House of Love

Rating:
Year: 2000 Indigo Entertainment
Starring: Kira Reed, Tracy Ryan, Kelli McCarty, Susan Featherly (as Maria West)
Directed by: Tom Lazarus
IMDb

Looking for the best safe sex money can buy? If you can afford it, book an evening at the House of Love, an exclusive, lavish Hollywood brothel where those in the highest tax brackets gladly shell out the big bucks for beautiful women. The girls get rich, and the clientele always leave very satisfied. Anything wrong with that?

The lovely and talented Catalina Laranaga stars as Melinda, a troubled documentary film maker who’s allowed to hang out at the hostel with camera crew in tow. This of course would be any guy’s idea of the ultimate gig, but Melinda isn’t a guy, and she’s not there for fun: she’s bent on exposing the unseemly truths of the skin trade. Her marriage, it seems, fell apart because of her husband’s visits to prostitutes, and she’s still ticked off about it. Still, we’re left to wonder if there’s more to her problems than meets the eye, and how her experience at the cat house will affect her.

The call girls are Susan Featherly, Tracy Ryan, and daytime soap-star ( Passions ) and former Miss USA Kelli McCarty. All look fetchingly desirable, especially when we’re first introduced to them by Darby, the house madam (veteran Kira Reed), who shows us how the girls are presented to clients before they make a selection. Wow. Talk about tough decisions! Can I get back to you on who I might choose? And, by the way, how much would the total package cost?

Much of what we see is through the lens of Melinda’s camera; the frequent interview segments cast a dead- serious tone to the movie as the girls, individually and sometimes together, tell their stories. They’re not necessarily happy ones (and we’re forced to see a tear or two in the grainy close-ups) but provide a certain realism that’s also evident in the sex scenes. Susan Featherly’s character (Sunny), in particular, has a scorching session with a rock star that climaxes in porn-movie-fashion (if you know what I mean) all over her breasts, except of course we don’t see the explicit visuals. And Tracy Ryan surprises, seduces, and gives a convincing hand job in an intense pro-bono session for a lucky, if shy young cameraman. Another half-dozen or so scenes offer up equally energetic, realistic-looking, and well-depicted sex.

House of Love is not without it’s flaws- the dreary violin and piano score is appropriate but grows tiring, and I would like to have seen more from brunette beauty Kelli McCarty. Still, this is quality erotica that will be enjoyed by those who like a little “psychological disrobing” mixed in with the T & A. The acting is above average, the performers are attractive, and there’s a whole lot of explicit sex talk. It is not a “wall-to-waller,” but everyone manages to get off in fine fashion (even Melinda– in a delightfully erotic multi-partner finale). At times a little disquieting, it is ultimately very satisfying. Check it out.