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lor_ from New York, New York
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The presence of one of my fave porn starlets Christine De Shaffer elevated this poorly-made film a bit, but a combination of ineptitude and sheer "who cares?" attitude by the filmmakers resulted in garbage.
Though the material may have been newly shot, this farrago plays just like a loop carrier, with MOS filming, a protagonist voicing over the entire plot (which does not match the visuals), and use of him as a voyeur peeking at sex scenes, the oldest linking device in the book, when applied to unrelated footage.
Cynical in the extreme, the invented storyline purports to be letters from a former rake Frank, now writing to former love Jennifer (De Shaffer, looking terrific despite overuse of the telltale "porno" blue eye makeup) from his current perch in a monastery (yeah, right).
He apologizes for causing a rift between Jennifer and their mutual friend Marian. Film begins with a bang, as we see Frank at breakfast with Marian, and he gets angry, doing a James Cagney number on her by squashing a grapefruit in her face. Subsequently, he rapes her anally, something Jimmy would never do (thank God WHITE HEAT wasn't a porno/incest movie back when!).
The rest of the film is many sex scenes involving the buxom, beautiful blonde who plays Marian and the even more buxom De Shaffer, with lesbian sex between them, of course. Many flashbacks, shot in soft focus/Vaseline smeared lens '60s S.O.L.I. fashion betray a pretentiousness on the part of director Alec Reon and writer Dan Wright, whose names are fictitious. Their functions are probably also fictitious, as the credits for this and other films credited to them are mere boiler-plate, just slapped on the film. This has led to confusion regarding the pseudonymous cast lists: De Shaffer is in this one but NOT others credited to Mona Jenks, and conversely, Jesse Adams does NOT appear in this film just because a pseudonym attributed to him, Ed Stark, is listed here.
Film goes off the deep end mid-way when Frank voices over (as another letter to Jennifer) the following misleading gibberish: "I'm no longer at the monastery; I've become a librarian at a girl's school". Noting that he has changed his appearance, this nonsense is matched to a heavily mustached guy supposed to be the same character (only vague resemblance) having a threesome with two young girls in a room with many books piled up at the wall, like a hippie pad. Books = librarian in porn shorthand, so another loop is inserted randomly.
There's plenty of sex in the picture, as it is more loop-like than a real movie. Musical score is terrible muzak, with sleepy version of "Killing Me Softly" played twice, and the usual roundup of soporific tunes like "Quiet Nights", "Memories of You" and oddly enough "My Special Angel" during another anal sex scene.
MORTGAGE OF SIN refers to a housing development called Willamar Etate where the protagonists lived, and Frank ends the movie nastily with a voice over diatribe in his "final letter", declaring: "I have spent all of yours and Marian's money, so I assume they will foreclose on Willamar Estate any day now". He cites their folly of having joint checking accounts, but this wrap-up, like the rest of this non-film, makes no sense whatsoever. It is merely the usual audience insult so common to pornographers and, unfortunately, many loathsome mainstream filmmakers as well.
I recently watched an untitled print of an odd movie which also has Alec Reon and Dan Wright credited (but with roles reversed as writer and director) that I have christened "Cult of Kulah", as it is about a feminine religious cult in L.A. that kidnaps two men to serve as sexual slaves. It is far better than the junky MORTGAGE, but thus far I've found no documentation at all to establish its title.
The "Lead in Your Pencil" print uses Monique St. Pierre's November 1978 Playboy centerfold photo as the title background.
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sex|hardcore|
AKAs Titles:
USA (alternative title) - Lead in Your Pencil
Certifications:
USA:X (self applied)