends with her ravenously eating the cum he deposits on her ass.
Temptations isn't credited to Weston, but it's his anyway. Here, aging millionaire Jake Teague has assistant John Leslie arrange for him to peep on hookers (Vanessa Del Rio is one) having sex with their clients, and in one case, an art dealer pleasuring her beautiful young assistant — which Leslie videotapes for later enjoyment, since Teague always seems to fall asleep just as things are getting interesting.
But Teague's wife Jennifer Welles discovers the tape, solos in the tub while remembering its heat, and in the movie's best scene, seduces Leslie with caresses and open-mouth kissing until he carries her to the bed, lets her ride him cowgirl style (terrific hip action there), then fucks her missionarily.
But Welles actually loves Teague and arranges an orgy for his excitement — which, it turns out, stimulates him enough that he can actually fuck her for the first time in years. Call it a triumph of love — and a sure AAAA rating from AVN.
Also among VXP's best are two very different films from Philip T. Drexler, Jr., a virtual early porn mystery man, about whom Morowitz could find out nothing from either his dad or a porn historian of Morowitz's acquaintance.
Perhaps Drexler's most famous film was 1975's Oriental Blue, starring the exotic Peonies Jong as a Chinatown madam who supplies sex slaves to procurer Bobby Astyr — but not before she's sampled their pleasures herself. Peonies appears in almost every scenes, face-sitting the girls after having fed them her irresistible aphrodisiac "love juice," and riding the cocks of the guys assigned to fuck them into white slavery. But while Peonies herself is hot, recruit Bree Anthony is positively volcanic, taking everything Peonies' minions (including Jamie Gillis) can dish out and begging for more — often to a soundtrack featuring some very famous music. It's an AAAA sexfest.
Even better, however, is Drexler's Delicious, with Veronica Hart essaying the role of demonic maid to regal couple Candida Royalle and Aaron Stuart. Seems Aaron can't stay out of the maids' panties, and hiring Veronica is supposed to cure all that — but when she serves her employers breakfast in bed, Veronica hypnotizes Candida so she won't see Veronica engaging in 69, mish, reverse cowgirl and doggie with Aaron. Veronica gets four scenes altogether, seducing everyone in the family, but in the end, it only serves to reawaken the spark between Candida and Aaron. Veronica's performance along is enough to score AAAA for this classic.
VXP also distributed, and later bought, the Mature Pictures line from producer Sam Lake, which included several movies directed by the legendary Chuck Vincent and his protégé Larry Revene. We've already reviewed several of Vincent's films, but few were as attractive as his porn send-up of Voltaire's "Candide," Dirty Lilly, featuring enticingly innocent Beth Anna, whose first duty is to recite the opening credits.
Beth's work is answering the phones for pimp/racetrack tout/drug dealer Marlow Ferguson, but when "Mr. Watchtower" calls to say that "the bulls" will be arriving any moment, Ferguson's out of there ... and Beth's out of a job. When her psychic mom (Molly Malone) predicts that Beth will become a whore and throws her out of the family home, Beth decides to search for her father. This leads her to a law firm, where head shyster Eric Edwards thinks she's applying for a secretarial position — but the only positions she gets are horsie and mish over a desk.
Beth's continuing search brings her to a porn set where (surprise!) she's mistaken for an actress, and has a hot threeway with Sharon Mitchell and R Bolla; to dad's ex-girlfriend C.J. Laing for mutual muff-diving; and to bodybuilder Roger Caine, who ties her up and makes her watch him fuck girlfriend Marlene Willoughby. It's all hot, and pretty damned funny — and worth an AAAA rating.
Even better is Larry Revene's Fascination, with Ron Jeremy as a young nerd whose life is changed by buying a book "The Successful Seducer." Ron promptly moves out of his parents' house, rents a "pad" (with a peeping landlady) and starts putting the moves on every babe in sight.
Look for at least four excellent scenes here, including Ron's mish with motor-mouth Merle Michaels (whom he nearly smothers with a pillow trying to hide her from visiting mom); Ron's dad sneaking mistress Veronica Hart into the pad for some hot pussy-licking and mish; and sister Candida Royalle likewise secretly bringing in her boyfriend for spoon and doggie. Each of the scenes is short, as scenes tended to be in early porn, but they're hot enough and funny enough to earn an AAAA rating.
VXP also owns the only film by director Danny Stone, High Rise. Seems lovely Tamie Trevor has a problem with sex, so shrink John Clemens suggests that she go to the nearest high-rise apartment building and have sex with anyone she can find. Her conquests include toy train aficionado Harry Reems, whom she rides until his mom breaks through the wall and interrupts them; a pair of lesbians who pleasure her in a mirror-lined bedroom; Jamie Gills, who molests her after she fakes fainting, then continues with mish, 69 and cowgirl ... until Jamie's wife (Samantha Whitney) calls him into their bedroom for some loving of her own — but he brings Tamie with him, and a good time is had by all. It's an AAAA comedy that shouldn't be missed.
Perhaps the most famous film of the bunch, and an AVN Spotlight Pick, is Bill Eagle's Blonde Goddess, with Susanna Britton starring in the title role — and in the imagination of comic book writer Jonathan Ford, who imagines all the explicit things comic book villains could do to her. Trouble is, Jonathan also draws those imaginings right into his comic books, and that runs afoul of Misty Regan, the lady from the Comics Code Authority (a once real-life agency that thankfully has gone the way of the dodo bird).
As Misty tells boss Mike Feline just what's objectionable about each issue, Jonathan lets his imagination roam à la Walter Mitty, landing him in Nazi Germany fucking fraulein Heather Young while another gal keeps "Red Baron" Ron Jeremy similarly busy in another room. Another daydream finds him a hard-boiled detective on the trail of seductive Loni Sanders with help from Jacqueline Lorains. Loni winds up in a fiveway with another blonde and three gangster types that includes plenty of reverse cowgirl, doggie and dildo action. There are eight scenes in all, and every one rocks.
Finally, there's Henri Pachard's A Girl's Best Friend, featuring mother/son diamond thieves Juliet Anderson and Ron Jeremy, who seduce their way across Europe and New York City in search of the "Fairfield diamond," screwing anyone who might lead them to it. With 13 sex scenes and playmates like Samantha Fox, Veronica Hart, Jody Maxwell, Merle Michaels and Veri Knotty, you just know there's plenty of fucking and sucking to enjoy – and since it's directed by kinkmeister Pachard, you just know Ron and Juliet will get it on with each other at some point! Yep, it's another AAAA scorcher.
Fans of early porn were overjoyed when Morowitz restarted VXP, and Morowitz is proud to have done it.
"This is a second-generation company," Morowitz notes. "There was such a gap in releasing our movies that the younger generations of distributors and retailers don't necessarily know who we are. But people who, 15 or 20 years ago, did a lot of business with my old man and they were treated very good, their offspring are usually the people who are now running their companies, and when we go to the AEE, I get a lot of response like, 'Oh, Arthur's your dad? Oh, my God!' And from a sales point of view, it's really invaluable."
Morowitz says he's got plenty of classics yet to transfer to disk, so look for surprises to show up on their site videoxpix.com every month.
