Adam & Eve's big-budget feature is a good film-noir knockoff. Even though atmosphere and sex are stronger than story, it's always entertaining with, as in all Ethan Kane ventures, constantly striking imagery.

Kane has the look down pat-the one we're familiar with from Hollywood classics like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential. Lighting and music contribute to the convincingly retro late 1940s mood.

Ava Rose plays the unhappy wife of mobster Big Boy Mahoney (Ron Jeremy), eager to bring him down. She goes to private eye Tommy Gunn for help.

He's an ex-cop with a conscience. He even goes to church to pray but only has a fantasy about fucking Ava on the altar. Marie Luv plays his hooker girlfriend. They're a combustible combination, delivering one of the hottest scenes.

Gunn goes to Mahoney's nightclub, where Ava sings — and pretty well, too. That segues into a good group sex scene with four women — including Victoria Sin, who does a d.p. — and three men, after hours in the club.

Maya Hills plays Gunn's secretary, who at a crucial juncture lures two murderous thugs away from him by offering them her body (which they eagerly fuck).

A dream sequence with women in wedding veils and white lingerie turns into a girl-girl threeway. The ending, in the Chinatown tradition, is downbeat and pessimistic.

The women all look great in their period costumes, but acting-wise the men score highest. Gunn makes a sympathetic hero, and Jeremy has a ball with the role of Mahoney, creating a compellingly slimy monster.

The second disc of DVD extras is more interesting than usual.

Retailing: A first-class package for the crossover couples trade.