There’s a lot to love in this ambitious all-girl extravaganza, and it’s got the AVN Award nominations to prove it. In addition to nods for Best All-Girl Movie and Best Director – Feature for co-directors Bree Mills and Stills by Alan, the screenplay, editing and makeup got well-deserved recognition—as well as two standouts in an overall solid ensemble cast.

At the center of the story is Halle White (Adriana Chechik), an emo punkette misfit who’s miserable with her religious foster family. The mother, Dana Smith (Dana Vespoli), embraces Halle, but the same can’t be said for her bitchy step-daughter, Sara (Anikka Albrite). And when Dana forces bride-to-be Sara to let Halle plan her bachelorette party, it embroils the women in a mysterious conspiracy.

After visiting sympathetic bohemian Freedom (Mercedes Carrera), Halle insists Sara and her two best friends, Blaire (Carter Cruise) and Cassie (Tara Morgan), go on a wellness retreat instead of the wild weekend in Vegas that Sara wanted. But things get pretty crazy at the retreat once Blaire and Cassie get a taste of Dr. Elixir (Jelena Jensen) and her blooming tea.

Subtitled “A Lesbian Horror Story,” The Turning plays on the tropes of vampire movies. But here the sexy predators hunger not for blood but rather for the sweet Sapphic juices of young women. Once the girls have been “turned” into lesbians, the erotic fun gets rolling in three beautifully shot all-girl orgies filled with frantic licking, fingering and tribbing.

The DVD presents the original webisodes in six chapters, which flow together into a well-paced movie that’s creatively edited with interspersed close-up shots of clits and pussy lips to create a sense of mounting sexual frenzy. All the performers do a good job, including Albrite as the most reluctant lesbian convert, but it’s really Chechik’s show. Going from an unkempt mess to a radiant beauty, she hits the mark throughout.