I have to admit that I really wasn't one of Naked Highway's biggest fans. I thought that it was well-written, beautifully shot, visually stunning and a definite original in a porn world full of carbon copies.
However, the sex in it wasn't all that hot. The characters just didn't, in my opinion, have the connections needed to make the sex sizzle.
Now, Wash West has brought forth his first major video since he swept all the award shows with Naked Highway and I approached it with trepidation, knowing that it would be creative and stylish but worried that I wouldn't be able to get off.
Boy, was I wrong!
Animus is one of the best videos I've seen all year.
Animus is the nickname of sexy Thomas Lloyd's character, a silky-voiced cat burglar who is terrorizing the city by seducing his victims, both male and female. Blake Harper is a detective assigned to catching Animus and becomes obsessed with not only catching the mysterious thief but having him as well.
Lloyd's first victims are a rich, married couple played by adorable Tommy Lord and hysterical Elizabeth St. Claire. They are awakened in the night by a noise and head downstairs, only to catch the burglar red-handed. St. Claire holds a gun on him as Lord goes in search of a cellular phone - the phone lines have been cut, another Animus trademark. When he returns, however, Lloyd is the one holding the gun and St. Claire is bound and gagged to a chair in the corner. With gun pointed squarely at Lord, in his husky whisper, Lloyd forces the frazzled husband to remove his clothing - revealing a boner that points heavenward. "Honey, it's the fear, I swear!" Lord exclaims. Lloyd then bends the naked husband over in front of the wife and rapes him all over the sofa for an exciting and hysterically funny scene.
The next day, cop Harper is working out in the park. Dave Nelson heads over, cruising him. They end up back at Harper's and immediately begin to devour one another. In the bedroom, they take turns blowing each other in a highly erotic oral encounter that has both men fighting the other to see who'll be on top. Unfortunately, neither relents so the viewer is forced to endure their frustration as the scene remains strictly oral. However, it's one of the most erotically charged oral scenes that I've ever seen - and I'm not that big a fan of Nelson.
The next victims are boyfriends Tommy Cruise and Peter Logan. They, too, are awakened in the night and proceed downstairs to investigate, catching Lloyd in the act. With gun in hand, Cruise and Logan tie Lloyd up in garden hose and argue about who will get to stay with the sexy seducer. They flip a coin and Cruise wins, staying with his captive. Logan warns him, however, not to remove the mask. Which, of course, Cruise immediately does. Lloyd's charms work their magic and before long, Cruise is all over him, untying him and letting him fuck the hell out of him on the sofa as Logan returns and watches from above, stroking (and sucking) his own meat. After the sex, Lloyd disappears into the night.
Harper continues his questioning as his partner Zach Richards stakes out St. Claire and Lord's house. Richards is a horny little devil and begins stroking his meat but is interrupted by cleaning boy Duncan Mills, who heads up to the house. (St. Claire has the boy clean her floors naked as she whips him in a great scene.) When Mills is finished, he hops into a nearby van, and Richards follows the van to an abandoned warehouse. Harper catches up with him, and together they enter, only to stumble upon an opium den with Mills and two drug-induced buddies (J.J. Bond and Tanner Hayes.) The three engage in a sexy threesome that has Bond fucking Mills as Hayes strokes and snorts from the sidelines.
Harper and Richards pounce, but the boys are too fast - except Hayes, who is still in his stupor. They take him back to the precinct.
The best scene is this next one, where Richards and captain Jack Simmons play good cop/bad cop with Hayes, trying to coax information out of him. Richards slowly begins the interrogation by tenderly kissing Hayes, licking him, relaxing him. Then, when Hayes refuses to talk, in comes Simmons with that big black angry cock to fuck the hell out of him. When Hayes can't stand anymore, Simmons splits and Richards returns, lovingly stroking his dick and rimming Hayes. Again, the cops switch places and Simmons slams his huge dick into a squealing Hayes. It's a terrific scene, with no tension sacrificed as the cops enter and exit because you know that the next segment is going to be even more intense. All three do a great job in this scene, but it's Hayes who'll blow you away. You completely feel his pleasure/pain (and his frustration) as his interrogators go to work on him.
Hayes finally cracks but leads the officers to a dead end - except for the fact that Harper finds a note personally addressed to him from Lloyd, telling him they will meet on New Year's Eve. Harper goes out and gets shit-faced drunk and, as he's coming home, runs into his neighbors Brad Davis and David Bradley. Bradley and Davis head into their own apartment and play the "Animus" game. St. Claire has written a book about her ordeal, and the couple replays the opening seduction scene, complete with bound and gagged blow-up doll to represent St. Claire. They lose themselves in each other as Bradley tops his lover, impaling a screaming Davis (who really knows how to make noise during sex.)
Finally, Harper heads into a strange Hollywood bar, complete with drag queens, ping-pong ball sex shows and bizarre twins who speak simultaneously. Ultimately, Harper gets to the roof, where Lloyd is waiting. The two waste no time getting naked, and Lloyd tops the "untoppable" Harper in another electric scene. Both performers are terrific and have an obvious attraction for each other - you also care about Harper so much that you're glad he gets his man. One way or the other.
I won't give away whether or not Harper actually captures his obsession. You'll just have to get the video.
West gets some of the best performances out of his cast. St. Claire is hysterical as the pill-popping, slave-keeping rich bitch; Harper shines as the cop torn between his passions and his job; Lloyd is a sexy, convincing thief that makes you wonder if you'd be able to resist him; even Kevin Glover, in a small cameo as a vacant newscaster is terrific. Not to mention that this video packs a wallop in the sex department. Every scene is filled with erotic overtones, and the men have great chemistry with each other.
The excellent script is incredibly detail-oriented, giving characters memorable idiosyncrasies (Richards beats off to a she-male mag; Harper is a clean freak; Logan reading Women Who Love Too Much.) It's incredibly original and, not unlike West, incredibly creative.
So go ahead - turn out your light and pray for that shadow to cross your bed. Someone may be coming for your family jewels.
- Jeremy Spencer