Though it's still early in the year, it's not going to be far out on a limb to say that few scripts of 1999 will be more intelligent or compelling than this one.

Rage tells the tale of one man's (Herschel Savage) journey from psychological darkness to light as he grapples and ultimately comes to terms with the inner sexual demons that have him on the brink of madness. Come nominations time, director Mark Raven's screenplay, which is nicely complimented by the tape's handsome production values, should definitely get a nod; as should the striking industrial score by Mellenium (cq).

The story's only downside, alas, is that it's frequently much more interesting than the sex itself, which tends to be fairly pro forma (though the lightning-quick snippets of Savage's sexual hallucinations are sizzling indeed). Of the vid's five boy/girl couplings, only one and parts of a second rise above the white-breadish pack.

The former features wild woman Raquel DeVine giving yet another no-holds-barred, smoke-the -camera performance as she fucks John Decker in an imaginatively-conceived sequence inside Savage's sub-conscious. The latter, meanwhile, spotlights voluptuous Sydnee Steele and her obvious predilection for a man's hands around her neck while she's getting laid.

Though the remaining sex scenes never fully ignite, they should prove stimulating enough for the couples crowd for whom Rage is tailored. Besides, viewers are likely to be too wrapped up in the seductive script to really notice.