Without question, the lusty Anal Palace will satisfy upscale clientele. Don't hesitate to stock it. Aesthetically, however, it's a textbook example of the new wave of imports —gorgeous and nasty, yet just as vacuous as any domestic product. With an indifference to genuine storytelling, episodic flashbacks barely propel this costume drama forward at the speed of evolution.

Remonstrating two uncouth louts for manhandling a maiden, Mark Davis recalls his youthful days of abandon at a castle retreat where the rich and filthy really knew how to treat a lady.

The women are breathtaking; the studs studly; and the non-stop pornocopia of cockteasing, d.p.'s, facials, ass-eating, and toe-sucking offers a shotgun appeal to virtually every man's darkest fantasy. Yet, despite the overall lushness, Anal Palace is devoid of true passion. Maintaining a curiously sedate distance, the camerawork languidly zooms to the action, rather than moving in for tight close-ups. True, D'Amato's style sells videos, as it certainly will with this one... but is it as hot as it could be?