When Wash West swept the awards shows for his 1997 feature Naked Highway, many people thought it was a fluke. They thought that his new porn visionary had stumbled onto a secret recipe that would only be good the first taste.

Animus proves the nay-sayers wrong. Centering around a mystical cat burglar nicknamed "Animus" (Thomas Lloyd) who seduces his victims, and the detective who is obsessed with hunting him down (Blake Harper), Animus is filled with beautiful images, terrific performances and some of the hottest sex that West has captured so far.

It begins in a darkened bedroom. Where adorable Tommy Lord sleeps with his alcoholic, pill-popping, slave-keeping wife Elizabeth St. Claire (in a hysterical performance that garners St. Claira a Best Non-Sex Role pre-nom.) The couple awaken and catch thief Lloyd red-handed. The tables are turned, however, and Lloyd soon has Lord begging for his dick as he rapes him in front of his bound-and-gagged wife. It's an erotic and hysterical scene.

Dave Nelson cruises Harper in a park where he's working out. They end up back at Harper's place and proceed to have an incredibly hot encounter where each man volleys for "topman." Unfortunately, neither relents, so it remains strictly oral. But it's sexually charged enough that it gets a pre-nom for Best Oral Scene.

Tommy Cruise and Peter Logan are boyfriends. They, too, fall prey to Lloyd. They catch him in the act, tie him up with garden hose and argue to see who will stay with him while the other goes to get help - it's obvious they know who this guy is and what's he's known for. They flip a coin and Cruise wins. As soon as Logan is out of the room, a curious Cruise lifts Lloyd's mask. Lloyd overpowers Cruise and fucks him as boyfriend Logan watches and jacks off from above.

Zach Richards is Harper's horny partner. He follows cleaning boy Duncan Mills from St. Claire's house to an opium den, where drug-induced Tanner Hayes and J.J. Bond are cavorting amidst silk pillows. Mills joins them for a fun and sexy threesome.

When the fun ends and the cops bust in, the guys scatter. Unfortunately, Hayes is caught and taken in to be interrogated. In an incredible scene, and by far the best in the video, Richards and captain Jack Simmons play good cop/bad cop on Hayes. Richards enters the interrogation room alone with Hayes and caresses him, kisses him, tries to coax a name out of him. When Hayes doesn't crack, in comes captain Simmons to fuck the nasty shit out of him. Simmons pounds Hayes until he's squealing, then he leaves and Richards comes back in to repeat his "good cop" routine. It's an electric scene that loses none of its intensity with the constant starting and stopping. West makes sure the viewer feels Hayes' pleasure and pain. A definite pre-nom for Best Threesome.

Harper receives a note from Lloyd, telling him he wants to meet on New Year's Eve, the end of the millennium. Harper gets drunk and comes home to pass out. He bumps into two neighbors in the hall (David Bradley and Brad Davis) who head into their own apartment to play out their own "Animus scene." In fact, it's a hysterical rehash of the first scene, complete with blow-up doll to represent St. Claire. Davis gets impaled by Bradley as they fuck all over the bed in another sizzling scene.

Final scene is the ultimate pairing of Harper and Lloyd on a rooftop at Hollywood and Vine, and it's a hot one as Harper allows his obsession to top him as the new year rings in.

West uses his camera as a painter would a brush, adding small touches and dabs here and there to give it that final gloss. He captures some of the best work ever from his performers - Harper, Simmons and Hayes are stand-outs among the terrific cast.

Pre-nom West for Direction, Videography and Screenplay. Also pre-nom the Editing and the Music. And, of course, Best Gay Video.