I remain a chorus of one on IMDb singing the praises of the since-retired Adult Cinema director Bud Lee, whose body of work impresses and entertains me far more than his big-name, critically acclaimed peers (especially the Michaels: Zen, Ninn and Raven). Watching "The Fan" was a treat, but I'm pretty sure no one will agree with me, reasons to follow.
That's because it departs from porn formula and can be considered either experimental or just sloppy, or perhaps a bit of both. I coincidentally watched a disaster of a film made around this time that has some key similarities, "Sextet" by arguably the greatest (and certainly the most honored) Adult director of all time Paul Thomas.
Both films are self-reflexive: PT interrupting the feature's action frequently with time-stamps and BTS footage showing how it was shot, while Lee more traditionally casts himself as a porn director shooting film-within-a-film scenes fully integrated with the story's development. PT's inside stuff reeks of desperation, as if to save an unfinished project (it fails miserably), while Lee is more satirical and honestly interested in sharing the tricks of the trade with the viewer.
Biggest problem with "The Fan" is its failure to deliver on the central concept of George Kaplan's screenplay: a thriller in the vein of same-named projects such as the famous De Niro/Wesley Snipes feature. Instead Lee includes hints but saves all the suspense/jeopardy content for the final reel or two, mainly because as always the sex comes first.
Another stumbling block to acceptance is his use of a highly unfamiliar femme cast, while fans then and now are accustomed to being served up a cocktail of superstars and Top Flavor of the Month starlets: you know, that endless array of videos now featuring Riley Reid, Lana Rhoades, Kendra Lust, Brandi Love, Reagan Foxx and Aidra Fox all together again. Or back when this was shot 15 years ago, a lineup featuring Chloe, Dee, Jessica Drake, Aurora Snow, Hannah Harper, Lezley Zen and Ava Vincent (who were working at Sin City at the time).
Instead he has cast a lovely but obscure set of leading ladies, none of whom I would be able to identify without a scorecard. In fact, Elexis Monroe, the Lesbian Cinema icon, appears in a girl/girl scene billed simply as "Elexis" in her first feature film (on video) role, and I had to watch the scene a second time to identify her.
SPOILERS to follow:
Anna Belle has the lead role as Dina, a porn actress who has rented out her home for porno shoots (Lee directing them) and is watching over the place to make sure it remains intact. Her makeup lady is also her best friend, Angie played by Michelle Michaels, the most prominent "name" in the cast.
Much of the show is taken up by Lee shooting porn scenes, including Anna Belle plying her trade, and the inside stuff goes beyond joking into borderline confusing territory. Best example of this is casting stolid John West as Dina's boyfriend who neglects her, more interested in watching TV than listening to her. He is also cast as a porn actor, and later in the film Lee stages a sex scene of his regular player Chris Cannon (sort of playing himself, but significantly not so) having sex with a newcomer, British import Teoni, and ending up ejaculating prematurely under the ministrations of her blow job.
Lee enters the scene and gently informs Chris that he expected a full-length, varied positions sex scene out of him, and is duly informed that it will take at least an hour for CC to rest and recuperate before he can get back in the saddle.
This is yet another of Lee's inclusions of Inside Baseball for the world of porn, and he has to scurry around to find a replacement cock for his spent star. He finds John West lounging on the set and recruits him to fill in -no problem. But it was a BIG problem for me in that suddenly it appears that West is in a dual role as himself (facsimile thereof named John West) plus his ongoing key role in "The Fan" story as Roger. After finishing the movie, I turned on Bud's commentary track and he calls West "John" in both sets of footage, never referring to Roger and implying that the guy filling in with his dick is the same character dating Dina, an Occam's Razor solution to watching the movie mindlessly but not in keeping with the story's suspense.
Making matters worse, in a key break-up type scene with Dina, West as Roger calls her Cassie rather than Dina, a blunder left in the final print. My confidence in my hero Bud Lee was severely shaken at this point.
THE BIG (but easily guessable) STORY SPOILER:
Anyway, when all the sex subsides, 6 humping scenes in all, the Coda wrapping up the story is rushed and far from convincing, with the stalker/fan sending flowers and admiration notes all along to Dina turning out to be: voila! makeup lady Angie.
That gives Michaels a chance to overly indulge in her acting skills for a climactic confrontation with rather demure and laid-back Anna Belle. Action is way too condensed to be convincing at the finish.
But as raw material to get one involved with an Adult video, "The Fan" is anything but routine or uneventful. Call it a diversion, rather than a perfectionist success.
That's because it departs from porn formula and can be considered either experimental or just sloppy, or perhaps a bit of both. I coincidentally watched a disaster of a film made around this time that has some key similarities, "Sextet" by arguably the greatest (and certainly the most honored) Adult director of all time Paul Thomas.
Both films are self-reflexive: PT interrupting the feature's action frequently with time-stamps and BTS footage showing how it was shot, while Lee more traditionally casts himself as a porn director shooting film-within-a-film scenes fully integrated with the story's development. PT's inside stuff reeks of desperation, as if to save an unfinished project (it fails miserably), while Lee is more satirical and honestly interested in sharing the tricks of the trade with the viewer.
Biggest problem with "The Fan" is its failure to deliver on the central concept of George Kaplan's screenplay: a thriller in the vein of same-named projects such as the famous De Niro/Wesley Snipes feature. Instead Lee includes hints but saves all the suspense/jeopardy content for the final reel or two, mainly because as always the sex comes first.
Another stumbling block to acceptance is his use of a highly unfamiliar femme cast, while fans then and now are accustomed to being served up a cocktail of superstars and Top Flavor of the Month starlets: you know, that endless array of videos now featuring Riley Reid, Lana Rhoades, Kendra Lust, Brandi Love, Reagan Foxx and Aidra Fox all together again. Or back when this was shot 15 years ago, a lineup featuring Chloe, Dee, Jessica Drake, Aurora Snow, Hannah Harper, Lezley Zen and Ava Vincent (who were working at Sin City at the time).
Instead he has cast a lovely but obscure set of leading ladies, none of whom I would be able to identify without a scorecard. In fact, Elexis Monroe, the Lesbian Cinema icon, appears in a girl/girl scene billed simply as "Elexis" in her first feature film (on video) role, and I had to watch the scene a second time to identify her.
SPOILERS to follow:
Anna Belle has the lead role as Dina, a porn actress who has rented out her home for porno shoots (Lee directing them) and is watching over the place to make sure it remains intact. Her makeup lady is also her best friend, Angie played by Michelle Michaels, the most prominent "name" in the cast.
Much of the show is taken up by Lee shooting porn scenes, including Anna Belle plying her trade, and the inside stuff goes beyond joking into borderline confusing territory. Best example of this is casting stolid John West as Dina's boyfriend who neglects her, more interested in watching TV than listening to her. He is also cast as a porn actor, and later in the film Lee stages a sex scene of his regular player Chris Cannon (sort of playing himself, but significantly not so) having sex with a newcomer, British import Teoni, and ending up ejaculating prematurely under the ministrations of her blow job.
Lee enters the scene and gently informs Chris that he expected a full-length, varied positions sex scene out of him, and is duly informed that it will take at least an hour for CC to rest and recuperate before he can get back in the saddle.
This is yet another of Lee's inclusions of Inside Baseball for the world of porn, and he has to scurry around to find a replacement cock for his spent star. He finds John West lounging on the set and recruits him to fill in -no problem. But it was a BIG problem for me in that suddenly it appears that West is in a dual role as himself (facsimile thereof named John West) plus his ongoing key role in "The Fan" story as Roger. After finishing the movie, I turned on Bud's commentary track and he calls West "John" in both sets of footage, never referring to Roger and implying that the guy filling in with his dick is the same character dating Dina, an Occam's Razor solution to watching the movie mindlessly but not in keeping with the story's suspense.
Making matters worse, in a key break-up type scene with Dina, West as Roger calls her Cassie rather than Dina, a blunder left in the final print. My confidence in my hero Bud Lee was severely shaken at this point.
THE BIG (but easily guessable) STORY SPOILER:
Anyway, when all the sex subsides, 6 humping scenes in all, the Coda wrapping up the story is rushed and far from convincing, with the stalker/fan sending flowers and admiration notes all along to Dina turning out to be: voila! makeup lady Angie.
That gives Michaels a chance to overly indulge in her acting skills for a climactic confrontation with rather demure and laid-back Anna Belle. Action is way too condensed to be convincing at the finish.
But as raw material to get one involved with an Adult video, "The Fan" is anything but routine or uneventful. Call it a diversion, rather than a perfectionist success.