Black Worm

To quote Wesley Snipes' Blade character after he has vanquished an overly egotistical foe, "Some motherfucker's always trying to ice skate uphill." Capo is, indeed, one of those motherfuckers. Of course, as it usually happens with men who are more ambitious than they are intelligent, it ends up coming back to bite him in the ass. Hard.

Capo and his crew, along with Carla's help, double-cross El Oso (a courier played with Eurotrash cool by Tony DeSergio) out of the twenty million dollars he is charged with delivering to his boss. But when El Oso figures out the grift, he kidnaps Carla and exacts his revenge on Capo. Since I like you, I won't spoil the rest of the movie for you. Like The Matrix, you'll just have to see it for yourself.

The Good

The camerawork (by Mandril) is incredibly impressive. Like last year's Corruption, it appears that the filmmakers had plenty of time and resources to make an actual movie which just happens to have hardcore sex in it. The production value's there in every frame, from the dense color palette to the use of flash animation for some of the more violent moments in the film.

And the sex is great. It doesn't feel staged; it's realistic and less showy than in other films. I enjoyed it immensely. It really did feel as if I were peeking in on people doing their business behind closed doors.

Some standouts: Sanchez' sexy dance on a stripper's pole is electric and sensual; the camera loves her and she struts her stuff with ease and magnetism. I found myself breathing a little too heavily during this sequence (which was embarrassing because I was watching it at work and there were coworkers around).

When Sanchez twiddles herself as she prepares the water for her bath, you get the sense that director Andres Tabogo told her to forget that there was even a camera in the room. Unlike many other masturbation sequences, she doesn't seem to be performing for the camera (or even for the viewer, for that matter). This is what it's like when a woman pleases herself when no one's watching, and the results are very satisfying.

It's here that the film does something really wonderful: As Sanchez lowers herself into the tub, an animated shower of bright red petals sprinkles down from the ceiling, circling down upon her like a delicate scarlet snow that fills the water with color. The Technicolor fantasy sequence that follows it is beautifully simple and visually stunning.

(There's another amazing fantasy sequence later in the film that is a marvel of muted colors and cinematic movment. Sure it's a bit nonsensical and Fellini-esque, but that doesn't mean it isn't beautiful.)

And last, but not least, the score (by DJ 8.25) strips away the chintzy music you're used to hearing and adds smoky, sexy beats that perfectly complement the visuals.

The So-So

While the pacing tends to be a bit slow at times (a minor complaint) and some of the acting leaves a lot to be desired (I would have actually preferred to have seen Alektra Blue and Lorena Sanchez switch roles -- it would have been a little more believable to have Sanchez playing El Oso's badass bodyguard and Blue portraying the gangster's moll), the production values and solid directing more than make up for it.

The Final Verdict

In the end, Black Worm is an ambitious, sexy thriller that aspires to be seen as something more than "just porn" -- and, for the most part, it succeeds with flying colors. This film's one of those motherfuckers I mentioned earlier that tries to ice skate uphill -- only this one makes it to the top.

Credits

Starring Lorena Sanchez, Alektra Blue, Mikayla, Tony DeSergio, Van Damage and Justice Young.

Directed by Andres Tabogo.

Extras include trailers.