Director: Fred Halsted (1987) 83 minutes
Starring: Fred Halsted, David Spectrum, Clay Russell, Dean, Gregory, Jesse Jones (AKA Mick Christopher), Al Ford
from Gay Erotic Video Index – “Ten beautiful muscular Body Builders. Hot & horny action, with fetishes spanking, body worship, sweat socks and armpits. Interracial.”
Four young guys recount their sexual experiences and fantasies. First guy up describes his fantasy with muscle studs Clay Russell and David Spectrum; next up, Al Ford describes his “DAD”, Fred Halsted catching him reading a porn magazine, takes him over his knee and spanks him, them makes him jack off; finally Jesse Jones gets it on with a straight buddy..
Original music: Cooltoons, Inc. – I kinda dig the music.
There’s a lot not to like about Fred Halsted’s last effort (we can do that in the comments, if you care to watch the movie first – Fred’s dirty talk while the guy can’t get it up is kinda up there on the list!), but I do remember at the time enjoying Clay Russell’s body being adored, and this was still in a porno theater, so no fast forward – you either sat and watched, or got up and roamed around the theatre… (that’s for another time – or go look thru the archives!) ANd maybe I’m alone here, but the “str8” guy getting talked into getting head is kinda fun. Of course he’s holding a beer, hasn’t “gotten any in 3 weeks” so, ya know, what the hell???!
For a less charitable view – check this out – The Pornography of Exhaustion and Tape Decay: Fred Halsted’s Fast Friends (1986) – “This is a sad, dispiriting effort all around, and it’s merely to contribute some commentary on the late-Halsted oeuvre that I even bother here; it seems nobody else has seen fit to do so.”
2 replies on “fast friends”
Without having watched (or listened to) the film yet, one thing that may have affected the finished product was the fact that Fred’s partner, Joey Yale, died the year it was produced, in 1986. Fred was apparently despondent and is said to have never gotten over Joey’s death before his own in 1989, and since he typically took a long time to whittle his footage down into a final release form, he may have just said ‘fuck it, this is good enough’ if his heart wasn’t in it anymore :/
The genius of L.A. Plays Itself was how the sexual parts (especially the S&M from his scene with Joey in the second half) snuck up on the viewer, due to the time in which it was made as well as the original artistic vision he had for his films. It was never so much about the sex itself, rather the situations that he captured before and after the acts shown, which was odd for a porn mindset even then (and almost unheard of now). By the 80s when directors were regularly shoving cameras right under a guy’s dick while it fucked an ass, and slo-mo cumshots, etc., he was even more of a fish out of water.
Oiled up Clay Russell? Works for me!
Yeah, this may not be Halsted’s best, but it has its moments. I think good gay porn is in the eye of the beholder. It is what it is.
The str8 guy blowjob fantasy definitely had a genuine feel once it got going. Took me right back to high school!