WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—A galaxy of adult stars and industry members turned out Saturday night for a premiere screening of Ricky Greenwood’s martial arts-themed adult action thriller Deadly Vows, the awarded adult director’s latest feature and his homage to ‘80s exploitation movies. (photo galleries)
Digital Playground hosted the festivities to launch its awards season blockbuster with the red-carpet event held at West Hollywood’s historic Formosa Café.
Greenwood was there before guests started to arrive, helping to set up the screening area on the Café’s rooftop, where costumes from Deadly Vows were displayed on mannequins next to the large screen.
“So, it was a lot of work, and it's fun that [Digital Playground] takes the time to highlight that and create this night for everybody,” Greenwood told AVN. “It's just kind of like, we don't see that often. I hope other people do that and we can go to a movie premiere like that more often. I think people want to be together at events and start celebrating because it is a lot of work going into these movies.”
“I feel this year, with all the political thing, I said, like, I didn't want to lecture anybody,” he explained. “I think major movies are lecturing people, Twitter is lecturing people, Instagram and everybody, lecturing people. So, like let's just make a movie that's fun, that appeals to everybody and it's just kind of like you watch it and add no political tone or message—like, something to say it's just pure fun. The movie starts fighting and ends up with a fight, just like from beginning to end. You get your rollercoaster ride—sex and violence and funny.”
The plot of Deadly Vows begins with a secret love triangle gone bad—Ryan Reid is cast as Sarah, a woman betrayed by her boyfriend (played by Ricky Johnson) and sister Ellen (Elly Clutch). After Sarah is left for dead, she’s rescued by Kung fu master Miller Six (AVN Hall of Famer Mike Horner) who helps her to recover and trains her for revenge. Finally, with sidekicks Christie and Smoke (Yhivi and Scott Nails), Sarah sets out to get even with her worst enemies on the happiest day of their lives.
Horner, who began his adult career in 1978, was not in attendance, but AVN Hall of Fame star Jenna Haze was there to mark her return to adult production after a 14-year hiatus. Cast as The Nun in a non-sex role, Haze said it felt good to be back on-set after the extended absence and to see many old friends.
“I'm a nun with a gun,” she laughed. “The costume itself, I wore a full nun habit with a wimple and everything. And it was very hot on set. It was very hot underneath there. I don't have any dialogue, but I do pull out a machine gun and kill a bunch of people. I don't [have lines], but I kill a bunch of people and then I end up getting killed.”
The Formosa’s quirky spaces were packed with partygoers there to celebrate the release with the movie’s all-star cast and crew. Many in attendance had worked with Greenwood over his nearly 10-year career.
Guests noshed on potstickers, scallion pancakes, egg rolls, baby Bok choy and Orange chicken, which were offered by the Formosa’s attentive staffers. The drinks were equally exotic, with Mai Tais being served from the Tiki-style cocktail menu.
The café, with its art deco Hollywood Chinoiserie-style vibe, first opened in 1939, and was famously featured in retro-noir thriller L.A. Confidential (1997), starring Kim Basinger and Russell Crowe. Black and white publicity photos of movie stars that once frequented the café line its walls, including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean and Elvis, among many others. In one room, a tribute to Asian actors of Hollywood’s Golden Age covered the walls with publicity stills and marquee posters.
Gonzo queen Jennifer White arrived with husband/producer Deacon and posed for red carpet photos. “This looks like another like super-high quality production. Ricky’s always got, you know, the super-high quality stuff. So, I’m excited to see the clips of it. I think it’s going to be really good,” she said.
Starlet Leana Lovings, who said she’s taking the whole month of October off before a busy November, was excited to be there. “Ricky is always extremely creative. Whatever story he has cooking up inside of his head, he always comes up with a fantastic way of shooting it. “
Showing off her toned, bare back for the porn paparazzi, Penny Barber was looking forward to seeing some of the stunts in the movie and said that she was definitely down for some scenes with sword fighting.
“I have been talking to some of the actors, like Kyaa [Chimera], about the stunts that they’ve been doing. They’re very excited. I can’t wait to see it. It’s always exciting when you have, like, one of these big projects that you can be proud of for your whole career,” Barber said.
A not-so-subtle nod to Quentin Tarantino’s now iconic Kill Bill series, Greenwood has incorporated elements of ’70-80s grindhouse exploitation classics and combined that with scenes of pro-level adult movie-style grinding. The script, penned by the director, is full of references that may only be obvious to fans of the genres.
Production Manager David Lord described some of the hidden bits, laughing with Greenwood, “It’s like stolen from every ‘80s movie. It’s just every stinking ‘80s movie—a little bit from this, a little bit from that...”
“If you know ‘80s movies; like the [eye] patch from Snake Plissken in Escape From New York, or The Bride from Kill Bill”—even the names, like Sarah is for Sarah Connor in The Terminator. Ellen is for Ellen Ripley from Alien. Mike Horner is Six from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.
“He says, ‘My name is Miller but my friends call me Six,’ because Miler is the name of the actor and Six is his name in the movie,” Greenwood explained.
“There are no original ideas, you just gotta know who to rip off,” Lord added.
Both gentlemen also lauded Reid and other cast members for stunt work in the movie, with months of training for the main characters. Male adult actor and professional stuntman Nathan Bronson is credited with his work on the stunt sequences for the movie.
Following the red carpet, appetizers and cocktails, the standing room crowd ascended to the Formosa’s rooftop bar area to view the Deadly Vows highlights reel, which was followed by a short discussion moderated by Greenwood, with Reid, Yhivi, Clutch, Nails and Johnson.
Yhivi recalled that her most memorable moment on set was being punched in the stomach during a fight sequence, which unintentionally doubled-her over.
Reid said that she owed her best moments to her male stunt double, who took a bow. Nails then demonstrated some stunt training by lifting the stunt double up in the air overhead, while Greenwood joked that Nails had beat him up “so many times” in the movie, praising the stunt team.
“I’m just grateful for being around a such wonderful and crazy women,” Clutch said when it was her turn to speak. “I’m just so glad to be around women who encourage me to be who I am and be my best. They’re just the best.”
The Deadly Vows cast includes Tommy Pistol, Isiah Maxwell, Chad Alva, Robby Echo, Leo Vice, Damon Dice, Mazee, J-Mac, Destiny Mira, Scarlett Alexis and Kimmy Kim. Also appearing: Kenna James, Nathan Bronson, Jack Vegas, Aria Sloane, Lucky Fate, Kendra Cole, Kyaa Chimera, Paris White, Mini Scarlet, Tera Winters, Rusty Nails, Hadley Haze, David Lee, Jack Blaque, Angelina Moon, Stevie Moon, Nina White, Bubbles Bankz, Tyrone, James Bang, Johnny Goodluck, Wyatt West, and Neptune.
Deadly Vows is available exclusively at DigitalPlayground.com.
Photography by Jeff Koga & Jared Javier
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