For obvious health reasons, a great deal of late-1980s gay porn falls into two categories: cautious or faked. "Bare Tales" falls into another category -- surprisingly hot and not all that safe. It's basically a compilation of loops with some very famous stars, many of which this veteran observer had never seen before.
The flick is narrated by the too-handsome Jim Pulver (left on the cover), a blond jock stud who tells us tales of what goes on in his parent's mountaintop home while they're away -- and other things that go on in the neighborhood. Pulver, whose career was capped by him topping Jeff Quinn and Tom Brock in a subway car in "Inch by Inch" (Huge) and "Bigger Than Life" (Huge), respectively, plays it sufficiently snotty and dirty-mouthed for the narrative. He begins by focusing our attention on an exotically handsome jock, Brent Masterson, who is wandering the hills in tight gym shorts from which his hard dong protrudes as he spies on Pulver whacking off on his patio during the preludes to each scene.
The first features the inestimably handsome Michael Wayne (better known as Brian Estevez), a dark-haired, blue-eyed dirty Irish street boy in the mould of Mike Henson whose porn career was among the most unparalleled for virtually never failing to turn in an outstanding performance with his tongue, mouth and butt. Here he's lounging around the pool with his friend Chris Williams, a blond-haired hunk who looks like a dead ringer for Kevin Williams (who appears later in the flick). Michael tells Chris to get comfortable and that means sticking his fat dick in Michael's waiting mouth. They soon move into the bedroom where they engage in a slurpy 69, after which Mike fucks Chris on his belly bareback and pulls out just as he explodes in a torrent of cum. Chris then moves Mike on his knees and fucks him doggy bareback (I always love watching Mike get fucked because he seemed to love it so much) until he spills. Then Mike turns Chris on his back and plugs him missionary until he spills yet another load.
Pulver tells us about his cousin Jerry, a preppy brunet who brought a frat brother home one day and took advantage of him. The frat brother is a beefy strawberry blond (none of the actors are identified in the flick, but the blond looks like veteran top Robert Harris, and may be billed here as Roger Harris). Jerry moves into the bedroom and starts sucking the naked and sleeping blond until the hunk wakes up and starts working his hands under Jerry's shorts to grab his ass. The shorts come off, revealing a fabulous tan-line, and blond hunk quickly slips into a vigorous 69 session, after which they service each other orally until the blond mounts Jerry face down and then face-to-face sit-style, while Pulver peeks at them through the door. The hunk then fucks the cum out of Jerry missionary before pulling out and dousing the kid's pubes with goo.
The next scene features another preppy brunet with a great tan-line, and his cute little mustachioed boyfriend sucking cock in another bedroom in a scene filled with badly synched moans and groans. The tan-lined boy shoves his fat uncovered cock up his boyfriend's ass missionary, scissor and on the belly, as they are joined by a third jock, who looks a little like Brett Winters but isn't. The boyfriends feast on his cock until he decides to fuck the smaller guy, then he gets fucked by the tan-lined guy until they all spill their loads.
Next we have a scene that is a bit off-focused, badly dubbed, and probably a throw-in loop from some other venture. It is notable because it features Rod Phillips, who was a serious star in the making when his real-life lover, Lee Ryder, was starting to soar in popularity. The tightly curled, pug-nosed blond Phillips is playing strip poker with a mustachioed guy, who loses and goes down on Phillips's massive tool with gusto, feeding on that cock in a variety of positions. Though Phillips shows his own oral talent nicely, it's really all about him dominating the other guy, whom he fucks standing-doggy, kneeling into the couch, which produces a very fast, thick, splashy climax. The other dude gets off as well as Rod finger-fucks him to climax.
Now the cutie Kevin Williams, all blond, blue-eyed, naïve and hunky, comes by to visit Pulver's brother. Too bad he's away. Pulver lures Kevin in by letting his cock slip out of his tight gym shorts, and Kevin moves to the porch to suck Pulver's dong through the porch fence. They move to the bedroom and Kevin continues sucking while Pulver leans over, strips him, and (surprise!), moves in on Kevin's hard, long, fat and waiting cock. There's some cute come-on dialogue here while Pulver is fucking Kevin's face, and in a bow to the increasing demands of the porn business at the time, slips on a rubber to fuck Kevin's ass. However, when he does enter that special orb of man flesh, it's naked, and what follows is an exceptionally intimate, hot, tender and totally believable fuck session, filled with the exact real-time talk that you would expect and not have scripted. It's remarkable all the more because Pulver's usual statue-like demeanor plays right into Kevin's passion. Kevin cums with Pulver in him, takes a load on his pubes, and they kiss to end the scene.
The most disappointing part of this flick is the last scene, in which the hunky Brent Masterson merely beats off rather than moving in on Pulver for some hot sex. Pulver beats off on his patio, and the two climax a valley apart. Otherwise, this is a surprisingly hot little blast from the past featuring some very nicely filmed, and felt sex, and a cast that is quite sensational in looks, and cock.
DVD features: Chapter selections; photo gallery (mostly Williams and Pulver); no regional coding (playable worldwide); and trailers.
A DVD Review by Bo Champion