Provided for us by Blowfish

Mimi

My fiancé and I come from different backgrounds, but for the most part we overlap ideologically, and where we don’t, our open-minded natures create a bridge. I have more experience, knowledge, and desire of BDSM; however, we both feel an interest for BDSM in it’s various forms and it finds it’s way into our bedroom (or living room, bathroom, local park…) periodically in the form of light power play, bondage, and spanking. After reading the synopsis, I was actually excited and hopeful for Madison Young’s Bride of Sin. I thought that seeing a film directed by a woman about BDSM might further brighten that original spark.

My optimism also stemmed from the film’s nicely designed case. As far as pornographic films go, it certainly deserves kudos for not being really distasteful. A rather pretty redhead, Young herself, is on the cover in traditional white wedding bridal garments, ass exposed and prominent, seeming to ask the potential viewer to spank her, hard. You can also see her, on both the front and the back of the case, tied up quite elaborately and overall, it seems impressive. In addition to Young, three other stars are listed: Ariel X (Maid of Honor who leads the innocent Bride astray), Selina Raven (betrayed partner), and Claire Adams (Priest who offers Young salvation for her betrayal).

Looking at the DVD case for Bride of Sin, you wouldn’t know that there’s a fairly low quality film stored inside.

When you turn the film on, you will quickly realize that the wonderfully lit photographs on the DVD case do not reflect the quality of the film itself, and the dialog, which is very little and loosely sets up what might be called a plot, is difficult to hear. Because of this, the first half of the film felt more like someone’s home sex videos strung together than a film for which money is exchanged.

Plot is always a dubious thing within porn. As ridiculous as a plot might be, it can still work to add creativity and excitement, while also pacing the film. It makes it feel worthwhile. I’ve watched CGI monsters “battle” in sex competitions for freedom, gladiator style; satyrs converting humans through sexual rituals; history “explained” through pivotal sexual exploits; and much more simplistic plots, like a girl in search of an orgasm – they all help hold the experience together, to create fluidity, to make you feel like you weren’t ripped off.

So, moving on from the plot and film quality, one can look forward to Young’s full, delicious ass being squeezed and spanked throughout the film, Ariel X giving Young an intense orgasm on a church pew, Raven’s sexy strap-on paired with feminine vest suit in which she fucks and slaps Young, and the elaborate bondage and rigging scenes set up by Adams. I enjoyed the scenes with Raven and Adams better because the chemistry seemed very authentic, fun, and those ladies were better Dommes. Perhaps there was simply too much of the tragically typical noises (hissing/slurping, for example) that people make in porn for me to get really turned on by the first half of the film.

The most interesting and impressive aspect of Bride of Sin is Adams, a pro bondage model, rigger, and director. After watching the ‘behind the scenes’ portion of the DVD, brought to us by Behind Kink, this judgment was only reinforced. She appears very intelligent, capable, and confident. This is also why she makes an excellent Top.

I find it exciting and interesting that a young woman assembled a team of women to help her put together a pornographic film based upon her own fantasies (talk about personal power!), but the problem with it remains that I can’t really take Young seriously as a sexual, creative force, taking the reigns. Aside from the rigging done by Adams, this comes off very much as a weekend project put together by a few girlfriends. I can admire an individual for openly embracing their sexuality, but that doesn’t mean I want to pay them $40 for it.

Joseph

When I opened the box from Blowfish, I was pleased to see that most of the movies were women friendly. I don’t like porn at its best, but I despise commonplace, exploitative porn. If nothing else, porn made by women for women would be something new.

Unfortunately, Madison Young’s Bride of Sin did not prove to be new or worth viewing. Far from being a step forward for the industry, it was poorly written, poorly shot, and the sound reproduction was atrocious. Hearing the writer/director/star talk about the “process” in the behind the scenes (which was filmed on higher quality film that the actual movie) just made me embarrassed for her.

The plot of Bride of Sin is that Madison Bound is getting married but having an affair with her Maid of Honor. After getting a swirly from her fiancé because of her indiscretions, Young goes to a priest to confess and be cleansed of her sins. Of course (this being a porn), all of these scenes are based around sex. This particular porn is focused on BDSM because Young really enjoys being tied up. And therein lays the problem. Young is genuinely enjoying herself in every scene and that is great for a performer…but not for the director. She comes off like someone that wanted an excuse to have sex with these performers, so she made a movie. Young always looks like she is having a really good time and it is evident that the technical and artistic aspects of making this movie were an annoyance to her and therefore marginalized. At one point in the behind the scenes you actually hear the camera woman call her on it. They are discussing a shifting light in the background that the camera woman thinks is distracting. Young looks at and says “That doesn’t really bother me.” And the camera woman replies “Nothing bothers you.” Touché

The lighting is sub-par, the sound quality is so bad that even if Young had written an academy award winning script, we would not be able to hear a word of it, and the scenes are poorly paced. The only redeeming factor of Bride of Sin is Claire Adams and her impressive skills as Young’s priest. Adams brings a much needed element of expertise and confidence to the scenes.

Aside from Adams’ scene, the only thing done well about this film is the production of the packaging. You can definately tell that more care was taken with the production of the case than the production of the film itself. Based on the packaging you would never be able to tell that there was a grainy, poorly thought out, painful film awaiting you.
If you are turned on by bondage and BDSM, then Bride of Sin may do something for you. Maybe. However, at $39.95 (retail), I still think you’ll end up feeling ripped off. I feel ripped off and I didn’t pay a dime for it.

The Naked Truth:

Aesthetics: 2 out of 5 stars  (Young, you can thank Adams for your two points.)

Level of Arousal: 2 out of 5 stars

Educational Value: N/A

Storyline: 0 out of 5 stars

Overall: 2 out of 5 stars

Getting Undressed is better when you tell everyone on the internet!

This book was sent to us by our friends at Babeland

Joseph

I don’t actually have that much experiance reading erotica so I feel that I may have been somewhat more harsh on the qaulity of writing than is fair. For the most part, I found that the stories were varied and interesting as far as subject matter goes (fetishes galore) but that the actual craft of story telling left something to be desired.

Understand that each story is by a different author so there is of course a wide variety of style within the book. That means that while some of the authors did not appeal to me personally, others I found to be very well crafted.

The range of subject matter is truly astounding. There are 40 stories contained within the stylish red binding and each one focuses on a different fetish or sexual specificity. The nice thing about that is that you are bound to find something that you can appreciate. The problem there is that each story is so specific, you may only find one thing that apeals to you.

The bottom line for this book in my opinion is that it is a compilation. That means that if you are looking for a book to turn you on with each page, this is not it.

However, if you are interested in learning more about erotica in all of its various forms, this book is an excellent starting place. You will certainly be able to find something that you like and go from there.

Mimi

Reading erotica usually does more for me than watching pornographic films, probably because I can imagine people to my liking, instead of being faced with tanned, waxed, plasticized human-like beings getting it on. Most often, they remind me too much of the Barbie dolls I had as a child. (Coincidentally, they also fucked each other and had orgies. My bisexuality may in part be blamed on the fact that I only had one Ken doll, and he didn’t even have a dick.) It’s not sexy.

So when we ordered The Erotic Treasury, I was rather excited about the prospect of having a whole new book full of stories that are likely to arouse. Considering it’s a collection of stories, brought together by editor Susie Bright, I thought there’s bound to be at least a few kinky stories to my preference, and even some sick, twisted shit to make me laugh or squirm.

When it arrived and I held the dark, elegantly crafted book in my hands, I expected less of the sick and twisted, more of the well-written and sensual. It’s a book that I wouldn’t mind leaving out in the living room on my book shelf. Granted, I’m not really a shy or shameful girl, but let’s say my hyper-conservative mom comes over and looks at my books for whatever reason. Knowing she saw The Erotic Treasury won’t make either of us feel to disturbingly awkward. It’s pretty and doesn’t really give away the kinky exploits within.

One story after another dives into a particular fetish – shoes, spanking, lactation, vegetables, etc. – and notably, there’s not necessarily sexual intercourse involved. I can respect that. BDSM, for example, can often be intensely sexual without explicitly involving sex. (Hopefully it does eventually, though, right? Right.) Many of the stories demonstrate an understanding or appreciation of the psychology of desire, of how the most erotic moments of our lives might have little to do with physical penetration.

My only complaint is that many of the stories are so specific in their primary modes of attraction that despite being, for the most part, well-written, a reader might feel a strong reaction and connection to only a few stories in the collection of forty. Some of the humorous or novelty characteristics end up distracting from instead of contributing to the stories. However, even if the fetish within a story is not your idea of a good time at all, the writers often describe the sensations associated with desire and sex well enough that it’s often at least a littlearousing. If nothing else, it’ll spark your imagination.

The Naked Truth

Design: 5 out of 5 stars

Readability: 4 out of 5 stars

Educational Value: N/A

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Getting Undressed is better when you tell everyone on the internet!