Invisible Centerfolds (5 Stars)

Introduction

"Invisible Centerfolds" is a soft-core sci-fi comedy that mixes fantasy with light eroticism. The premise is simple; Kay, played by Christine Nguyen, is a model trying to pay her way through dental hygienist school. A scientist offers her money to test his invisibility formula, and her new condition leads to comic mishaps, mild intrigue and the usual late-night cable antics.

Christine Nguyen: the film’s strongest element

Christine Nguyen carries the film with a blend of charm and playful confidence. The role asks for a mix of sensuality and breezy comic timing, and Nguyen delivers both with ease. She treats the material with a light touch that fits the tone; even when the plot drifts into pure camp, she stays lively and engaged. Her presence gives the film a sense of fun it would not otherwise have.

Nguyen also brings a grounded appeal to Kay. The character is written in a simplistic way; her motivations are clear but shallow. Even so, Nguyen manages to create moments of warmth and personality. She leans into the absurdity of invisibility scenes with enthusiasm; her reactions and gestures help sell gags that would feel flat in less capable hands.

Limits of the film and the role

The movie gives Nguyen very little emotional depth to explore, and the script treats Kay as an object of desire more often than a fully drawn character. The production is modest; the invisibility effects are basic and the storytelling meanders. These limitations keep Nguyen from elevating the film beyond its narrow aims.

Still, within those boundaries, she does more than expected. Her energy prevents the film from becoming dull. When she is off screen, the momentum drops; when she returns, the tone perks up immediately.

Final assessment

Christine Nguyen is the reason "Invisible Centerfolds" works as entertainment. The film remains a light, exploitative fantasy that rarely aims higher, but her performance gives it charm and playfulness. She understands exactly what kind of movie she is in and performs with confidence that makes the camp feel intentional rather than accidental.

If the film has any staying power, it is because Nguyen brings life to a role that could have been forgettable. Her charisma turns a flimsy sci-fi gimmick into an enjoyable little diversion.

College Coeds vs Zombie Housewives (4 Stars)

This is the second film on the "Glamour Ghouls" double feature Blu-ray. Or the first film, depending on whether you pay attention to the Blu-ray cover or the disc menu.

Click here full a full review of the film. I wrote so much about it in the past that I don't want to repeat myself. What I do want to say is that the Blu-ray is a noticeable improvement over the previous DVD release. Compare these two screenshots.

This is the DVD.

This is the Blu-ray. Amazing, isn't it?

Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia company made 54 erotic comedies between 2002 and 2017. Fred likes to call them bikini films. They were made for the cable channel Cinemax to be shown as late night movies. Straight-to-video. They were subsequently released on DVD in limited quantities. I think Fred underestimated his own work. The films were intended to be throwaway items, made for a quick buck, then forgotten. He was surprised when they became fan favourites. Some of them were trading for more than $100 on Ebay. Fred had created works of art without realising it.

In December 2020 Fred released the first two bikini films on Blu-ray, "Bikini Frankenstein" and "Twilight Vamps". The quality was amazing. I expected him to rattle through the rest of the films, but in the last three years he's only released another eight films on Blu-ray. I understand him. He's afraid that he'll lose money if he floods the market with rapid releases. He ought to trust his fans. I'll buy them all, and there are many others who will buy them as well.

Here's a summary of the releases so far.

The Medina Collection

1. Thirteen Erotic Ghosts (2002)
2. Bikini Airways (2003)
3. Haunting Desires (2003)
4. Curse of the Erotic Tiki (2003)
5. Bikini Carwash Academy (2004)
6. Erotic Dreams of Jeannie (2004)
7. Teenage Cavegirl (2004)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful (2005)
9. Bikini Chain Gang (2005)
10. Ghost in a Teeny Bikini (2006)
11. Bikini Girls from the Lost Planet (2006)
12. Harlots of the Caribbean (2006)
13. Girl with the Sex-Ray Eyes (2006)
14. Bewitched Housewives (2006)
15. The Girl from BIKINI (2006)
16. Super Ninja Doll (2007)
17. Tarzeena (2007)
18. Voodoo Dollz (2008)
19. Bikini Royale (2008)
20. (BR) Bikini Frankenstein (2009)
21. (BR) Twilight Vamps (2009)
22. Bikini Royale 2 (2009)
23. (BR) Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros (2009)
24. Housewives from Another World (2010)
25. Lady Chatterley's Ghost (2010)
26. Bikini Time Machine (2010)
27. Sexual Witchcraft (2010)
28. Bikini Warriors (2010)
29. The Teenie Weenie Bikini Squad (2011)
30. Dirty Blondes from Beyond (2012)
31. Busty Housewives of Beverly Hills (2012)
32. (BR) Baby Dolls Behind Bars (2012)

The McKendrick Collection

1. Strippers from another world (2013)
2. Big Bust Theory (2013)
3. Intergalactic Swingers (2013)
4. (BR) All Babe Network (2013)
5. Great Bikini Bowling Bash (2014)
6. Stacked Racks from Mars (2014)
7. Atomic Hotel Erotica (2014)
8. Lolita from Interstellar Space (2014)
9. Sexy Warriors (2014)
10. Bikini Avengers (2015)
11. (BR) College Coeds vs Zombie Housewives (2015)
12. Lust in Space (2015)
13. Erotic Vampires of Beverly Hills (2015)
14. Invisible Centerfolds (2015)
15. (BR) Cinderella's Hot Night (2017)
16. (BR) Sleeping Beauties (2017)

The Apocrypha

1. (BR) Bad Girls Behind Bars (2016)
2. Vixens From Venus (2016)
3. Cyborg Hookers (2016)
4. Cosmic Calendar Girls (2016)
5. Escape From Pleasure Planet (2016)
6. (BR) Paranormal Sexperiments (2016)

The Medina Collection consists of films directed by Fred Olen Ray using the pseudonym Juan Medina. The McKendrick Collection consists of films directed by Dean McKendrick. The Apocrypha consists of films directed for Retromedia by other directors.

Notes:

(1) "Haunting Desires" (Medina 3) is the only Medina film that hasn't been officially released on DVD.

(2) "Bikini Carwash Academy" (Medina 5) was re-released with a different opening credits sequence, listing the director as Sherman Scott.

(3) "Tomb of the Werewolf" (not listed above) was directed by Fred Olen Ray using his own name, but it's in the Medina style. It has almost the same cast as "Haunting Desires".

(4) Dean McKendrick made seven erotic thrillers for Retromedia, not listed above.

(5) Apocrypha? If you have a better name for these films, let me know.

That's 10 out of 54 films released on Blu-ray so far. At the current speed they won't all be available on Blu-ray until 2040. I'm hoping Fred will speed up, but there are problems with the early Medina films. The first films were made in single density, so they'll need time-intensive remastering to be prepared for Blu-ray. Fred will only do that if he's 100% certain he'll make a profit. The later films shot in high density can be transferred to Blu-ray with a minimum of effort.

I want to collect all 54 films on Blu-ray, but the ones I'm most anxious to get are "Haunting Desires" and "Tomb of the Werewolf". Instead of being an equally billed double feature, a "Tomb of the Werewolf" Blu-ray could be released with "Haunting Desires" as an extra feature.

Sleeping Beauties (5 Stars)

This is the second film on the "Frisky Fairy Tales" Blu-ray. I haven't been paying attention to the stories, because I know both of them already. I've already reviewed both films twice in the past. I've been concentrating on the picture quality. The difference is amazing. I've attempted to get an identical screenshot of Ted Newsom as an example.

This is a screenshot from the DVD.

This is the same scene from the Blu-ray. A first glance the two pictures look identical, but take a closer look. The skin complexion looks more natural in high definition. You can see the wrinkles on Ted's forehead more clearly. (Sorry, Ted). Ted's chin looks more natural. But the biggest leap in quality is the pattern on his jacket, which looks washed out on the DVD.

Is this difference in quality worth the higher price and possibly rebuying a film you already have? That's a question everyone needs to ask himself. I say Yes.

But if you're a hot-blooded man like me, you don't want to spend all day staring at Ted Newsom. (Sorry again, Ted). This is Beauty, with or without a capital B, played by Sarah Hunter. I don't have a DVD screenshot as comparison, but take my word for it that she looks perfect at the higher resolution.

She looks beauty-full with or without her clothes. Every pixel is in the right place.

This isn't the kiss that woke Beauty, but just because she's awake it doesn't mean she has to stop kissing.

Here's one more pair of screenshots as comparison. This is Beauty in the DVD.

This is Beauty in the Blu-ray. Apart from having a more natural looking face, her eyes sparkle more. Does anyone still doubt that Blu-ray is the way to go?

Cinderella's Hot Night (4 Stars)

Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia has released two films by Dean McKendrick on a Blu-ray called "Frisky Fairy Tales". That's a suitable title, if anything an understatement. The characters in the films pull off their clothes at the slightest encouragement.

Dean McKendrick directed 23 films for Retromedia from 2013 to 2018. His career as a director began and ended with Retromedia. A few years ago, while he still worked for Retromedia, I spoke to him on a forum and suggested that I interview him for my blog. He said he was interested, but then he disappeared without anything ever happening. I hope he's reading this post, because I'm still interested in doing an interview.

Dean McKendrick made 14 erotic comedies, seven erotic thrillers and two erotic fairy tales. His erotic comedies were a direct continuation of the films made in the Medina collection. I have mixed feelings about his erotic thrillers. Some of them were quite good, but I don't think that the usual Retromedia 81-minute format was suitable for erotic thrillers. They should have been two hours long to develop a good story.

1. Strippers from another world (2013)
2. Big Bust Theory (2013)
3. Intrgalactic Swingers (2013)
4. All Babe Network (2013)
5. Great Bikini Bowling Bash (2014)
6. Stacked Rracks from Mars (2014)
7. Atomic Hotel Erotica (2014)
8. Lolita from Interstellar Space (2014)
9. Sexy Warriors (2014)
10. Bikini Avengers (2015)
11. College Coeds vs Zombie Housewives (2015)
12. Lust in Space (2015)
13. Erotic Vampires of Beverly Hills (2015)
14. Invisible Centerfolds (2015)
15. Model for Murder (2016)
16. Love Machine (2016)
17. Deadly Pickup (2016)
18. Cinderella's Hot Night (2017)
19. Sleeping Beauties (2017)
20. High Heel Homicide (2017)
21. Kiss and Kill (2017)
22. Illicit Desires (2018)
23. Bedroom Eyes (2018)

Films 1 to 14 are erotic comedies. Films 15 to 17 and 20 to 23 are erotic thrillers. Films 18 and 19 are erotic fairy tales.

I've been bugging Fred Olen Ray for the last few years to release all of the Retromedia erotic comedies on Blu-ray, but he's moving very slowly. I have no doubt that he'd release them all if he were sure that they would be a financial success. I understand him. He needs to pay the bills, like everyone else. So far he's playing it safe. Christine Nguyen is a popular actress, so he's releasing films with her first. Okay, that's better than nothing, but she's in less than half of the films (14 out of 32 Medina films, 8 out of 23 McKendrick films). All of his films are good and worth a Blu-ray release.

The Frisky Fairy Tales Blu-ray is no longer available. Does that mean it's a success? I hope so.

All Babe Network (4 Stars)

"All Babe Network" is the other film packaged with "Bikini Jones" on the new Blu-ray double feature from Retromedia. While watching it I didn't notice any immediate improvement over the quality of the DVD release, so I didn't take time to compare the two releases. However, on comparing my new screenshots with the ones I used in my old posts, I can see a big increase in quality. The Blu-ray is really worth buying, even if you already have the DVD.

This double feature isn't available from Amazon. It's sold exclusively by Makeflix. I don't know what the reason is for this, but I can guess. I assume that Makeflix pays Fred Olen Ray a larger percentage of the purchase price than Amazon. It's all about money, and Fred deserves to be rewarded for the wonderful films that he's given the world.

Most of the women in Dean McKendrick's films are topless or wear tops with a deep cleavage. Beverly Lynne doesn't need to do this. Even when she's modestly clothed, Eric Masterson can't take his eyes off her curves.

Of course, Beverly also shows off her cleavage when she wants to. People sometimes say that women are being used as sex objects when they show off their body. The opposite is the case. Women should dress however they want to. They should wear as little or as much as they want. That's an expression of their independence. No man and no religion should tell them what to wear.

Bikini Sorority House (1 Star)

I was pleasantly surprised when Amazon sent me an email recommending this DVD. A new film by Dean McKendrick? I wasn't aware that he'd made any films since he stopped making erotic thrillers for Retromedia. It wasn't listed on IMDB, but IMDB isn't infallible. So I ordered it... and waited... and waited... which is normal, because deliveries from America to Germany normally take a few weeks.

Yesterday it finally arrived, and I couldn't wait to see it. The opening credits listed a lot of my favourite actresses, including Christine Nguyen, whose name wasn't mentioned on the Amazon product page.

When the film started I was puzzled. Erika Jordan and Krissy Lynn were in college listening to Ted Newsom talking about asexual reproduction. Hadn't I seen that somewhere before? Yes, it's a scene from "Strippers From Another World". Ah ha. So it's a re-release with a different name? That's okay. The DVD cover, shown above, describes the film as a director's cut, so why not?

The film continued with Sophia Bella offering Madge and Anita (Erika and Krissy) the possibility to join the sorority house Gamma Phi. But then the film cut to a fight scene between Erika Jordan and Jazy Berlin, taken from "Sexy Warriors". The on-screen text explained that Madge was engaging in Live Action Role Play (LARP), which is why she was calling herself Athena.

At that point I started to realise something was going wrong. The film is a cut-and-paste medley of scenes from five of Dean McKendrick's films:

"Strippers from another world"
"Sexy Warriors"
"Great Bikini Bowling Bash"
"Intergalactic Swingers"
"College Co-Eds vs Zombie Housewives"

Visually, the film can get away with it. Dean McKendrick's films intensively re-use the same locations, so it's easy to cut from one film to another. The same actors are also re-used, but the problem is that they don't have the same names or roles. People are addressed by different names too often for it to be excused as LARP-ing. Baily Beetleman is the strip club owner in an early scene, but later in the film he's just a customer. Added to the problem is that the cuts are made clumsily, abruptly ending or beginning the background music. This is worst in the final ten minutes, when there are quick cuts from one film to another, every 30 seconds or less, to resolve the various plot lines.

I'd have nothing against a film being advertised as a compilation of Dean McKendrick's best scenes. That would be acceptable. What I dislike is this film pretending to be something it's not. It's not a consistent narrative. It's a mess.

When I began to write this review I thought I would rate it two stars, because it at least has beautiful naked girls in it. No. That would be an insult to the actresses who will feel ashamed if they ever see this film. It's awful, and nobody should consider buying it. Not now, not ever.

Bedroom Eyes (3 Stars)

This is the 23rd film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. It's the last film that he made for Retromedia.

"Bedroom Eyes" is another erotic thriller, and it follows the usual pattern of a woman killing men either during or immediately after sex. The plot is somewhat more complex than in Dean McKendrick's other films. Two detectives, Parker and Jake, are hunting for a serial killer who leaves her victims dead in bed. The prime suspect is Jake's girlfriend, who works as a webcam model, and he's torn between his professional duty and his personal feelings.

The film's highlight is a brief appearance by the ever delightful Beverly Lynne. Apart from that, I find the film disappointing. I don't understand why I rated the film so highly the last time I watched it. After watching all of Dean McKendrick's films in order, I find this the weakest of his erotic thrillers, possibly the weakest of all his films. I think the complexity of the film spoils it. I have nothing against complex plots, but in this case it isn't done well. It was obvious from the start that the detective's wife couldn't be the killer, and as soon as all the characters had been introduced I knew who it was. It was so obvious that there was no mystery at all.

"Bedroom Eyes" is still available from Amazon on DVD, if you're curious about it. It's a must-buy for Beverly Lynne's fans.

Kiss and Kill (4 Stars)

This is the 22nd film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. It's his sixth erotic thriller, and it's the first in which the theme isn't about a woman killing men during or after sex. That doesn't mean that there are no killer women in the film, as the photo shows.

Kira Noir has appeared in several of Dean McKendrick's other films, but this is the first film in which she's been invited to step up and play the lead role. She plays Katy Fletcher, the wife of a rich businessman, the head of a chemical country. You would think her life is perfect, but it's not. She spends all day sitting around feeling bored in her big empty house while her husband is on international business trips. Eventually it happens... she has a one-night stand with a man she meets in a bar.

She falls into the arms of pretty boy Kyle Knies, one of Dean McKendrick's other regular actors. She immediately regrets it afterwards. She's not that sort of woman. But there are consequences. Kyle's girlfriend was filming them, and they intend to blackmail her, squeezing as much as they can out of her.

It's the perfect plan. Katy has to pay up or lose her perfect marriage. The only thing that saves Katy is the greed of her blackmailers. Kyle and his girlfriend turn against one another, leaving Katy in the middle with a gun in her hand.

Kira Noir is a beautiful woman and a competent actress. It's good to see a film focus on her.

Her best feature is her little-girl look. She was 22 when she made the film, but her face looks so young that I almost feel guilty for lusting after her. Almost.

Today I was rereading my original reviews of Dean McKendrick's erotic thrillers. I had to laugh at myself. I wrote the reviews over a period of two years, and for more than half of them I wrote, "This is his best erotic thriller so far". I couldn't make my mind up. I liked them all, and I still like them.

This film is still available on DVD from Amazon. If you're interested in it, I recommend buying it sooner rather than later. I doubt any more will be printed when the stock runs out.

High Heel Homicide (4 Stars)

The police are hunting for a serial killer. The only clue is a shoe left behind on the lawn outside a victim's house. Is this a variation of the Cinderella fairy tale? Not quite, but it's still the final clue that helps Detective Brent Harvey find the killer.

This is the 21st film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. It's his fifth erotic thriller, but it's the first film in which he's captured the essence of the films made in the 1990's, the golden age of erotic thrillers. If you've watched as many erotic thrillers as me, you'll know what I mean.

Someone is killing ex-policemen and leaving them naked on the floor with a letter painted on their chest. Déjà vu? This is the second time Andy Long has been murdered by a beautiful women at the beginning of a film. He gets an A on his chest.

The second victim gets an L.

The third victim gets another L. He's not naked, because the killer was disturbed and didn't have time to have sex with him.

It's not a secret who the killer is. From the beginning we see Carter Cruise callously murdering her victims. Erotic thrillers aren't necessarily murder mysteries, even if the two genres sometimes overlap. Besides, if a woman is killing men during sex, the viewer wants to see her in action.

We don't discover her motives until halfway through the film, after which we think the rest is predictable, but in the last ten minutes we get a plot twist. I know that I've criticised modern films for overusing plot twists in films, but plot twists are an integral part of erotic thrillers. Dean McKendrick got it right this time.

Brent Harvey doesn't have to solve the case alone. He's aided by his partner, Mia Li, who doesn't believe in wearing a bra. It must be a distraction when he's working on a case. Or is it only me who can't help staring at hard nipples under a flimsy top?

Maybe girls with small breasts can get away with not wearing a bra, but in Mia's case the buttons on her blouse are straining. I'm sure she has accidents when she's chasing a criminal.

Brent Harvey is an excellent actor. This is the second of three films that he made with Dean McKendrick. I'm interested in seeing films that he's made with other directors.

I'm sorry if my review is making "High Heel Homicide" sound like a comedy. It's just the way I write. It's a serious film. It's not just a serious film, it's a very good film. It's still available on DVD from Amazon. Fans of erotic thrillers won't be disappointed, even if the film is in the typical Dean McKendrick style.

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.

Sleeping Beauties (5 Stars)

The Academy Awards Ceremony, better known as the Oscars, is taking place tonight. I'm excited about it, like most of my readers. I had a few hours to spare before the ceremony begins, so I decided to watch the next film in my Dean McKendrick marathon. None of Dean's films have won Oscars, but they're all good entertainment, this film especially.

It's the 20th film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. Since my last film in the marathon was the 18th fim, "Cinderella's Hot Night", you must be wondering why I skipped a film. I could tell you that I wanted to review two fairy tales side by side, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I made a mistake that I didn't notice until the film was over. I have a box in my room containing all of Dean McKendrick's films, ready to watch them. I pulled out the next DVD in the box, not noticing that I put the last few films in the wrong order. Don't worry, I'll go back to the 19th film a few days from now, and I promise I'll put the rest of the films in the right order. If I make any more mistakes, you have my permission to come to my home and spank me. (That permission only applies to women).

This is probably Dean McKendrick's best film, not least because it's his first film that gives Sarah Hunter the leading role as Beauty. Yes, she's beautiful, like all the other women in his films. but she has a girl-next-door look that's unique among his actresses.

Jane Doux, who appears as an evil witch, is beautiful, but she looks like a model.

Sarah Hunter is beautiful, but she looks cute. Do you see the difference? Maybe it's because she uses less makeup. I'm not sure. When I look at Jane Doux I want to go to bed with her. When I look at Sarah Hunter I want to sit and chat with her for hours about films and comics, and go to bed with her later.

You all know the story of Sleeping Beauty, don't you? Beauty is a princess who's put into a deep sleep until she's woken up by a kiss. In the fairy tale she only sleeps for a few years, but in this film her body is hidden in a sealed cellar for 400 years. It's not a handsome prince who finds her, it's the talented architect Harry, played by William Bryant. He's been hired to convert the old castle into a hotel.

Harry might not be a prince, but he knows what to do. One soft kiss on the lips, and she awakes.

Back in his hotel room, Beauty kisses Harry back.

Then she removes his shirt and kisses him again.

And she removes the rest of his clothes to kiss him all over. I think I should start opening sealed cellars to look for sleeping princesses.

By the way, Harry is married, but let's not judge him too harshly. I've never met any man who was able to fight off the sexual advances of a 400-year-old princess. Apart from that, Beauty also seduces Harry's wife, which makes up for it.

Harry should watch his back. His colleague Richard, played by the upcoming actor Andy Long, is trying to steal his blueprints for the renovation of the castle where Beauty was found. In previous films he's used his full birth name, Andrew Espinoza Long, but this is the first film in which he's shortened his name to Andy Long. I'm sure that someone smarter than me can think up a joke.

This film is still available on DVD from Amazon. If you only buy one of his films, let it be this one. The high quality of the eroticism leaves everything behind that you've seen in films by less capable directors.

Cinderella's Hot Night (4 Stars)

This is the 18th film directed by Dean McKendrick, made in 2017. After making three erotic thrillers last year, he's turned his attention to erotic fairy tales. I assume all my readers know the basic premise of the Cinderella fairy tale, so I don't have to worry about giving away spoilers. The setting has been moved to the modern-day America, and Cinderella is a poor student, but it's basically the same story.

Cindy doesn't exactly dress in rags. She's clean and tidy, but she doesn't like to wear fancy clothes. She wears jeans and simple shirts, just like me. In fact, the shirt in the picture looks remarkably like the one I'm wearing right now.

She's a student, but she's also an unpaid intern for an international shipping company. She complains that she's unable to pay her rent, so her boss invites her to live in his house with his wife and two daughters. It's obvious from the start how the family runs. He does all the work. His wife lives a lazy life of luxury. His daughters are spoilt brats who make fun of poor girls like Cindy.

But just look who his wife is! It's Beverly Lynne, one of the sexiest women on the planet. She's 44 years old, but she's sexier than women half her age.

Unfortunately, there's no wedded bliss. Beverly is more interested in having sex with the butler, played by Regis Filman. When she demands sex from him he complains, "But it's the third time this week". That confused me at first. What man in his right mind would complain about sex with Beverly Lynne? As the film continued I understood his problem.

Beverly's two daughters also have sex with him on a regular basis, whenever they want. Poor Regis must be exhausted. He's not allowed to say No, and if his performance isn't up to standard he'll be fired.

This was Regis Filman's first film, and after three years he still hasn't made another film.

Maybe he didn't enjoy being an actor. I can't see what's not to enjoy about the job.

But I'm getting off the subject. I'm so infatuated with the Evil Stepmother that I'm forgetting that the story is about Cinderella.

Cindy's boss dies in a plane crash, leaving Cindy at the mercy of Beverly and her two daughters. They tell Cindy that she can remain in the house if she becomes their "maid". In actual fact she's a virtual slave, cooking, washing, scrubbing the floors, gardening... no job is too unpleasant for her.

Along comes Prince Steven of Kritonia, who's looking for a wife. He hosts a party in America, and he invites many beautiful women, including everyone in Beverly's household. Cindy isn't allowed to go, because she has too much work to do, and besides, Beverly says a prince would never want a poor girl like her.

Beverly wants the prince to marry one of her daughters. They're both pretty, but I'd rather marry their mother.

Along comes the Good Fairy, who casts a spell and sends Cindy to the party.

This is the role Christine Nguyen was born to play. She looks like a fairy with or without her clothes.

But what's wrong with fairy spells? Why do they have to expire at midnight? As soon as the bells chime Cindy is gone, and Prince Steven is left with just a shoe in his hands. It's the shoe of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. It's all a matter of taste. Cindy is pretty, but what about Beverly? And he hasn't seen the fairy. Christine Nguyen would tempt him as well. It's a close call. Evil Stepmother or Good Fairy? It's not just about looks, I'd have to pick Evil over Good.

Something was bugging me about Prince Steven's castle. I was sure I'd seen it before. I looked through my old films, and there it was! It's the building that was used as the family church in "Ghost in a Teeny Bikini", made 11 years earlier in 2006. Dean McKendrick was film editor, so he already knew the location.

"Let's forget about the stupid shoe! You're the woman for me!"

No, that's not what he says. The shoe fits Cindy, so he marries her and they live happily ever after.

Even the Good Fairy is happy. Christine is always the bridesmaid, never the bride, but she's content to use her magic to make others happy.

This film is still available on DVD from Amazon, but hurry if you want a copy.