With future Adam & Eve regulars Christopher Saint Booth and Philip O'toole on board, Philip Christian's ambitious Western "Shame" registers as a forgotten Adult Cinema classic, boasting a strong feminist message. It should be rediscovered by fans of story line erotica some day, after the pendulum swings back from a few decades of gonzo dominance.
Leena, a distinctive actress for whom this represents the best role of her career, plays a half-breed known as "Shame", so-called because of her soldier daddy's having been ashamed of her as part of the common prejudice of the time. She hooks up, off and on, with another soldier Mike Horner in a quest for revenge on The Marked One, who killed Shame's lover (Steve Drake, another military man) and kidnapped Horner's wife (Kaitlyn Ashley, who won a well-deserved industry award or two for her performance in support).
With Saint Booth's familiar music score, one of dozens he later cranked out to create the dreamy/mystical mood of Adam & Eve's best releases around the turn of this century, director Philip Christian delivers convincing visuals shot at Dry Gulch Ranch, Bud Lee's favorite location and perfect for Westerns. Who Philip really is, and why his career has so few credits ("Immortal Desire" is another of his triumphs) remains a mystery.
Besides the concise lovemaking scenes, which are performed bareback and highly erotic, there are several dramatic stagings in which both Leena and Ashley have memorable feminist declarations, courtesy of ace scriptwriter Raven Touchstone. Christian also sets up a powerful gunfight climax, introduced with Sergio Leone-derived close-ups but convincing for a change and far beyond the often incompetent "action" footage one suffers through in Adult features daring to add violence to their automatic sexual content.
A big cast includes superstars Asia Carrera and Dyanna Lauren in non- speaking roles humping away at a brothel called House of Joy, and as the bad guy The Marked One, Glenn Hoeffner has better makeup and styling, plus impressive overacting, far more entertaining than most mainstream cartoonish villains. Vast end credits list shows that, other than hiding behind pseudonyms, the filmmakers are justly proud of their work here.
