It was hard to believe the 1990’s were the last decade of a very fast moving, fast growing, war torn, but extremely progressive 20th Century. What would the first year of this last decade bring our way just twenty six years ago?
We’ll begin as always, by taking a look at what the cost of living and other numbers back at the beginning of the 90’s. The average income in 1990 was $29,000, the average cost of a new 3 bedroom home was $123,000. When it came to cars, the average price was at around $15,000. In 1990 gas was “only” $1.34 a gallon, a dozen eggs cost $1.00 and a 10 lb. bag of potatoes was $1.39. You could buy an IBM PS1 Computer starting at $999.00 and a pair of Levi jeans for $35.00. In the news highlights around the world and the U.S. in 1990, Saddam Hussein orders Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield begins as the United States and UK send troops to Kuwait. President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a historic agreement to end production of chemical weapons. The Saturn and Lexus automobiles make their debut. The Caller ID system is introduced and also the first GPS navigation system for cars is produced by Pioneer. The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit revolutionizing astronomy. Microsoft Releases Windows 3.0 and the first McDonald’s open in Moscow, Russia. The new toy craze in 1990 was “The Furby” (we had 3 of them!). In the world of fashion hot pants and mini skirts make a comeback and tent dresses and pant suits are the big thing with women.
In the world of entertainment among the big hit Hollywood films for the year were Home Alone, Pretty Woman, The Hunt for Red October and Dances with Wolves. In music the big names were Vanilla Ice, Tears for Fears, Billy Joel, Mariah Carey and The B-52’s. On TV a new animated program “The Simpsons” debuts on Fox. Other hit shows include Cheers, Golden Girls, Murder She Wrote and Sienfeld. Among the celebrities we lost in 1990 were actress Greta Garbo, singer Sarah Vaughn, the multi talented entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., Muppets creator Jim Henson, actor Rex Harrison and blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn.
In porn just about all the productions were being done in California and a big push was taking place in the European and UK markets. Many new technological advances with cameras, lighting and special effects lend to some bigger, mainstream like productions. 1990 produced some big hits like “New Wave Hookers 2”,” Pretty Peaches 2” and the film we take a look back at today, a winner of 5 AVN awards, “Beauty and the Beast 2”.
Beauty and the Beast 2 – VCA Films – Director – Paul Thomas – Cast – Tracey Adams, Victoria Paris, Rachel Ryan, Sabrina Dawn, Chaz Vincent, Tammy White, Randy West, Jon Dough, Dizzy Blonde, John Leslie, Randy Spears, Scotty Schwartz, Ray Victory, Henri Pachard.
The original X rated “Beauty and the Beast” came out in 1988 also written and directed by Paul Thomas. It was a fun delivery of the fairytale and in the end the beast (John Leslie) does finds his true love (Tracey Adams). Now we come to the sequel, very nicely done, and how the true love of the beast is taken away and what all takes place to get her back. Much of the cast from the first one is back along with the addition of the very sexy Victoria Paris as Princess Sybil.
In part two we get a visual narrative from The Teller (Tammy White) of what is to come, again in a comedic vein, as the beauty and beast return as the very happily married King and Queen Beastington some 20 years after they found one another. They now have two attractive and sexy daughters Patience (Chaz Vincent) and the aforementioned Victoria Paris as Sybil. The daughters are as different as night and day. Patience is the innocent virgin while Sybil goes after all the sex she can find. One night Lord Jarvis (Randy West) beds Sybil and they have an intense romp in the sack. But Jarvis has a plan after bedding Sybil. He wants his son Desmond (Randy Spears) to marry Sybil.
The only way he can make it happen is to blackmail the Queen by playing recording for the King of daughter Sybil’s sexual escapades. He will keep the secret if the Queen has sex with him. Though she doesn’t want to and remain true to the King, she has no choice but to give in to Jarvis. What neither of them know is they are being spied on and the violin player goes to the King to tell him what has he has seen. When the King asks if it looked as though the Queen was enjoying it the answer is yes. This causes the King, after all these years, to revert back to his beastly self. What takes place from that point on, along with other twists in this story will keep you watching to see just what happens and how it all comes to an end for everyone involved.
The period costumes, settings, makeup and overall production are visually very good. The sex scenes, there are seven of them, range from mild to wild with plenty of sizzling action. The writing, done in a humorous way, is crisp and offers up some very funny lines. The cinematography is spot on capturing the moods, feelings and desires of the characters. The cast is excellent with a good range of acting chops bringing a lot of realism to this popular fairy tale in an adult way. Thomas, showed even back then, going from performer to director was a smart move. He has gone on to direct some of the best films in porn over the past twenty five plus years and won a number of awards for his work.
If you did not see the original 1988 release of the porn version of “Beauty and the Beast”, it is available on DVD. I recommend you get hold of it along with part two that provides plenty of entertainment and sexcitement as a porn classic. So be sure to check out the multi award winning “Beauty and the Beast 2”.
Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN