Touched

Well-directed, written and acted by Randy Spears, "Touched" proves to be a touching movie, as far removed from popular trends in porn as imaginable. It plays with an uplifting message more like that TV staple "Touched by an Angel" and was a most pleasant surprise for me to discover as I thoroughly sample a couple of decades' worth of DVD content from the Wicked Pictures vaults.

Contract superstar Julia Ann is styled with a mousey brown hairdo, far removed from her usual glamorous screen image. She portrays a young doctor whose mom Veronica Hart is saved from the brink of death by laying on of hands by Dr. Chad Evers, played by Spears in a low-key, effective performance.

Julia's quest to discover the true reason why her mother survived forms the crux of the story, with five XXX sex scenes interspersed for the Wicked porn audience to digest. But it is possible to watch "Touched" like a real movie, and a rewarding one at that.

Spears eschews the usual religious overtones of such a tale, instead going after philosophical issues that arise from his supernatural premise. Fine performances, especially by Julia, enhance the romance that climaxes with the inevitable coupling of our lead players, and then a well-written coda that resolves the story in most satisfying fashion.

I won't dwell on the sex scenes, which speak for themselves, highlighted by a lesbian "one for the road" encounter of Julia with her gal pal played by Demi Delia, who doubled as the show's art director and has had a rather under-the-radar porn career in mainly junk titles. She collaborated with Spears on another movie titled "My Imaginary Life" for Penthouse which I'm definitely going to track down and watch.