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"The Brides of Sodom" is ironically very timely,controversial enough to enrage a few prude's, yet clever by not taking itself too seriously,despite what you will see! The story gets moved into a gritty future where Vamps(read"greedy,narcissistic society",glamorous creatures of the night common in Hollywood!)have taken over, starting to enforce pleasure, degeneration,encouraging consumerism, but, allowing none true freedom to those trying to live their lives far from the hypocrisy of a very corrupted system of superstition,unspoken hate,tragic secrets,alike fascist terror, dictatorships taking over financially shaky, uneducated Countries, whose power's been obtained with innocents' blood & fear perpetrating some of the worst crimes,such as, outrageous abuse of all laws & constitution: clear oppression's the ultimate scope.Now, this is certainly not a political film, but,it's a pity the creators hadn't followed more the original subtext, its moral, existential's key, just opting for a more commercial, less dangerously intellectual direction to please the fans of the Cult! Sensitive human,Samuel, who's made prisoner by handsome hunter, Eros,then, a sexual slave, by the lecherous Emperor of this tyrannical legacy,becomes clearly the main character,maybe a pretext to immediately show how lack of freedom is key to existences ruled by tyrants,even in a place where all customs seem to be "accepted" yet never fully granted, by the power,by its selfish, amoral code.Populated seemingly just by orgiastic courtesans, hot warriors&their tirelessly sexual obsessions, and the 2 handsome leads, ex model,executive producer,Domiziano Arcangeli,and,ex porn superstar,David Taylor(here, at his first mainstream acting role)seem wanting to"express"more with their glances, than with the words available by a strictly "Genre" script, however, one must say they certainly do make for one of the sexiest vampire's couples ever seen,at least in Gay/Bisexual's films, and, their smart director,exploitation Guru's, Creep Creepersin, who also wrote the script, does indeed not miss a beat to get the hunky Taylor attacking Arcangeli,then getting the 2 actors, pressured by very "human"needs,furiously getting a rid of their clothing, and, showing with fierce exuberance, all the skin they could possibly bare in one single frame, before erupting in effusions, so heavily erotic, they get to the limit of hardcore, in fact, i thought we were indeed getting close, but, at the end, they did always manage to end up carrying&holding themselves up, along the standard's of decency (at least for a NC-17rating of course),conveying within them an almost very true, dense sensuality,without ever,really trespassing that fine line,laying between legit acting, and,"the real thing" (like in the awfully sensationalistic "L.A. Vampires",a disappointment, from Bruce LaBruce).Very good, but, unfortunately the very contrived plot, never reaches for the deeper nature of its premise, that honestly feels almost forgotten,or simply not explored sufficiently, potentially having elevated this to a real experience,more profound,and,less exploitative! But, here it is exactly where the movie gets on fire:it has indeed plenty of beautiful moments,rich of1970's European Genre's suggestions to make for an entertaining, shockingly thrilling ride, especially for those who don't know how to appreciate Horror flick's, made with a provocative style!If,"The Brides of Sodom" is unashamedly filled with an extravagant mix of gore galore, an ensemble of Goth,S/M,and,its depiction of lurid events,typical of pulp narrative, but, of some of Anne Rice's novels,too, this movie becomes definitely most notable for its atmospheres, impeccably re-created,respecting quite the original's! And, thanks to a moody, dark,fine cinematography,its extremely "Caligula" alike scenes, offering even a sub plot set in post apocalyptic,nocturnal exteriors, where a stalking moon lights up bloody landscapes with sinister creatures, where our 2 main lovers are trying to celebrate some sort of "feral honeymoon", escaping from Eros's incestuous sister, a semi lesbian,quirky Princess,who's foolishly in love with her brother! Eventually, she would even take to bed mystic Samuel (he's half a Saint, half a whore, like in a John Ford's tragedy!),with the hope to save the Empire from the unforgiving cruelty of Dionysus(Dylan Vox), who's also extremely embittered by loosing Eros, to ex human Samuel! Eros made him into a vampire, to save his life, however, it's not all glowing at the Horizon, at the contrary, after the 2 hunks get an array of hot love making, impeccably delivered, we hit a very hard,unexpected twist,shifting the story,toward a whole new direction! Samuel now changes face, he's committed to find out about some deadly mystery linking the Empire to a frightening danger! And, so he becomes a dilemma of ambiguity, he will get himself in the graces of Dionysus,too, but to further in a plan, that may compromise everyone's future, if not executed. The Princess,searching for happiness, spends her nights, making love to gorgeous ingénues,lovely naked girls, brought to her, by the soldiers Satroi (performed by an ensemble of porn stars, and, some of the hottest underwear's models ever seen all together in the same movie!) in extremely gory, lesbian,or orgiastic greed, provoking her to slash the poor girls, with the fury of her insatiable fangs, and, that of her solitude! The movie(as you may understand)was for me, like more of a lavish,"tripper"odyssey, into the realm of Erotica, with unforgettable male sex scenes,and,a fine celebration of Euro's Horror's from the 1970's.So, if you are into a fun roller coaster's ride, that's happened to be cast with savvy intuition,featuring gorgeous hipsters,sexy witches, or violence's driven,filth obsessed courtesans(there's even Beverly Lynne,Skinemax's Queen performing a Nazi warden to an S/M's dungeon!),by handsome,muscular boys,with the help of their bosom's hot ingénues, in the semi nude,this makes for some show,displaying with a little malice,indeed (but who cares?) the decadence of an Empire, and its Fall (it seems,it's all fault, at the end,of Peter Stickles,from "Short Bus", who plays mute, but, extremely seductive "Book Keeper"), "Brides"will definitely give you more than an opportunity to spend one heated evening,without any of the usual clichés(must tell you,personally have enjoyed a lot more this one than those teased up,disappointingly flatter episodes, of something like"True Blood"),for sure a far more liberated"guilty pleasure",where either dreaming, or getting aroused by a clever combination of classic myths, Euro's exploitation at its most prominent, and, lush beauties,may have indeed its pay off!
