TEREGO'S MAXIMS OF ADULT FILMS # 24: Always avoid the first "knock off" title that purports to be based on last season's Hollywood blockbuster, as it invariably has nothing to do with its namesake. Hence the wonderful box cover for Fatal Passions depicting star Alicia Monet holding a knife, a shot which has nothing to do with the video. In truth, Henri Pachard's exploration of "anonymous sex" is a sometimes moving, if minor, effort that makes average use of a top-notch cast.

Hooker/procurer Alicia Monet arranges "get-togethers" for her patrons, blindfolding them first so that they'll be two ships passing in the night. One such patron, Robert Bullock, has a memorable threesome. His wife, Ona Zee, stops by later to try the trio route herself with Billy Dee and P.M. Bradley, while brother-in-law Peter North is also the recipient of a arrangement with Angel Kelly and Nikki Knights. Only later during a family visit does Bullock realizethat his "mystery woman" was actually Shanna McCullough, his sister and North's wife.

Pachard has been at the helm of some of adult cinema's most memorable works, and even in his least inspired films there are usually some selling points. McCullough and Monet are more than passionate in their troika with Bullock, who gives another of his effective "no-frills" performances. A real find here is Ona Zee, who may finally get her due thanks to a charming duet with Bullock and her threesome with Dee and Bradley. There is, however, no one scene that deserves to be called a showstopper".

A talented ensemble like the one Pachard assembled here could do justice to and X-rated "Fatal Attraction," but this video's only resemblance to that one is in the title. Still, though, Fatal Passion is an engaging enough tale of sexual chairs and surprises that is adequate Pachard. . . and that alone is better than three-fourths of today's adult releases.