House of Spartacus

Loaded with different fetishes and genres, this first half of a 1993 VHS two-parter is quite unusual, with something of an avant-garde approach that makes it much more interesting than so many boring videos (especially softcore bondage) of its era.

It's almost a missing-link item, not as stylish or well-made as future BDSM offerings (especially Tanya Hyde's British classics of a decade later) but still fascinating.

Opening reels star Danyel Cheeks in fetish-maid costume, overshadowed by ultra-busty Tonisha Mills as her employer, who easily seduces her when not making love to herself at her bathroom mirror. A romantic classical music score (later to change to contemporary sounds) adds to the strangeness.

An emphasis on a feather fetish makes this section of the feature oddly suitable as a soft-X TV commercial for the Swiffer Duster, anticipating that invention by several years. Who knew porn could be so innovative?

The next segment of the video predates the influential "Ring" Japanese horror movies by several years. A VHS tape plays a hypnotic closeup of a woman's ruby lips (similar to the Rocky Horror Picture Show logo) enticing Tonisha to enter her TV set, she does, but proves to be mainly an observer rather than full participant in what follows.

We see Keanna (a gonzo porn actress) pegging a Gay Porn actor (Damian), who wears a gas mask, to entertain Tonisha. Then Gabrielle (later to beome a huge-breasts mature porn actress) humps Oriental stud Bruce Lai, and finally, Tonisha watches as a married couple (Shawnee Cates and Gay Porn Stud Chris Thompson) have sex on her couch, with Chris also wearing a gas mask.

This hour-long video ends with a preview of the second half, which features a snazzy limousine and the cast dancing around in their fetish gear on a smoked set.

Hardly a classic, the video scores high marks for originality and strangeness.