Phantom Love

1st watched 10/7/2001 - 3 out of 10(Dir-Madison Monroe): Weird combination of titillating young men lust with wild-eyed young women's romantic thoughts are thrown together in what is ultimately an un-satisfying collaboration in this story. It is basically the tale of a women writer who is in a rut in her romance novelization direction and is told to take a vacation abroad to gather more ideas and winds up at a old inn that is known for spurring-up romance. She comes across an account of the beginnings of the inn and we are then thrown into the original story alongside this writer's current situation. This film is made by a company who thrives it's success on it's ‘r' rated brand of porn and doesn't dissapoint if you're looking for that but the story is pretty trite and silly and missable.

Cable softcore romantic movie "Phantom Love" opens with a cornball damsel in distress story replete with crummy swordfight and timid sex scene, making fun in pantomime with voiceover the genre.

It turns out to be novelist Ellen handing in her latest pirate saga to her publisher, who advises her to get inspiration (suggesting his childhood stomping grounds of Florence, Italy as a travel location) to come up with some fresh ideas for future books.

Everything here is old-hat and flatly presented, even the structure of a romance novelist imagining and presenting her fictional work. Griffin Drew stars in the story within the story taken from a 19th Century journal Ellen reads (and cribs from) as the strong woman who must save her family estate, Tamarind Manor (where Ellen is currently staying in Hollywood-set Florence, a b&b).

Griffin must choose between marrying a wealthy man to save the family legacy or go with the man she loves. Along the way half a dozen softcore sex scenes are included.

This sort of entertainment was frequently produced for cable TV two decades ago, sometimes even casting big-name Adult stars like India Summer and Kaylani Lei, but has gone out of fashion, often replaced by censored versions of hardcore porn movies. It's easy to see why, given how stale and tired this movie is, almost acknowledged in the early scenes of self-mockery.

I have seen plenty of Skinemax flicks in my life but this is the best one. All the women are hot. The scenes are long. A fantastic lesbian scene. Why do people that write comments about movies like this talk about plot or acting? If its late at night and you got the urge.......Phantom Love will take care of you.

Yes, this Surrender flick is not as good as The Exotic House Of Wax or Lolita 2000 but the girls are so sexy.If you're searching for good sex scenes, including a very good lesbian act, this movie is for you!!!

Another title for the movie - maybe to get some more interest going for the movie itself? Who knows ... in Germany they remarket movies with different titles - sometimes getting a new audience to watch movies they didn't seemed interested in the first place.

Have to admit, not sure what the target audience is. Those who love romantic movies, but don't mind a modicum of flesh being shown? Is there such a thing? Even so, do they not have a standard, that the movie does not really reach? Maybe it is an invisible goal (no pun intended) ... you decide, but the story is quite weak at best, while the actors I reckon try their best. Not much saving grace in this one.