Watch out Lovecraft -you're overdue for a porno adaptation along the lines of this interesting Poe-inspired opus. It was made 25 years ago by Phil M. Noir, using that hokey pun name for both writer and director credits, who would later have success writing for Paul Thomas at Vivid.
Tony Tedeschi holds the five vignettes together as Edgar, a writer clearly under the influence of Poe, pulling an all-nighter to overcome his writer's block and craft five horror stories for his publisher. He also gets to appear (and have XXX sex) in the final story.
First up is "The Black Cat", which features a seance wherein a dabbler in black magic Henry Pratt (T. T. Boy) is visited by a couple Amy & Bill (Krista Maze and Alex Sanders), in which Amy is possessed by the spirit of Marie Roget (Henry's late wife). Like the rest of the movie, names and situations from Poe are freely used by Noir to set-up his sex stories, in this case a 3-way sex scene.
Less atmospheric is "The Pit and the Pendulum", used as a bondage theme for a story of a future dystopia where there's a ruthless Inquisition. Sindee Coxx is the inquisitor, first shaving prisoner Randa (played by top-billed Farrah), removing all pubic hair with a straight razor, and then getting her to confess her sexual misbehavior. That confession includes lesbian acts, and the hypocritical inquisitor then has sex with Randa.
Coxx steps completely out of character, displaying seasoned porn actress skills during the XXX action, a typical porno failing that detracts from the credibility (if not the sexiness) of this project.
Following vignette is titled "The Red Masque", concerning a future plague and four scientists striving to find a cure in the lab. They are led by Kaitlyn Ashley, who likes to boss the others around, but when they take a break suddenly they have group sex together, wholly out of character again. Ashley's man is Peter North while the other scientists are a married couple, Johnni Black and J. J. Michaels. Ironic ending here works fine.
"House of Usher" is a change of pace, as motorist Joy Matthews (Farrah in a new role) has car trouble and seeks refuge at the mansion of Roderick Usher, played by Wilde Oscar. Just as the previous "Masque" scene conjured up BioNTech scientists developing the Covid-19 vaccine, Wilde appears wearing dark glasses and a black mask right out of our current pandemic.
He suffers from over-sensitivity, and cannot stand much light, sound, touch or smells. As a result his wife Madeleine must pleasure herself via masturbation, and Wilde shows Joy his lady in action with a dildo. He's the voyeur, who convinces Joy to pleasure Mad while he watches. Nici Sterling, Oscar's real-life wife, plays Madeleine, and the lesbian scene is strong, including anal sex which is emphasized throughout the show.
Noir has studied this Poe story quite a bit, and climaxes the scene with a shock ending that I found confusing (not recalling the story myself) but which is quite interesting in light of academic theories about the characters Roderick and Madeleine. Yes, here is porn that encourages the viewer to do some research!
Finale is "The Raven", as Edgar is proud of himself for having rattled off four stories by 4 a.m., and is visited by the ghost of his own late love Lenore, played by Alex Dane. They make love, but with actor Tedeschi wearing a condom, after all previous scenes were performed bareback. Safe sex with a ghost? Oh well, one has to forgive the movie this dumb element.
I enjoyed some comic relief in Noir's script, with many a reference to Clive Barker and Stephen King, as well as an odd mention of "The X-Files". Femme cast is very impressive, all big-busters except for (perhaps thematically significant, as she represents a "real" character) Alex Dane as Lenore.
