Damien's Seed

Damien's Seed can be considered one of the very small number of mid Nineties B Movie 'erotic thrillers' that has a functioning plotline - albeit, a fairly cheesy one filled with pseudo 'religious' nonsense.

There are one or two superficial similarities to The Wicker Man (1974) which may have been at the back of someone's mind, but the most outstanding feature is the appearance of three of soft core's better actresses - namely Kira Reed, Shauna O'Brien and Jacqueline Lovell; of this trio Reed does well given how little she has to work with (a recurrent theme), O'Brien shows improvement from her earlier outings (as well as a great figure), while the charming Lovell steals the show with her relaxed and naturalist turn as a kindhearted drifter.

It's concluded in a fairly rushed manner, and the motivations, and objective of this odd sect led by O'Brien remain obscure, there's nice photography and location work in some Californian spa town which goes in the film's favour. And it's still miles ahead of the Wicker Man remake!

Any movie that promises to have Kira Reed in the cast is enough for a watch; even though I have to sit through "unpretty" individuals cast in this film. She has a small part in this film about a P.I. who's searching for a woman that was kidnapped by alleged devil worshippers. Of course, like all softies, we can expect the same stuff that we've seen in others, but this one of the first to go to the darkside. Later in the 90's and 00's they'd mix this stuff up constantly.

The P.I. (Matthew Sullivan) is handsome enough, but I couldn't stop staring at that ugly mole and his dimples. Shauna O'Brien shows off one of the reasons I abhor breast implants. Still, Kira Reed and the others are enough of a reason to watch this film if it's ever on one of those Sex T.V. channels.

This is one of those ridiculous softcore sex movies they always show late at night on Cinemax (aka Skinemax), but it's one you can actually watch with the sound up. It seems to have an actual plot, albeit one that develops at the speed of molasses since they have to throw in a ten minute, slow-mo, softcore sex scene every five minutes or so. A detective is looking for a runaway girl, only to discover she is going to be the virgin sacrifice of a coven of witches. (Kind of reminds you of a REAL horror movie, huh?) The cast includes Jacqueline Lovell, who is unique among softcore sex performers in that she can actually act a little, and Kira Reed who is also unique in that she seems to relatively silicone free (there's still PLENTY of bad acting and silicone here though). The male lead is OK too, unconvincing as a detective perhaps, but at least he's not one of the grimacing idiots who are usually in these kind of things.

This movie was made at an interesting time. Softcore filmmakers seemed to realize that the dateless wonders that were, uh, entertaining themselves with this garbage didn't need a 90-minute movie for that purpose. They seemed to briefly toy with the old-fashioned idea of having a movie that actually had some appeal beyond the sex before going the other way and creating the 30-minute segment "erotic" series that they're probably still churning out for Cinemax today. That doesn't mean I would recommend this to anyone who is not primarily interested in seeing Lovell, Reed, et. al. naked and pretending to have incredibly wild sex, but this one of the less painful ways to do it.

Actually, by soft-porn standards, this ain't a bad movie. It has a vaguely supernatural element, although it's all implied rather than shown. The twist of the detective being the person being sought in the ritual is nicely done. Basically, though, it's an excuse to have the star get into bed with lots of women. He has a girlfriend (as is graphically demonstrated, natch), but that doesn't stop him from hopping into bed with two other women, not to mention being drugged and used as a stud by a cult of women-witch types. The acting is amateurish, making it kind of enjoyable in a cheesey sort of way.

If you were expecting another "Omen," picture, you'll be dismayed...like I was. Mostly cheeseball plot surrounding a detective who, while looking for a missing girl, discovers and investigates devil worshippers. Soft core porn stuff with not even a hint of mystery or suspense.