American Taboo

From the title and plot, one would expect an exploitative, soft core flick. One would be wrong. This is in fact a very sensitively made film about the developing relationship between a shy and emotionally-guarded photographer and a very attractive, though certainly not dizzy, teenage girl. The performances by the two leads are quite good, as is the scripting and direction. While apparently little known and not seen on TV, it's worth the effort to locate.

CONTENT NOTE: The film is rated R for nudity and sexual situations.

As others have said, if you're looking for "Alien Hookers on the Moon" you'll be mostly disappointed - at least until you discover that beautiful Nicole Harrison puts all of those plastic blonde alien bimbos to shame. However, if you're a fan of 1960s-70s French & Italian films, you'll appreciate this awkwardly-titled indy gem for the masterpiece that it is.

Director Lustgarten (really?) anticipates the 1990s themes of teen neighbor attraction (Crush, 1993) & date rape (The Liar's Club, 1994) with a layered character study of alienation & Nabokovian attraction. This is an arthouse movie, not a romp. So expect slow pans & long pauses on ocean waves, night skies and plant life. Yet, even with limited resources, the cinematography here is top notch, exponentially better than 95% of the "original content" you'll find on Netflix or Prime.

To previous reviewers who question the believability of a lonely young girl pursuing an older neighbor, I can only say that you, my friends, are the ones who are living in a false reality. Girls know *exactly* what they're doing.

The Grace of Her Movement With each step, a dance of elegance, Her movements are pure, a captivating trance.

Graceful as a swan on a moonlit lake, Every motion a masterpiece she makes.

Her presence commands, a quiet power, Like a blossom in the early hour.

She moves with the rhythm of the stars, A dance that heals, a dance that scars.

The secrets of Her Eyes Her eyes, two stars in the midnight sky, Sparkle with secrets, soft and shy.

They hold a universe, vast and bright, Guiding lost hearts through the darkest night.

Her smile, a dawn breaking through the gloom, Fills every corner, every room.

With grace, she moves, a dance divine, A timeless beauty, ever so fine.

It's strange that Steve Lustgarten, the director, his flick Power Slide isn't available on IMDb. So I had to do it this way. Sure, Power Slide is out on VHS but Belgium used to have a label called EmporiumMovies that were known to bring out hard to get flicks on DVD as a VHS rip. That's easy to spot because you can see the typical VHS faults.

As soon as they came out whit their label the sooner they vanished from earth and no those DVD's are only to find by collectors at flea markets. Was it worth the search? Yes and no. Yes, because there's was action going on and no because it didn't deliver anything new and looked like those old exploitation flicks.

The story itself was rather simple. When Kyle Lockwood returns after years to his home town he soon learns that the local mob has the town in hands like a vice grip. When he learns that one of his friends vanished he's sure he's being killed, but cops are corrupt too so it's up to Kyle to do some research.

It do has a few shoot outs but nothing is shown on-camera. It's a bit tame on the red stuff but somehow I kept watching due the story itself. Only for the buffs of old school drive-in flicks with old school cars from the seventies.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Paul is a 30 something who works as a photographer's assistant, and seems introverted. When we see his place, he lives like a slob. He gets a fixation on a young neighbor, and in some ways she leads him on. But she is underage, and he should know better. The movie I saw suggests it being very low budget, and the copy shows the passage of time, meaning it isn't in the best condition. It is very slow paced, and in many places quite boring. He takes her to where he works, and while he is developing film, she takes advantage of the make up and costume room, and turns into quite a siren. And that has the desired effect. Later we find he has a daughter, and when she asks about her, he says he was 17 and she was 15, and abortions couldn't be obtained, which causes her to cry. A rather heartless remark by him showing how he considers women. It is hard to care about the Paul character and one can be concerned about how Lisa will go on in life.