Illicit Desires (4½ Stars)

This is the 19th film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. Like all his other films released by Retromedia, it was made for television. Usually his films were released on DVD shortly after the first television broadcast, but there was a long delay with this film. His later films were released first, making me worry that it would be skipped.

It's difficult to see Dean McKendrick's films if you live outside of the USA. They were all released on DVD, but most of them are out of print by now. (Not "Illicit Desires". You can still order it from Amazon!) Many of his films, about half of them, are available for streaming with Amazon Prime Video, but they're censored. I don't understand that. If the full versions could be shown on television, why not on Amazon? If you want to watch one of his films on Amazon and you're not sure whether it's censored or not, there's an easy test: if it's shorter than 80 minutes, it's been censored.

The film starts with a domination scene, unique for Dean McKendrick. There haven't been any scenes vaguely like this in any of his other films. I'm sure my readers know by now that I'm fascinated by female domination, especially non-consensual female domination. That's what makes this scene so thrilling.

The dominatrix walks away, fully satisfied. After all, female domination is always about the woman being satisfied, not the man. She's masked, but easy to recognise. Those full lips belong to August Ames, who was already shown in the first photo of this post. According to IMDB, this was her last film before her untimely death, although that might just refer to the DVD release date, not when it was filmed in late 2016.

Is Andy Long fully satisfied? It's too late to ask him.

August Ames plays Bridget, a young intern in an advertising company with clear psychopathic tendencies. There are only brief allusions to her history before the film, but she seems to be a serial stalker, who's left a series of dead bodies behind her. "If I can't have you, nobody can". She's only taken her current job at the company M3 because she's followed the career of their advertising manager and wants to work with him. She enters his life, not just sleeping with him, but also rewriting his advertising campaigns.

Brent Harvey doesn't say No to her at first, but he begins to have doubts when he considers that she's only half his age. I've never understood the problem with large age differences. As long as a girl talks and acts maturely, there's no reason why I shouldn't be with her. In fact, many young girls are more mature than me, but that's another matter.

Ted Newsom plays the cool, calculating Detective Hammer. He doesn't let himself be drawn in by Bridget's charm or sex appeal. That's why I could never be a detective.

This is the darkest of Dean McKendrick's erotic thrillers. It's a good addition to anyone's DVD collection. I just wish it could have been released on Blu-ray.