Ron Sullivan, a/k/a Henri Pachard, brought a troupe of American pornt stars to Europe to make many VHS features for producer Dino Ferrara, and this is the best one I've seen so far. It was shot back to back (featuring the same cast) with another 2-parter titled "Diaries of Fire and Ice", both projects released b VCA Pictures, and worthy of rediscovery.
After an effective recap of Part I, this "Phantom" completes its excellent Raven Touchstone screenplay with narration by Randy Spears, who plays an American writer who has traveled to Paris and is writing a magazine article (for publication back in the States) about the fascinating characters he has met and interviewed at Rick's Bar.
Central figure is of course The Phantom, played quite subtly by Jamie Gillis for maximum pathos, actually a violinist from Chicago named Christopher Bradley, who was scarred years ago by acid while in prison. Now he works as a janitor at Rick's, but lives in the attic and haunts the place at night, wearing his trademark mask and cape as The Phantom.
Raven and director Ron Sullivan bring perverse and kinky elements to this oft-told tale, and add quite a bit to the myth -all carefully patterned to serve the needs of an Adult movie. The female characters include two memorable evil dommes: Bionca, a dancer at the cabaret at Rick's who dominates the Phantom, with Jamie utterly convincing as her pitiful, humiliated sub: she delights in calling him "Leatherface"! Equally mean-spirited is Sharon Kane, who dominates Rick (Rick Savage, in his usual unsympathetic, snarling egotist role). On the bright side is Keisha, immensely empathetic (given an opportunity to show some real acting skills here, when not humping) as a waitress who falls in love with both Spears and the Phantom. Touchstone's script weaves in the intriguing revelation that she's actually Gillis's daughter, and when they make love together neither of them realize it's incest (and while Rick and later Spear both know the truth, neither father nor daughter ever find out). That's a highly effective twist on the incest theme -no longer possible in porn storytelling now that only step-relatives are permitted to get it on per current censorship.
Elements of foot fetichism, BDSM and humiliation permeate this feature, all told by writer Spears, and the overriding issues of American expatriates and the desire to return home to the USA are well-developed, even managing a bittersweet happy ending. It's a shame that mainstream success (and meaningful opportunities) were denied to Adult filmmakers, as this video makes clear that Henri Pachard/Ron Sullivan could have tackled adapting the works of Henry Miller to the screen, which other than Rip Torn and Ellen Burstyn in "Tropic of Cancer" and the Danish film of "Quiet Days in Clichy", both released in 1970, Miller's important novels have yet to be filmed.
After an effective recap of Part I, this "Phantom" completes its excellent Raven Touchstone screenplay with narration by Randy Spears, who plays an American writer who has traveled to Paris and is writing a magazine article (for publication back in the States) about the fascinating characters he has met and interviewed at Rick's Bar.
Central figure is of course The Phantom, played quite subtly by Jamie Gillis for maximum pathos, actually a violinist from Chicago named Christopher Bradley, who was scarred years ago by acid while in prison. Now he works as a janitor at Rick's, but lives in the attic and haunts the place at night, wearing his trademark mask and cape as The Phantom.
Raven and director Ron Sullivan bring perverse and kinky elements to this oft-told tale, and add quite a bit to the myth -all carefully patterned to serve the needs of an Adult movie. The female characters include two memorable evil dommes: Bionca, a dancer at the cabaret at Rick's who dominates the Phantom, with Jamie utterly convincing as her pitiful, humiliated sub: she delights in calling him "Leatherface"! Equally mean-spirited is Sharon Kane, who dominates Rick (Rick Savage, in his usual unsympathetic, snarling egotist role). On the bright side is Keisha, immensely empathetic (given an opportunity to show some real acting skills here, when not humping) as a waitress who falls in love with both Spears and the Phantom. Touchstone's script weaves in the intriguing revelation that she's actually Gillis's daughter, and when they make love together neither of them realize it's incest (and while Rick and later Spear both know the truth, neither father nor daughter ever find out). That's a highly effective twist on the incest theme -no longer possible in porn storytelling now that only step-relatives are permitted to get it on per current censorship.
Elements of foot fetichism, BDSM and humiliation permeate this feature, all told by writer Spears, and the overriding issues of American expatriates and the desire to return home to the USA are well-developed, even managing a bittersweet happy ending. It's a shame that mainstream success (and meaningful opportunities) were denied to Adult filmmakers, as this video makes clear that Henri Pachard/Ron Sullivan could have tackled adapting the works of Henry Miller to the screen, which other than Rip Torn and Ellen Burstyn in "Tropic of Cancer" and the Danish film of "Quiet Days in Clichy", both released in 1970, Miller's important novels have yet to be filmed.