Run. Don't walk, to pick up Cecil Howard's latest masterpiece! This is porn for the thinking person. Smut with a conscience, with equal measures of guilt, tease, lust and all of those wonderful things that make sex so compelling. It's almost unfair (and impossible) to compare this first installment of a four-part epic series with any of the current video releases in terms of expense, flawless editing, obvious time devoted to filming and the outstanding performances turned in by the scintillating erotic ensemble.

The introductory sequence alone is more gripping and hot than most standard fare sexvids are in their entirety. As porn star turned director Walter Erhardt, Eric Edwards "makes the dirtiest, nastiest, filthiest sex films in the world." Viewers are introduced to him and other cast members in a series of fast cuts which amount to a trip down porn's memory lane featuring ladies who costarred with Edwards in various Command releases in recent years.

This is Edwards' acting tour de force, sure to garner him major awards nominations. Unlike Henri Pachard's very good Sexcapades and Great Sexpectations from the early '80s, The Last X-Rated Movie delves deeper into the conscience of Edwards' director character, drills into his motivation/obsession with a no-holds-barred gutsiness, peppered by quick quips from his many alter egos, including him as a creaking old geezer.

The real action begins when secretary Sharon Mitchell shows Rene Summers, playing a bubbly, nervous new actress, into Edwards' inner sanctum. Although Summers strips for him and offers "to do anything" to get into his pictures, Edwards nobly has her get dressed and sends her off to acting classes. His conscience rebukes him when he doesn't take it further. "Okay, so you're married," it chides, but that never stopped you before."

Nina Hartley is Edwards' lovely, naive wife who is eager and enthusiastic to please him. Their encounter is captured in golden videography with skin tones so warm you can almost taste them. The closeups of the action are breathtaking, as is the intensity of their union. The once-virginal Hartley now begs hubby to make her do things she wouldn't ordinarily do. This transpires into an unparalleled masturbation sequence. With wide-eyed innocence, Hartley begs "make me a slut... I'm tired of being nice."  But that's just what Edwards craves -- the nice girl, the virgin. Now, with his help, his storybook princess has turned into a whore and he doesn't know what to do. In his constant quest for purity, Edwards finally tests the waters with Summers.

Edwards' brother isn't having much luck on the romance front, either. His search leads him to a bizarre S&M performance club. Onstage, brother watches exotic Tasha Voix doing acrobatic backbends, tauntingly displaying her charms for the rapt audience. Tom Byron and a dominatrix join in teh festivities which include viewer participation. After some rousing mouthwork from Voux, Sheffield is dragged off to the dominatrix' private quarters. The sordid action ends with a shot of the leather mistress' wicked grin. And primises of more intriguing nastiness to come in the three sequels.

Award-winning director Cecil Howard and his scriptwriter/partner Anne Randall have outdone themselves ith this brooding look at male sexuality. Randall's highly quotable dialog coupled with her actue understanding of human relations is unprecedented. Howard's ability to caputre the heat and passion of sex scenes is uncany, and they are more emotionally charged than the standard fare. In addition to getting titillating views of genitalia, we also see a rarity -- the intricate workings of pasts, histories and emotions which most of us dare not even speak.

As we've come to expect from Cecil Howard, this is entertainment forthe gonads as well as the spongy gray matter. Is this series truly the last of Howard's X's? We certainly hope not, but if so, at least he'll go out in a blaze of glory. Keep your zippers peeled for Parts Two through Four, which chronicle more of Edwards' voyage through life by the crotch of his pants. Be assured that this quartet is a necessary addition to anyone's collection of hardcore classics. Highly recommended for couples; stores must do themselves justice and carry this.