The Principles of Lust (2003) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

You'll definitely get your daily requirement of raunch here, but good Lord is this one bad movie!

A struggling writer finds himself in a dilemma which involves choosing between two new friends. At the same time the writer meets his new love, a sweet, sexy suburban woman with a good job and a young child, he also meets a new friend from the wrong side of the tracks.

He's in love with the woman, and realizes that she's the greatest thing that's ever happened to him. She even offers to support him so he can work on his novel full time.

But the friend represents a range of temptation which the writer has never know before: orgies, gambling, extreme thrills, hard drugs, cockfights in which little boys substitute for the roosters, sexual experimentation. As the movie progresses, the friend keeps stretching the limits of experience farther and farther, becoming increasingly daring and debauched. The writer is seduced by the bloody, lusty, drugged-out world, but is also seduced by the pleasant comfort or a normal, healthy life.

He finally determines that the two lives can't co-exist, so he has to make a choice.

NUDITY REPORT
  • Lara Clifton - complete nudity including genital close-ups and spreadeagled gyno shots.
  • Sienna Guillory - breasts.
  • Alec Newman - full frontal nudity
  • Marc Warren - testicles and bottom half of erect penis in a non-simulated sex scene.
  • man in opening credits - swims in a tank, stark naked, for several minutes of screen time. Seen from all angles.
  • various orgy participants - assorted sexual acts, including non-simulated fellatio on screen.
  • A blonde stripper shows her breasts in a barrroom strip show.

I have to give the writer/director credit for one thing. All of the wild experiences are portrayed without censorship. The fighters appear bloody and battered. The women spread their legs and open their genitals for the camera. There are various non-simulated sexual acts portrayed on screen in some graphic detail.

That frankness, that willingness to portray the friend's world through the writer's eyes without soft-pedaling it in any way, thus allowing the audience to share his shock and arousal, is the film's one saving grace.

DVD Region 2 info from Amazon UK

  • widescreen anamorphic

  • full-length director's commentary

Apart from that it is a brutally ugly movie with a consistently dark and ugly tone, centered on hateful, unhappy characters in an unpleasant world. I felt like showering when it was over.

I hated this raunchy trash, and I like raunchy trash in general, so you can only begin to imagine how much you'll hate it.

The Critics Vote ...

  • British consensus: one star. Independent 2/10, Guardian 2/10, Times 4/10, Express 4/10, Mirror 0/10, BBC 3/5.

The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a D. Completely uninvolving, nasty, cheap-looking film.

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