Dark Secret

I caught this movie on Cinemax a few years ago. Plot? I didn't notice any, really. There was a small bit of "acting," and lots of girls taking their clothes off and making really ridiculous poses. The one aspect of this movie that surprised me the most was the 5-minute sex scene between two of the models, which, while tame, was still pretty pornographic for cable TV. I mean, it's not every day that you can turn on the TV and see oral sex on cable. Nevertheless, even that scene couldn't save this movie from the multitude of cinemagraphic diseases it seems to be infected by.

This film begins in Los Angeles with a male and female robber entering a convenience store. Things quickly spiral out of control and soon both the store clerk and the female accomplice are shot and killed. A Los Angeles police detective by the name of "Nick Carter" (Robert Eastwick) is also shot and wounded. Three months later, Nick is still suspended pending an investigation and needing to get out of the office for a few days decides to meet up with his girlfriend "Miranda Cross" (Michele Brin) who is in the Mojave Desert working on a photo shoot. What he doesn't know is that an unstable criminal named "Carl Jaeger" (Eric Paul) who he helped to convict for rape and murder has recently been released from prison pending a new trial and is looking to settle scores with him in the worst possible way. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a low-budget soft-core porn film which suffered from both poor acting and rather dull sex scenes. Admittedly, there were a couple of attractive actresses and models but even so this wasn't enough to compel me to rate this below average film any higher than I have.

It's safe to say I was disappointed in this flick. The whole "cop revenge" thing was just a distraction to the many topless models you see during the movie. That's if you actually sat through the entire thing. Personally, I'd stay for the first 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes, you see the scene in the convenience store where the cop in question shot and killed one of two robbers and the cashier (this event keeps recurring, which drives him to seek revenge on the other thief in the store), a parade in the opening credits of most of the models you'll see in the flick (if you stick around for it), a meaningless scene with the cop saying "hi" to his photographer girlfriend, and a pretty decent sleeping bag sex scene between them. Having sex in the cold of the desert night in a sleeping bag is quite fun, I guess. Well, that's the first 15. If you seen that, you know how the rest of the movie goes. The sleeping bag scene is the ONLY (and I do mean ONLY) thing that keeps this flick from getting an F. Poor, poor, poor!

Film is about sex, nude modeling, a cop, sex, nude modeling, a photographer, and oh yes some more sex. A nearly non-existent "plot" gives way for some really streamy sex scenes, studly men, and hot looking women in the buff. If this is your kind of thing, you should more then enjoy this. Unrated; Extreme & Graphic Sexual Content, Nudity, Violence, and Profanity.

Q: How do you manage to exploit both topless models and model cops in the same film?

A: Have the tough male cop shacked up with a lady fashion photographer, of course.

OK, so the vindictive ex-con plot is there just to frame interminable scenes of swimsuit/lingerie/topless models posing for an ex-model turned commercial photographer, but there are a few decent twists. Accordingly, it's not bad fare if you're in a Joe Bob Briggs kind of mood. The acting is pretty bad, the only exception being a decent performance by the strikingly beautiful Michelle Garrin in a supporting role. According to IMDB, STRIKE A POSE is her only film to date, which once again brings up the question of what happens to the careers of so many of these starlets, who seem to have both the pulchritude and acting talent for greater success in front of the camera.