My
second Jack the Zipper film
to review (with one more to come), Xero confirms his place at
the top of the current adult movie directors pile.
Unlike the dayglo joys of Enter
the Peepshow, this is an altogether moodier effort.
Made in collaboration with musician Rockford Kabine, it transcends
the world of porn to become something rather different.
The surprisingly short, but in no way lacking 62 minute running
time is taken up with continually intercutting scenes involving
just four performers – two blonde, two back haired, all
gorgeous – and a mysterious masked fetish figure who lurks
in the background with sinister intent. There’s no dialogue,
or in fact any sound other than Kabine’s insistent, atmospheric
score (also supplied as a soundtrack CD in this package) –
a score that moves from electro-trance to dark, unsettling beats,
fitting beautifully with the images on screen while having a life
of its own.
The
sex scenes are impressively restrained – the girls start
out doing solo stripteases before coming together as two couples
(never intermingling), and the hardcore is surprisingly minimal
(the UK 18 rated edit loses about twelve minutes of this, which
gives you an idea of how relatively inexplicit the other 50 minutes
are). In fact, minimalist is the best word to use here –
nothing is overblown, nothing made more extravagant than it needs
to be. At times, Xero feels like watching a particularly
impressive erotic photography book brought to life – taking
its time, concerned with beautiful set-ups and remarkable camera
shots, rather than the non-stop hardcore action demanded by the
genre. As a result, it’s a great deal more erotic than most
porn, simply because it keeps you guessing.
There’s a strong Japanese influence running through this,
no more so than in the scenes involving an impressively phallic,
Onibaba-style mask, and the out-of-nowhere shock
ending that I won’t spoil – suffice to say that it
takes the film into an unexpectedly dark place.
With post-credits scenes that perhaps hint at JTZ’s forthcoming
Cannibal Queen, this is remarkable stuff that
takes adult filmmaking into fascinating new areas that lie between
commercial erotica and arthouse porn. Definitely one to watch.
My
second 
The
sex scenes are impressively restrained – the girls start
out doing solo stripteases before coming together as two couples
(never intermingling), and the hardcore is surprisingly minimal
(the UK 18 rated edit loses about twelve minutes of this, which
gives you an idea of how relatively inexplicit the other 50 minutes
are). In fact, minimalist is the best word to use here –
nothing is overblown, nothing made more extravagant than it needs
to be. At times, Xero feels like watching a particularly
impressive erotic photography book brought to life – taking
its time, concerned with beautiful set-ups and remarkable camera
shots, rather than the non-stop hardcore action demanded by the
genre. As a result, it’s a great deal more erotic than most
porn, simply because it keeps you guessing.
