Hold Still

It is easy to call "Hold Still" either a Psychotronic Film masterpiece or at the other end of the spectrum just pretentious porn crap. Thanks to the idiosyncratic writer-director David Stanley it exhibits elements of both extremes.

He is something of an anomaly: simultaneously an underachiever and over-achiever. Stanley's working in porn, with over 100 scripts shot, marks him an underachiever, as he failed to pound the pavement and break through into mainstream cinema -likely content with Adult. But also an overachiever as evidenced here, trying to be original and say something in his films, even though relegated to a genre where even the fans prefer All-Sex content.

In the BTS short subject on this Vivid DVD, alongside the label's endless advertisements and other filler to wade through, Stanley explains himself, while being at best only semi-sincere. He wants to be taken seriously (and I do that, having sat through over 70 of his features in the last few years of evaluation) but also adopts that facetious attitude that is intended to leave him off the hook for serious criticism.

"Hold Still" is by definition a vehicle for Vivid contract star Sunrise Adams, and it succeeds mightily at that level. Until late in the proceedings she is in every sex scene, and since only her name is listed in the opening credits I got the impression this would be a one-woman porn show. But later on she is joined by fellow blondes Kim Kane and from England the wonderful Layla Jade.

Meant to be simultaneously surreal, sci-fi, romantic, dramatic, silly and occasionally tugging at the heartstrings (Stanley's main theme centers around a "love conquers all" sentimental philosophy), the movie concerns Adams as a kidnapped woman, forced to fulfill the slightest whim of her madman captor played by Trevor Zen. Her savior is an unlikely mama's boy Eric Masterson, Stanley's favorite alter ego on screen.

Green little men from outer space figure prominently, as they are communicating with Eric via a ham radio of his, and even travel to Earth to fetch the couple for a happy ending. Stanley the director is very sloppy (not giving his audience much credit) as the aliens are just muscle men with human bodies and green masks in the early reels, but little guys in green onesies (plus the masks) when they travel to Earth in the final reel.

The director's amanuensis Ida Know (credited as production assistant) plays without credit Eric's mother, but they look the same age. Adams's huge breasts are alluring throughout, with the sexual content definitely delivering the goods.

Besides a weird touch of Sunset's obsession with green grapes (which relate somehow to the aliens' Green planet), Stanley really goes over the top by injecting himself into the scenario as a cryptic Deus ex Machina character in white suit and white mime makeup. He sort of explains this in the BTS as well as mocking his own choice of film title.

I would suggest sitting through a dozen or so of Stanley's other goofball features, mainly the Vivid ones rather than the more professionally made later Wicked ones, as preparation before sampling this oddity.