Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Book rating scale
**** - Bloodtype Online Classic
*** - Very Good
** - Below Average
* - Bad
Zero - I wish I didn't have eyes so I couldn't read garbage like this.
*** - Very Good
** - Below Average
* - Bad
Zero - I wish I didn't have eyes so I couldn't read garbage like this.
Skinflicks: The Inside Story of the X-Rated Video Industry by David Jennings
When thinking about Pornography I’m sure your average person doesn’t think too far beyond the fact that they are films depicting hardcore sex acts. But if you know anything about the history of porn, you know there is much more there than simply the on screen sex that you see when watching the movies. It’s an industry filled with beautiful women, strange characters, shady producers and much more. In “Skinflicks” author David Jennings reveals what it’s like to not only make the movies, but speaks of all of the zany happenings behind the scenes and from a business aspect as well. Jennings is certainly qualified to do so as he made a handful of films, worked for one of the biggest video porn companies that ever existed in VCX (Video Cassette X-rated), and started a viable company of his own with Superior Video. Right out of UCLA film school in 1970 Jennings almost immediately got into the porn industry through the first person to bring hardcore into American theaters. After that Jennings found himself in Michigan making industrial films only to eventually move back to California to work in the industry again. Many people at the time were working in the industry to get their “break” in mainstream film, but not Jennings. He was thinking the entire time of writing a book on his experiences and what experience’s he would have. Respectively in the book Jennings only mentions people by their stage names (unless their real identities were already common knowledge) or by fake names that he created. I have to give the man a lot of respect in doing this for the fact that there have been many “tell all” books to come out of the pornographic film industry only to ruin lives. This book however is the perfect voyeur tool at allowing all of us to look inside an industry that’s as dangerous as it is sexual, without having to endure the danger ourselves.
“Skinflicks” manages to be a wonderful book about the adult entertainment industry because of the sheer volume that the book covers. Jennings himself managed to get into the business prior to the video movement and the book covers that portion of his career as well. It’s interesting to read especially if you are fully aware of the business when films were shot on film as opposed to video and mainly exhibited at theaters and peep shows. Jennings worked in the west coast scene of shooting porno and the book is filled with stories and his experiences in doing so. It talks about his start in the industry to eventually landing a position with porn giant VCX in the late 70s. This I personally found incredibly interesting as I was always under the idea that VCX was the king of VHS porn in the 80s with all of the biggest titles available under their banner. To be perfectly honest from what is written in the book Mr. Jennings was one of the biggest reasons this happened considering how much work he was doing for them at the time.
Personally however my favorite parts of the book were basically Jennings own assessment of the x-rated industry and it’s well known stars. From actors to directors and producers Jennings had no shortage of stories and information about them and it’s all fascinating. Since he worked on the films and directed some himself (all under a different name by the way) he had great on set stories as well as some from behind the scenes. You get some great stuff here about legends in the business such as Ron Jeremy, Jamie Gillis, Traci Lords, Juliet Anderson, Serena and many more. Some of them are as surprising as you may thing and some may show you the sad state of affairs some of them were in at the time they were working in the business. But the thing about Jennings writing that I think makes the book vital reading is his impartial nature in the book. He isn’t a one sided writer simply siding with the porn industry on everything, or on the other side blasting it for how wrong it is. He simply calls it how he sees it bringing up some of the most disturbing things you’ll hear about the industry and not sugar coating it. On the same token he also talks about the people respectfully (if it’s been earned) and candidly which makes for a much more interesting read if it was any other way.
Jennings writing is very well done and has a great personality to it which makes the book a pretty easy read. I got through all of its four hundred plus pages in less than two days because I found myself unable to put it down and I think that’s the best recommendation I can give it. It’s interesting from cover to cover and totally sucked me into everything it had to say (which is a lot). Jennings also manages to be extremely responsible with this book as it not only talks about the financial ups and downs of working in the industry, but also shows how AIDS effected it and the “War on Porn” in all of it’s ugliness is in there as well. I can’t recommend “Skinflicks” enough as it’s a very important book about one of the most financially successful and influential genre’s of film ever made; Pornography.
-Ed Demko
