Taboo III

Kirdy Stevens original Taboo sits as one of my favorite pornographic films of all time. Its eloquent and honest depiction of incest, in a way that's accessible and understandable to anyone willing to forgo judgment and willing to give it the time of day, is extraordinary, and, with the gorgeous Kay Parker at the center, the film helped pioneer the "MILF" and "mature" genres into mainstream pornography (it has taken many years, but now it there's a bigger interest in 'incest porn' as well). Stevens' sequel to the film, however, was a subpar example of a film that was never intended to exist, and the end result was a film so ordinary and lackluster that it stripped the taboo element away from the film, making it just another run-of-the-mill skinflick with little substance.

Taboo III: The Final Chapter, even with its gaping plothole (I'll reserve my dirty pun here), is a lot of fun and returns to capturing the spirit of the original Taboo. The familiar characters are back, the combination of humor and guilt is embedded into the screenplay once more, and the sex is as filthy and taboo as ever. After taking timeout from her to focus on an entirely different family in Taboo II, our focus returns to Barbara Scott (Kay Parker), who's loneliness returns when her son Paul suddenly moves out, to which her focus becomes on her younger son Jimmy (Jerry Butler). Barbara finds herself increasingly jealous of Jimmy's girlfriend, similar to when she found Brian's girlfriend a simple tart that took him away from his mother in the original Taboo.

Barbara can't take her mind off of Jimmy, so she confides in her friend Joyce (Honey Wilder), who is having sex with younger son Brian (Blake Palmer) since Gregory is away. Barbara, who still has Paul on her mind, wants to try and seduce her son Jimmy, but her better judgment tells her not to after her obsession for Paul grew deeper and deeper when she began having sex with him. It doesn't help that Jimmy and Brian are both involved in a band that is struggling to get the attention of record labels in the meantime their mothers are making attempts to have sex with them.

Hormones flare, sex occurs between different parties (Joyce and Brian, Joyce and Jimmy, Barbara and Jimmy, etc), and the ominous but inviting title is earned for this film. The aforementioned plothole comes from the fact that neither Jimmy nor Brian were ever mentioned in either of the previous Taboo films by any character, evident that Stevens and the production company couldn't foresee the longevity of this franchise.

The sex in Taboo II reminded me a lot of the sex in Mona: The Virgin Nymph because, despite the raw and unadulterated subject matter, the sex was messily filmed, depressingly tame, and wholly unremarkable. With Taboo III, the romanticism between the characters is restored due to the fact that the characters work to rekindle the heart and soul they possessed in the first film, through honest conversations about love and emotions, and Stevens decides to make the film as explicit as the original. Almost every sex scene, from the casual fellatio to the compromising position that's everyone's favorite number, has a tender, romantic side to its eroticism, giving the film that extra edge.

This is where I depart on the Taboo train, however, despite finding two-thirds of my ride successful. As of today, the Taboo franchise has extended itself to twenty-three films; maybe later on down the road I'll find myself perusing the other twenty films. The latter sequels, except for the fourth one, don't include Kay Parker, the heart and soul of the film, and after this particular endeavor, judging from stray clips I've seen of selected films, the focus becomes more on the sex than the themes of the story, as modern porno sequels usually do. There's a thinkpiece somewhere in all of this, and, like the twenty sequels I still have to get through, maybe one day I'll tackle it; I'll save that taboo for another day.

Starring: Kay Parker, Honey Wilder, Jerry Butler, and Blake Palmer. Directed by: Kirdy Stevens.

Taboo III brings back Kay Parker as the star focusing on the character of Barbara Scott again who is still lusting for her son Paul who has moved out. She lives with her son Jimmy the infamous Jerry Buttler and his girlfriend who Barbara disaproves of. This 1984 film reeks of 80's in terms of the subplot about Jimmy's rock band trying to score a record deal , and the music has gotten way more cheesy since the first two making it all the better. The main problem with this film though is the picture is wayyy too dark suffering from a dark tint making the scenes hard to watch and it runs way to long for a porno movie 95 minutes. Still a good watch...look for Ron Jeremy as the record producer classic scene

9/10

As other have said, this is a better film than Taboo II, but not as good as the first one. But Kay Parker always delivers, and no exception here; she just knows how to do sex for the camera. As with the original Taboo, the scene with her son Jimmy (Jerry Butler) is the best in the movie. They are both fully engaged, going for it, and the cinematography is just excellent, all light and shadows and angles of their bodies, especially hers. No, this isn't a great movie, but then what porn movie is? But it is better than most porn, certainly most modern porn, and at least watch it for the final scene, and enjoy Kay Parker at the peak of her sexual powers.

Shame on Kay Parker for reprising her role. This film is absolutely nothing. With the exception of "Innocent Taboo" (not related to this film...Read my review on it at IMDb) no film/ video with "taboo" in the title after "Taboo II" is worth watching. Taboo American Style in a good porn mini-series, though. I can't explain how disappointed I was that Jerry Butler was in this film. He is just not appropriate for that role! As another reviewer said, "the film is much too dark"...It's difficult to watch, and for me it's even harder for me to accept it as a taboo movie. It is the equivalent of the karate kid part III. Don't get mad at me, I'm just trying to save you about 85 minutes of time!

Taboo III (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Barbara Scott (Kay Parker) is back and she's taking care of her younger son Jimmy (Jerry Butler) who we didn't hear about in the previous two movies. Before long mommy starts to have a burning desire about her youngest son but she keeps fighting off the heat for as long as she can.

TABOO III is certainly better than the second film but once again it too fails to match the original movie. In my opinion the first film was a dramatic picture that tried to deal with a taboo subject in a serious manor. The sequel was a pretty weak attempt to try and push the boundaries of good taste but I found the film to be rather bland and boring. This film here is pretty much a straight sex film but it benefits from having Parker back in the lead role and the main focus of the story.

The continuation story line is obviously rather corny and especially since this son wasn't mentioned in the previous two films but that's easy to overlook. The film, to me, is rather corny at times and there are many unintentional laughs that come from some of the performances and this actually helps the film be slightly more entertaining than the previous ones. I'd argue that songs being played over the sex scenes really don't help matters either since they are just as corny as the acting.

The main reason to watch TABOO III is because Kay Parker. Once again she's extremely beautiful here and while here performance isn't "Oscar-worthy" it's at least good enough to hold your attention and she at least makes you feel as if you're watching a real character and not just some bimbo in a sex movie.