Well, it has recently come to my attention that even though I long ago reviewed the films Secret Games 2 and Secret Games 3, I never got around to reviewing the very first film, Secret Games. So it’s time to correct that mistake.  This was not a trilogy in the strictest sense of the word as the only things these films share is the director Gregory Dark (who shot this one under the name of Alexander Gregory Hippolyte) and a similar plot: a sexually frustrated married person begins having an affair that ends up ruining their life.

Oh, and Martin Hewitt, who starred in Secret Games 2, first appeared in this one, but he plays an entirely different character.

Written by Georges des Essientes, this 1992 film stars as Michele Brin as Julianne Langford. The Late Billy Drago plays her husband Mark. Mark is a very successful businessman, and they live alone in a large mansion, but Julianne is unsatisfied. It’s a combination of Mark always being busy, too busy to spend enough time with her, but also Julianne comes from a repressed strict Catholic background. Even when she and Mark do make love, Julianne has a hard time relaxing and enjoying it, and her thoughts are interrupted by weird fantasies of being punished by a nun.

One day Julianne’s childhood friend Sandra (played by the Late Catya Sassoon), lets her know that she’s been secretly working with a discreet madam in Beverly Hills, who sets up bored housewives with other wealthy men for sex (at a $1000 an hour). Julianne is shocked at first, but eventually lets Sandra take her to meet the woman, Celeste (Delia Sheppard) to see how everything works. The sexual encounters are arranged and take place in Celeste’s mansion, where everyone promises to be discreet (although there are security cameras in every bedroom and Celest often watches the action on a monitor in her office. So Julianne lets herself get talked into trying it. Her first attempt is to join Sandra for a threesome with a man, but she panics and can’t go through with it. So the next day she goes back and this time Celeste sets her up with a woman (the one and only Monique Parent) and Julianne is able to go through with having sex with her.

Now Julianne is ready for her first male client, and that’s where Hewitt comes in, as Eric. They have sex and there’s an immediate connection between the two of them. This even reignites Julianna’s passion with Billy as she goes home and seduces him and enjoys it. Nevertheless, she goes back to Celeste’s mansion to meet with Eric again and this time he ties her to the bed while they have sex and she loves that too.

But of course the fun doesn’t last, as Eric begins to become more possessive and even starts stalking Julianne, which leads her to realize that her life is in danger and the story concludes in an explosive final act that not everyone will survive.

Like Carnal Crimes, some of these same story beats would be done again and better in later Axis productions, but this is a solid production from this then-relatively new studio. A few of the side characters, the actresses playing the other women who work for Celeste, were still clearly a bit amateurish, but the leads, Michele Brin, Martin Hewitt, and Billy Drago all did great jobs in their roles. Brin would appear in a small role in a future Axis film, Sins of The Night, and a few other softcore products but disappeared from the acting scene in 1995 after a short career. It’s a shame as this film showed her to be a capable leading lady.

Brin and Hewitt have three hot sex scenes together which, in addition to Brin’s scene with Monique Parent, is enough for me to recommend this film to softcore aficionados. Brin’s scene with Drago is also pretty good, although it’s mostly just her naked riding him in bed.  There’s also a brief lesbian scene of her and Kelly Royce, who plays one of the other ladies working for Celeste, that could have been amazing but they just get topless and kiss a little before the camera cuts away.
Catya has one full scene with Christian Bocher, in what was supposed to be the threesome. We also get a scene of laying topless by a pool. I would have liked to have seen more of her in the film.

Chacebook rating: FOUR STARS

Jason Majercik is selling this UNRATED DVD for $28.99. Email him at quinn_nash@hotmail.com for his softcore inventory list