rec.arts.movies.erotica maitains a web site at http://www.rame.net At that site, you can find all sorts of things relating to the group and adult movies.

This FAQ is available via the WWW at: http://www.rame.net/faq

Also at the rame.net site, you'll find The Imperial Archive, the Adult Movie Review Index (AMRI) resources relating to adult movies and other swell stuff...

rame has set up the rec.arts.movies.erotica reading room which picks up where Heretic's alt.sex.movies library leaves off. It can be found at:

http://www.rame.net/library

Jamal Dunbar has put up a searchable version of his database for your perusal; check it out at http://www.teleport.com/~jamal

A quick list of other relevant sites:

Peter van Aarle's page:

http://www.rame.net/aarle

The Biokeeper Archives:

http://www.adultfilmarchive

N Smith's Adult Film Star Pages:

http://www.access.digex.net/~nsmith/index.html

The Blowfish Sexuality Information Center:

http://www.blowfish.com

Those are hardly all of the Adult Movie related sites there are; but I think it's a pretty good sampling of "serious" sites. I try and keep up a good list of stuff at the links section of my web site, http://www.rame.net/library/links

However, with the Net exploding in membership and popularity, it is impossible (and far beyond the scope of this already humongous document) for any FAQ compiler to keep up with the developments. It is STRONGLY advised to put http://www.yahoo.com in your hotlist/bookmark file and then regularly check the subdirectory: /Entertainment/Movies_and_Films/Genres/Adult_Movies

Peter van Aarle's data has been given a new face by the webamster of rame.net once Heretic had to step out of the picture. This is a wonderful Web site which will tell you just about anything you'd need to know about a film or its participants. Peter van Aarle has selflessly donated his massive database to the Net community. You should send him your thanks. You can easily get filmographies and cast lists of all your favorite recent movies.

The site is updated monthly and you have access to over 30,000 titles. The catch is that you CAN NOT access the usual film information pages on these pre-1989 titles, only the post-1989 titles. The older titles are just listed in the filmographies and when you do a title search. You'll see how this works. The film information pages for these older titles DO NOT exist, so don't bother trying to find them. He also added the year to the titles on the filmography and title search pages.

The service is only available via the Web. The URL is http://www.iafd.com

One resource that has really taken off over the past year is the Internet Movie Database (getting bought by Amazon.com didn't hurt either..). They've gotten their servers at http://www.imdb.com where you can find the relevant mirror sites.

They have an extensive collection of cast lists and other biographical information. It's a great resource for finding out about performers in erotic thrillers and other hard-R type movies (as well as G rated movies, but since this is the Adult Movie FAQ, I figured I'd dwell on the grown up stuff :-)

They have limited resources devoted to adult film performers; they pale in comparison to the Internet Adult Film Database.

Frans Postma first clued me in to this resource when he told me this: "Just in case you wanna know if a performer has played in some main-stream movie. (i.e. Flame is listed as go-go dancer in Hellraiser III)"

There are more and more gay and lesbian web sites popping up every day. Yahoo has dedicated a whole section of its catalog to gay and lesbian sites. I recommend you check out their catalog. Tim Evanson tells me that "there are no gay databases on-line anywhere that I know of. Some on-line gay distributors such as WEGA Video, Rad Video, and others have databases of the movies they offer for sale, but these catalogs are NOT complete. The only databases of gay bios that I know of are in print: The yearly edition of the Adam Film World Directory of Gay Video, and the annual Bijou Guide. The Adam Guide tends to list brief bios and critical comments about current (or very famous retired) gay porn stars along with a picture (usually nude and erect). However, in recent years the Adam Guide has failed to list more than a few of the actor's most recent films. There are also glaring omissions in its directory.

The Bijou Guide is a nonpictorial listing of almost all gay porn stars, past and present. Near-complete filmographies of stars are included, and few stars are omitted, no matter how few films they made. Stars are also cross-referenced under alternative names (a common occurrence in gay porn, where actors change spellings and names frequently).

Both the Adam Guide and Bijou Guide list gay porn films with cast, director, studio, and brief critical review and plot synopsis. The Adam Guide has, in recent years, tended to include only films released within the past 12 to 18 months, plus a very few classic films. Bijou is far more complete, but not pictorial.

The Bijou Guide is no longer available in print; it is ONLY available now as a CD-ROM. It sells for $24.95 (when ordered online). I am told "it contains every word of the print edition -- and even more great photographs." It was due out in September, 1996 but pushed back to January, 1997. Bijou is having trouble putting the CD-ROM out, and no telling when it will be out now. The last paper edition of the Guide (in two volumes!) was in 1993.

If you'd like to receive a downloadable sampler with reviews and photos from Bijou's best selling videos, just drop a note to [email protected] and put "sampler" in the subject and/or body of your message.

Tim Evanson's review of the Bijou guide is available at the rame reading room.

The AFW Gay Directory is $10.95 plus $2.85 S&H ($12.95 foreign plus $4.00 S&H):

Adam Gay Video Annual Directory
8060 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046-7082

You should check out alt.sex.strip-clubs, where het and gay strip clubs are routinely reviewed, and tours by most women are routinely publicized and discussed by the posters.

The one website we knew of that tracked this kind of thing has vanished.

Reviews of recent films may also be found in almost any pictorial magazine available at your local newsstand. Straight and gay magazines such as Penthouse, Playboy, Hustler, Mandate, Inches, Advocate Men and others routinely include reviews of 3-10 movies in each issue. Often, their reviewers are regular commentators who also contribute to the directories published yearly by other companies.

Of course many readers have undertaken the thankless task of providing their own reviews to the group free of charge. They argue that their reviews are better than those commercially available. Since they are in no way connected to the industry, they say, the only subjectivity bound to arise is due to their tastes and whims rather than the need to placate the porn industry with raving reviews all the time. Of course they may be just paranoid :-). You decide.

An index of archived reviews is available the Adult Movie Review Index: http://www.rame.net/amri

The best place to get info on The Bare Facts Video Guide is from its website at http://www.barefacts.com.

At this writing, the 2001 has recently been published; but if there's a newer one, it'd be on their site. ;-)

You can contact the author, Craig Hosoda, via e-mail at [email protected]

Phil Hall ([email protected]) tells me:

Not really. Patrick Riley says that "the best collection of photo ID's in my opinion is the Adam Film World annual directory. It's cheap and it covers most of the current big names. You can find it on a regular newsstand or wherever the magazine is sold. If you can't find the annual write to them."

Patrick goes on to explain why such books don't exist:

In a nutshell, no. Tim Evanson writes:

There's really only one set of books available, and we're lucky enough to have their author among our ranks: Patrick Riley ([email protected]) a now-frequent contributor to rec.arts.movies.erotica has a number of books to his credit. He also maintains a huge database which he is nice enough to share both in book form and occasionally in an answer to some questions in the newsgroup. However, DON'T be rude and e-mail him asking for the database or free copies of his book or anything like that...

His standard blurbs about his books can be found by following this link.

In fact, yes. Jerry Butler, Jack Wrangler and Peter North have written autobiographies.

Jerry Butler's book is called Raw Talent and was written by himself, "as told to" Robert Rimmer and Catherine Havel. It can be ordered directly from Prometheus Books. The price is $16.95 Paper (ISBN 0-87975-625-X), $24.95 Cloth (ISBN 0-87975-642-X). They have a toll free number (1-800-421-0351) and a fax number (1- 716-691-0137). I have also seen it available at most large bookstores.

Accounts vary as to the accuracy of Butler's account, but I found it to be a pretty frank discussion of himself and his shortcomings; along with a semi-trashing of the industry. His material is certainly food for thought, and I thought it was a very interesting read.

I have not read it, but Jack Wrangler's book is called The Jack Wrangler Story, or "What's a Nice Boy Like You Doing? By: Jack Wrangler and Carl Johnes. It is copyright 1984, St. Martin's Press, New York. Rumor has it that it is out of print.

Peter North's book, on the other hand, is something I have not read.

It is called Penetrating Insights and is only available via mail order. The phone number for ordering has been disconnected.

Journalist Charles Isherwood wrote "Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Fast Life and Slow Death of Joey Stefano" (Los Angeles: Alyson Publications, 1996). Using interviews with Stefano's friends, family, and co-workers, as well as published interviews and news reports, Isherwood documents Stefano's early life, his entry into porn, and his extensive drug problem. Although not about Stefano's on-the-set experiences, it is a good look at one of gay porn's biggest stars.

Tim Evanson passes along this book and review that you may want to check out:

John R. Burger, ONE-HANDED HISTORIES: THE EROTO-POLITICS OF GAY MALE VIDEO PORNOGRAPHY, Harrington Park Press, 1995. LCCN: HQ76.B86 1994 ISBN: 1560238526

Tim Evanson reviews the book thusly:

Most of the books mentioned in this FAQ can be purchased on-line at Amazon Books. (We have a small affiliation with Amazon Books, in that if you buy a book from them, we get a small finder's fee.) Amazon Books is one of the leading booksellers on the 'Net. They have about 20 titles (at last check) dealing with adult movies.

You can search their site by using this URL: Books about erotic movies at Amazon.com

Adult Video News is the trade magazine of the porn industry. It has reviews, interviews and news sections. Lately, it's reputation has been a bit tarnished on the group, because it gave Ninn's "Sex" and "John Wayne Bobbit Uncut" unusually high reviews. (Both movies were judged, almost unanimously on asm, to have sucked.) Not to mention the fact that they trashed our newsgroup.

For video retailers, there are also tips on box cover art and how to display the videos for maximum exposure.

You can get a full year of AVN for just $48.00.

The address to write to is:

AVN Publications, Inc.
6700 Valjean Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91406

or you can call or fax

Tel: 1-800-521-2474 or 1-310-842-7450
FAX: 1-310-842-7454

They take Visa or Mastercard.

If you prefer, you can also find AVN at most fine adult bookshops. You may also find it on the newsstands, as they are trying to broaden their markets...

You can also subscribe via an unsecure form at their web site: http://www.avn.com/top.link/3527

Adam Film World is another magazine solely devoted to x-rated movies (or, as Georgina Spelvin once said at a high class awards ceremony: "I still call them fuck films" ;-)

Its contents consists mainly of reviews of recent movies (something like 30-40 per issue). There is also usually a layout with a pornstar.

AFW also publishes a companion gay version of the magazine as well. It, too, consists mainly of reviews of recent movies, and includes 2-3 layouts of pornstars with occasional very brief interview or biographical data.

There are 12 issues a year, of which 6 are regular issues, and 6 are special issues. These special issues include a 199# X-rated Film & Video Awards issue (which name the 10 best movies and 10 best vids for the year, according to AFW), an X-rated Movie Handbook issue (really just a listing of the 500 best rated films & videos of the past year), a Porn Star Annual issue (with short pieces on most of the active porn girls and guys), and several XXX Movie Illustrated issues (really a regular issue with less reviews, but with several 'pictorial reviews' [which are really a selection of stills from that movie] ).

AFW's gay magazine, "XXX Gay Video Showcase" is published monthly with 2 special issues a year. The special issues are bi-annual listings of the 100 top-rated films and videos of the past year. Other special issues which had been devoted to pictorial reviews and porn star interviews no longer exist. Instead, AFW has spun off a separate magazine called "Adam Gay Video Pictorial," a bi- monthly publication of old video stills previously published in their XXX Gay Video Showcase magazine. As of January, 1997 Gay Video Pictorial didn't have any subscription rates or services available.

AFW's black magazine, "Adam Black Video Illustrated" is also published bi-monthly and can also be subscribed to at the numbers below.

Adam also produces a _Directory of Adult Videos_ every year (since 1984) which comes out in February. This has reviews of some 400 of the best recent movies, plus a Best of the Rest listing which gives cast and rating of some 1000 additional older movies.

There is a Performer Index which lists movies by performer (although these are NOT as complete as some of the a.s.m. BIOs ;-), as well as a Theme Index (which lists movies which contain such 'themes' as: anal, bi, boob, couples appeal, nurses, etc.).

AFW also puts out a gay version of its Directory. It reviews almost all of the video releases for the past year, as well as classic films. Its design and layout are similar to the straight version, with sections on "Those Other Films", a performer index, a theme index, directors' biographies, "where to buy" and "where to rent" listings, and some editorializing.

And finally there is a Sources section (so you will finally be able to find out where the order that elusive 'Gang Bang Girls take on John Wayne Bobbitt' tape ;-)

To subscribe, and you should also be able to find the magazine on newsstands to check it out.

For $45.00 you get a 1 year subscription ($80 for 2 years). The magazine has a $4.95 cover price.

The address to write to is:

Film World Subscription Dept.
8060 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046-7082

They DO NOT take Visa, Mastercard or any other plastic :-(

The annual Directories (Adam Film, Gay and Black Illustrated) have a cover prices of $10.95; add $2.85 S&H if you order it from them directly.

Hustler Erotic Video Guide is yet another magazine solely devoted to x-rated movies.

It consists of reviews, at least one pornstar layout (Hustler style), and usually one or more pornstar interviews. There are also 2 sections called Fresh Meat and First Word, which are a 2 page photospread and a one page profile respectively of girl new to porn.

HEVG differs from AVN and AFW in that it caters more to the taste of the so-called "raincoat crowd". This means that their reviews put the emphasis almost completely on the sex, and the nastier the better. One of their features for instances is the Scorecard section (as the accompanying blurb says: "Many of you haven't got the time, the patience or the inclination to wade through the verbiage that we reviewers spew when critiquing a tape, so we're cutting the bullshit. All you get here is who does what to whom. If it's not on the card, it's not in the movie).

Categories on the card include: starring, director, rating, number of sex scenes, butt-fucks, cum facials, cocksucking, fuck positions, kinky sex, threeways...

One column worth mentioning for the true raincoaters among you (you know who you are :-) is Semen Salon where Sam Lowry mentions the best cum facials he has seen during the past month.

You should also be able to find the magazine on newsstands to check it out.

For $39.95 you get a 1 year subscription. The magazine has a $4.99 cover price.

The address to write to is:

Hustler Erotic Video Guide
P.O. Box 358
Mount Morris, IL 61054

or you can call the toll-free subscriber service number for credit card orders only:

Tel: 1-800-246-5133

Many of the industry insiders (Sky Henderson, Dirty Bob, Nick Long, etc.) recommended this magazine. They say that Video Xcitement is an excellent publication.

You may reach them at:

Video Xcitement
P.O. Box 187
Fraser, MI 48026
(810) 415-9032

A one year subscription to this monthly newspaper is $45.00, 3rd class post, or $59 first class. It is $70 for South America and Europe, $82 for Asia and Australia.

If you send them $5 (to cover the $3.95 cover price plus postage) they will send you one trial issue so you can check their magazine out.

They now have a web site at http://www.videoxcitement.com

For gay videos, the premiere magazine is Gay Video Guide, a small pocketsized quarterly magazine which contains reviews and fast-breaking gay video news. It is particularly useful for its interviews with gay porn stars, "gossip" column which contains news events about gay porn stars, and its extensive gay porn video reviews which take up about 80% of the magazine. GVG also contains routine columns on genres in gay porn such as military films, prison films, and the like. GVG also contains obituaries of gay porn stars past and present who had died of AIDS or other causes.

To order GVG, send a check or money order (no cash or credit cards) to:

Sabin Publishing
7985 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 109-117
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Cost is $9.95 for six issues, and back issues are available. make checks payable to Sabin Publishing. The magazines are shipped in a plain, brown wrapper.

International orders are $15.95 per year, payable in international money orders only.

The other best guide to gay video is the bi monthly magazine Manshots. Edited by industry director and producer Jerry Douglas, this glossy color magazine is known for its extensive photographs. It contains extensive reviews of older films, genre films, fetish and bisexual films, interviews with current and older gay porn stars, and extensive director's interviews. The letters section is extremely useful for the editors often use this section to publish information about gay porn and actors not normally available or lost to the public.

Order it from FirstHand Publications at:

Manshots--FirstHand Publications
PO Box 1314
Teaneck, NJ 07666

Manshots is $31.00 for six monthly issues. You can get a full year for $60 (a savings of two dollars!)

Visa and Mastercard are accepted, as well as checks and money orders, no cash.

Checks should be made out to "Manshots--FirstHand Publications." International orders are not available at this time. MANSHOTS includes a free copy of the latest annual Adam Film World Gay Video Directory with subscriptions.

No, we don't.

Well, ours...

But if you're looking for hardcore websites, look elsewhere. We talk about movies here and websites that are related to movies. If you want hardcore sex sites, type "sex" into any search engine and have a good time.

Um, no.

Dixie Dynamite is an actress with _enormous_ breasts. A D size wouldn't even begin to cover the top. You'd need an FFFF size at least. That in itself should tell you that her breasts are 100% fake.

If you look carefully, you'll notice that the breasts are held in place by a halter. What's more, the actress who plays Dixie Dynamite works under a different name -- Leanna Foxxx.

She's seen much more using that name, and the face is obviously the same.

Nope. They're plastic.

Tim Evanson adds another Point of note: One of the more famous of the "Two-Foot Penis" men, Long Dan Silver, has acted under the name Dan Steele in straight porn for a few years. In those other films, his penis is a distinctively normal size.

HOWEVER, we cannot rule out a medical condition which would result in an enlargement of the penile gland to such dimensions. However, it would be pretty obvious that there is a medical condition and the dick probably won't work as we've come to expect. I'm thinking of the "elephant man" disease here...

No. They're plastic. And that guy doesn't have dicks for hands either. They're special effects.

HOWEVER, I have been told that there are indeed poor souls who end up with two penises... and I guess there are enough of them to get a neat-o scientific name: "Diphallic Terata" (get it? two penises). It is generally described as the "complete or partial doubling of the penis or clitoris."

Most men that suffer from diphallic terata do not have two fully working cocks, like the guys supposedly do in these movies. And most of the time the second penis is removed surgically at a young age. Most medical dictionaries and encyclopedias could give you more information.

There are hermaphrodites in biological cases, but they are known as pseudohermaphrodites; either men with internal female organs (too much testosterone produced during birth), or women with unusually sized clitori due to the same biological disorder.

But nobody is born with both male and female organs -- certainly not in any case where both can function. So the hermaphrodite videos are faked.

Often, however, some producers seek out pre-operative transsexuals, and induce them to enter the porn world in return for fairly substantial sums of cash which can be used to complete the changeover. Transvestite gay porn star Ricky Van has noted in interviews that transsexuals can receive up to $2,500 for doing a year's worth of gay porn (perhaps as many as 8 videos).

Patrick Riley brings this to the table:

Back in the 1960s, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) settled on a standard for rating movies. This rating system was put in place to keep children out of films "society" felt they should not see. X rated films were those films meant for people over 18. The MPAA registered all of their ratings (except X) with the trademark office for protection.

In 1969, Midnight Cowboy, an X rated film, won the Best Picture Oscar. (The only one to do so...)

In the early 1970s, porn was going mainstream. Deep Throat was gaining popularity. However, anyone in their right mind knew that a porn film would never get anything other than an X rating, so producers just labeled their films X.

Harris Minter adds:

After a period of time, the MPAA stopped rating films X because of the pornographic connotation the X rating had earned. This hurt legitimate movies like Midnight Cowboy, because newspapers and other periodicals would no longer advertise X rated fare.

So, in 1991, the MPAA developed NC-17.

In 1991, the MPAA tried to replace the X rating with the NC-17 classification. The same stigma that plagued the X rating, still plagues the NC-17. This is an unfortunate occurrence, and explains the prevalence of "unrated" films. Ironically, newspapers will often advertise an "unrated" film rather than an NC-17 film. I would imagine that Spanish filmmaker Pedro Aldomovar (a filmmaker who has been constantly fighting the MPAA board) has a lot to say on this issue. All of this is sadly ironic, since due to its trademark status, the porn industry is forbidden to use NC-17 as a self-imposed rating; and most of us will not enjoy going out to a theatre and seeing the intended adult material produced by people like David Lynch ("Wild at Heart" was trimmed to accommodate an "R" rating) or Oliver Stone ("Natural Born Killers" was toned down considerably to achieve the "R" rating). We will have to wait for video.

Harris Minter adds:

Can you say "marketing?" When the X was getting overused, what else could producers use to make people see _their_ movies? A triple-X rating. "Hotter than three X rated films!" However, it is not the case. There is no less sex in an X rated film than in a triple X one.

Seymore Butts has started to market European cuts of his movies domestically as "XXXX" versions -- so they include scenes that American producers usually do not release stateside -- fisting and watersports mostly. I am not aware of Seymore doing any hardcore bondage stuff.