alt.sex.movies FAQ v5.65 Part 9 of 12 Where, What and How to get... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sections marked with [updated] were updated since the last revision Sections marked with [new] were added since the last revision This FAQ is Copyright 1994-6 by Jeff Knapp, and is made available as a service to the Internet community. It may not be sold in any medium, including electronic, CD-ROM, or database, packaged with any commercial product, or published in print, without the explicit, written permission of Jeff Knapp. Send comments to director@gti.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS 30 Availability 30.1 Where can I get some of this stuff? [updated] 30.1.1 Tell me more about mail order, please. 30.1.2 Tell me about Excalibur and their return policies... [updated] 30.1.3 I've heard about these 4-in-1 tapes... 30.2 Hi, do you carry "Fuck me Hard?" 30.3 Can I get porn on laserdisc? 30.4 Can I get porn on CD-ROM? 30.5 I can get smut on my TV?!? 30.6 Where can I find porn in Australia? [new] 30.7 So then what about my local Big Bob's House of Smut(tm)? 30.8 Can I get porn in Atlanta, Georgia? [updated] 30.9 Is there a Web based House of Smut? [updated] 30.9.1 There are sooo many! How do I know which one to use? [new] 30.9.2 But I don't have web access! 31 Can I really get 100 movies for 5 bucks? Where would I put all the videotapes? 32 What are those annoying black dots for? 33 Snuff Flicks are real, right? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 30 Availability 30.1 Where can I get some of this stuff? [updated] The following companies come recommended by members of the asm community. I have had no personal experience with any of them, so I am unable to make a personal endorsement. As with any mail order business, your mileage may vary. There is a more comprehensive listing of sources (with ratings) available at the Legalize web site. Odyssey Group Inc. Excalibur Films PO Box 77597 3621 Commonwealth LA, CA, 90007 Fullerton, CA, 92633 (800)369-6214 (800)BUY-MOVIES http://excalibur.prtcl.com VideoMail PO Box 1550 Madison Square Station New York, NY, 10159 And, available right here on the net, a pair of frequent contributors to asm... B l o w f i s h "Guaranteed not to suck." 2261 Market Street #284 San Francisco CA 94114 fax 1 415 864 1858 e-mail: blowfish@blowfish.com Bill Majors' BonVue Enterprises is a leader in fetish videos (bondage, spanking, feet, wrestling, and more). They also special order all legal things for their loyal customers and are one of the few (if not the only) to offer a money back guarantee. You can get a 100+ page catalog for $4.95 BonVue Enterprises P.O. Box 92889 Long Beach, CA 90809 (310) 631-1600 (and here, courtesy of Tim Evanson, are addresses for the largest gay mail order houses:) Advanced Direct By Attraction 3841 4th Avenue, #1000 962 South Vella Road San Diego, CA 92103-3199 Palm Springs, CA 92264 (800)-748-5625 (800) 858-8225 Catalina Video Planet Group 6030 Yolanda Avenue 5300 W. 104th Street PO Box 7016 Los Angeles, CA 90045 Tarzana, CA 91357-7016 (800) 487-7574 (800) 562-1891 Falcon Video VCA Pictures Jocks Video HIS Video Mustang Video Vivid Video PO Box 420750 9650 De Soto Avenue San Francisco, CA 94142-0750 Chatsworth, CA 91311 (800) 227-3717 (800) 458-4336 http://www.vcapix.com Sierra Pacific (carries their own as well as others' titles) PO Box 9576 Marina Del Ray, CA 90295 (800) 828-4336 30.1.1 Tell me more about mail order, please. Brad Williams passes this along: Video Gold Club ads, which sometimes are in AFW/AVN and Hustler, are legit and not a rip-off. VGC doesn't put more than one movie per tape either. Their deal is like Columbia House, you buy 2 tapes in two years at $39.99 to fulfill your membership. I'm a member, they carry some good movies that are recent, as well as past hits. They are a division of Adam and Eve, Inc. Leisure Time, Video Age and Private Entertainment sometimes cram all the movies onto one tape (this is legal if you receive a license from the mfg's to reproduce), making for less-than great quality, but at a cheap enough price that many here feel it's worth it. Personally, I don't, I don't like keeping my hands on the Tracking button throughout the films. I'd rather put my hands on my wife... :> But, remember, you don't always have to buy porn to see porn (unless you live in some restricted area, and even then, ask around...) You can often rent porn flicks, and it is often the most economical way to see it. I hesitate to say that renting gives you more bang for your buck... 30.1.2 Tell me about Excalibur and their return policies... [updated] Excalibur Films has a policy where you can return films to them and get a steep discount (to the point where its priced about as a rental) on other films. However, there are some caveats. Blowfish tells me that there's a catch to their "trade in": you have to present them with a list of 4-5 movies that you would like to trade your tape in for, and they pick which one of that list you get. Very popular or very obscure (i.e., not likely in stock) movies from their catalog will rarely be among those picked. Also, keep in mind is that when you get a tape, you may very well be getting someone else's returned product. Excalibur now has a web presence at http://excalibur.prtcl.com 30.1.3 I've heard about these 4-in-1 tapes... Video Age offers the consumer the opportunity to buy 4 movies on one tape for $19.95. At one time these movies may have been heavily edited, but their catalog repeated states that the movies are *uncut*. It makes sense. With porn movies clocking in at around 85 mins each, 4 movies is still well under 6 hours... I have heard mixed things about them. Some people like them because while they're not the *best* quality, they can be used as "preview" tapes. Some others have complained of poor tape quality. Video Age does also offer full length, in the original package, versions of some tapes at $39.95 each. 30.2 Hi, do you carry "Fuck me Hard?" Best place to look for X-rated videos are your "Mom-and-Pop" video stores. More often than not, the large chain stores -- such as Blockbuster -- have decided that they would rather project a "family" image than carry adult videos. (Hell, Blockbuster is one of the premiere bastions of censorship around -- remember the brouhaha surrounding the "Last Temptation of Christ???) The Mom- and-Pop shops usually stock the adult vids because they are often low cost, rent well, and offer a decent return on the investment. Some people prefer mail order or porn shops because of the embarrassment factor when bring 1001 Cumshots or The Little Spermaid to the counter. 30.3 Can I get porn on laserdisc? Sure. No sweat. Any large town or city should have a video store that rents laserdiscs, and I am sure that among the titles available are the naughty ones... If you're not so lucky to have one of these stores in your town, Frederick Bernard (freber@unix.infoserve.net) submits these leads for your consideration: Ken Crane LaserDisks Laser Craze Westminster, CA 92683 Boston, MA 800 624 3078 800-828-3472 (recommended on ASM) Laser X Sign & Sound Lasers Box 28130 Waltham, MA Las Vegas, NV 617-894-8633 800 223 8244 Give 'em a try & ask for the '95 LaserDisc Entertainment catalog 30.4 Can I get porn on CD-ROM? Sure, but I don't know why you'd want to. I'll let Brad Williams make the point for me: I have a 17" monitor that cost more than my 27" television, and that doesn't include a 4meg VRAM card/4x-speed CD/etc.etc. CD-Rom, Mpeg's, and QT-movies really suck as far as picture and sound quality, not to mention "load-times" of CD's that are ridiculous. A videotape that's been viewed a zillion times has a lot better quality. Why someone thinks they can get $50 for a CD of a flick I can buy on VHS new for $20 is beyond me, unless the average porn-consumer is as stupid as I think. ...and that goes double for MPEGs, AVIs and other "movies" you can download from the Internet... 30.5 I can get smut on my TV?!? Well, maybe not *your* TV... It depends on where you are. TV is also a limited source of adult videos. There are still restrictions on what is allowable on cable, so the majority of "adult" channels just show butchered up versions of hard-core vids, or made-for-cable tit-fests. I understand that there are hardcore stations available in Europe, and also some hardcore programming is available by satellite. However, the satellite programming is generally scrambled or otherwise restricted. One of our European friends was kind enough to let me in on this... RED HOT, which was previously mentioned here is no defunct due to pressure form the authorities, and widespread piracy of their signal, that it was no longer worth it for them to be in business. Here in Denmark we have a couple of hardcore channels. FilmNet+ - broadcasted via ASTRA Satellite (encoded): shows hardcore films - mainly american films 1990 and newer - monday, friday and saturday nights. On wednesday nights the show softcore, censored films, Playboy Late Night, Penthouse Centerfolds i.e. TV1000 - broadcasted via ASTRA Satellite (encoded): shows hardcore films - also manly new american films past 1990 - on wednesday and saturday nights. And wednesdays 30 min. of amateur videos. Monday nights they show censored films. Filmkanalen (MovieChannel) - broadcasted via antenna to the northern part of the Sealand (encoded): shows mainly the same programs as FilmNet+ but everyday day of the week except sundays where the channel broadcasts religious programs :-|. Finally we have the Copenhagen Channel - broadcasted via antenna to the northern part of the Sealand (not encoded and free of charge): shows a bit older films pre-1990 friday and saturday nights. Here's a handy chart courtesy of G.Y.B (an350456@anon.penet.fi) to help sort it out: Channel Language Hours Sample Film Titles ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- TV Erotica multi daily 0000-0500 White Chicks Can't Hump When The Postman Spurts Twice Wet Fists In Docs Place My Anal Valentine Super Hornio Bros Wednesday Amateur night (hard core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- TV1000 multi Fri, Sat, Mon The Creasemasters Wife Shades of Blue (hard core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- TV1000 Cinema multi Fri, Sat, Mon The Best of Andrew Blake and sometimes Andrew Blake's Girls more often ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- Filmnet+ multi Fri, Sat, Mon Nurse Tails Babewatch (hard core) Wednesday (soft core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- The Adult Channel multi daily 0000-0500 (soft core) 1 day/week 1.5 hrs gay programming ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- Eurotica multi daily 0000-0500 supposedly hard core ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- TV-X multi daily 0000-0500 (soft core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- Canal Plus French Sat not only do they dub the films into French, but they change the titles too. Show a mix of recent films plus classics like "A Scent of Heather". (hard core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- Cine Cinemas French various same sort of films as Canal Plus (hard core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- FilmMax multi various translate the titles again! (hard core) ------------+-----------+-----------------+------------------------------- 30.6 Where can I find porn in Australia? [new] As discussed in Part 11, porn is legal throughout Australia, but you can only purchase it from two states. Here are some addresses courtesy of John Roda (fiend@nwamiga.apana.org.au): AXIS Members 1800 891 183 Toll Free, Orders Only. GPO Box 3000, 1800 624 382 Toll Free Fax, Orders Only. Darwin, NT 089 412 822 Enquiries 0900 089 411 055 More Inquiries AXIS are the people I use (when I mail order), as they have a huge range and are helpful and friendly. They occasionally have outrageous prices for some tapes (Sorority Sex Kittens for au$99! Ha! I got mine for au$15). On the other hand, they have sales, two movies on one tape deals (not all crap, either), are discreet, will remove you from the mailing list no questions if asked, offer bulk discounts for 3, 5, 10, 20 tapes and offer an exchange service. What's amusing about their exchange service is that you can exchange ANY commercially recorded tape for an X-film. Yes, you can send your child's copy of the Lion King to them and pay only $15 for the latest installment of The Gangbang Girl! Might be worth getting hold of a bunch of cheap Ex-Rental video library tapes for next to nothing, though... They now offer a free Themes/Stars/Titles Listing service that sounds a LOT like what Videosan used to do. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Adult World Mail Order Direct 1800 658 677 Orders (Inquiries?) 127-129 Wollongong St 06 239 1788 24 Hours Fyshwick, ACT 018 467 747 Wholesale 2609 I haven't used these people, but I haven't ordered by mail in a long time anyway. They offer a money-back guarantee for faulty copies, discreet packaging and billing, a 1000 sq.feet showroom (if you're in the neighborhood), and a buy four get the fifth free discount scheme. I'll have to ring them for a full(er) catalogue. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gallery Entertainment 06 239 2044 Inquiries PO Box 1476 06 239 2232 Fax Fyshwick, ACT 2609 No, it's not a typo, there are heaps of these companies located in Fyshwick. (Whew! Thanks, John!) 30.7 So then what about my local Big Bob's House of Smut(tm)? Depends on you and how you feel. Some people feel that in large cities crime surrounds porn shops. Witness New York's attempt to clean up 42nd Street and Times Square. (In fact, 42nd Street is just about rid of adult stores, most of the trade is now along 8th Avenue). People don't "care" about your "average" porn watcher, the argument goes, so no one cares if the shop is in a high crime area (except the employees!). In suburban areas, you may find an adult shop along a state highway in an industrial part of town. Chances are these shops are safe. They were built away from neighborhoods so residents could not complain, and along well travelled roads since advertising is hard to come by. Basically, scout out the area. If you feel safe there, go nuts... enjoy the store. If you're scared to death, there's always mail order. I have found the shops in Times Square to be pretty safe during the day. I haven't bothered go in at night, mostly because I never really had the time. It's important to remember that chances are, your local deviants are not hanging out at the porn store. They're by the school angling the best views for sniper fire. (Oh come on, it's just a joke!) The people I have met at porn shops are generally pretty normal people looking for smut like some people look for wallets. 30.8 Can I get porn in Atlanta, Georgia? [updated] According my correspondents from Atlanta, you sure can. Brad Williams says that for starters, try Fantastic Video in Acworth, GA (about 30 miles NW of Atlanta) or Video 2010 in Riverdale, GA (about 1/2 mile outside the "city limits"). Both have a few hundred vids, mostly from the last 5 years. If you go to Video 2010, make sure you are "cool" about finding the porn section. Ask and ye shall receive... as long as you're not reeking of righteousness... Brad continues: "There's a new-ish joint that recently opened RIGHT IN ATLANTA called 9 1/2 Weeks that is selling/renting xxx, and has valet parking available! This place opened in August 95, and I haven't been there yet to see their selection, but the building/ mural of scantily-clad female and all the "XXX VIDEO HERE" billboards are creating quite a stir. The owner has several porn stores throughout the north, and seems to have very deep pockets for any legal challenges. It was only a matter of time before porn returned to Atlanta proper." Interestingly enough, 9 1/2 Weeks got raided by Vice for selling blow-up love dolls with motorized orifices. After paying the fine, the owner stated he would keep selling these and "anything else I want." His parents own a few dozen stores like 9 1/2 Weeks in NY, and he owns a few in CA. This happened around the end of September 95, and he hasn't been raided again for selling mannequins. Now, he's advertising lap-dances by the female staff in private rooms. He's either a genius or completely stupid:) The second 9 1/2 Weeks opened in September 1995 in another area in Atlanta, and he certainly seems determined to fight any obscenity charges. He likes to do interviews in the newspaper and boast about what he sells and how he'll fight in court any charges of obscenity brought against him or his employees. The poster known as Chopped Liver tells me that "the chain of stores known as 9 1/2 Weeks has expanded to three stores in the Atlanta City Limits. The original store is located near the corner of Peachtree St. and 10th Street (near Ted Turner's infamous WTBS transmit tower). The second store, which is now the largest, is located approximately 2 blocks north of the Fox Theatre on West Peachtree St. in the Midtown area. Finally, the third and newest store is located at Piedmont Rd., just about 2.5 blocks north of the Lindbergh MARTA station. All three of these stores have excellent selections of videos for sale and rent. " CL continues: "Another good store to consider is the XXX Adult Video Showcase, located at Piedmont Rd. and Interstate 85. They have the largest selection in town, and have decent prices both on sale tapes and rentals. There is a rumor going around that they will be getting a web page soon." 30.9 Is there a Web based House of Smut? [updated] Is the Pope Catholic? At this time, web based houses of smut are popping up like wildfire. A comprehensive list is far beyond the scope of this document. A quick trip to Yahoo will get you a damned near canonical list of sex video merchandisers on the net. Check out http://www.yahoo.com/Business/Corporations/Entertainment /Video/Adult_Video/ for the list. 30.9.1 There are sooo many! How do I know which one to use? [new] Well, personally, I don't buy my tapes, so I have to go on reader feedback and my general perceptions... The most prominent vendor in our group is Blowfish. Blowfish has been with the group longer than I have. They have an online presence at http://www.blowfish.com Their site is unique in that in addition to presenting its wares, it also offers a "Sexuality Information Center" with links to "good sex" all over the place. On the production end, Vivid Video has a site at http://www.vividweb.com; VCA has a web site at http://www.vcapix.com; and EVN maintains an on-line catalog at http://www.evn.com. Video Alternatives, a supplier specializing in amateur videos, maintains a set of pages at http://www.videoalt.com. These sites pretty much just offer their own stuff and not much else. Vivid has some pictures on their site; EVN scans boxcover art onto theirs, and the Video Alternatives site has a small amateur video FAQ and catalog information at their site. The HTML version of this document has full links to the above mentioned vendors, and I recommend visiting the site for more links... 30.9.2 But I don't have web access! You can correspond with Blowfish by sending e-mail to blowfish@blowfish.com. order@evn.com will get you EVN's sales department. I am unaware of any sales related e-mail addresses at Vivid or Video Alternatives. Also, the USENET group alt.sex.erotica.marketplace is a fertile ground for finding out where the sex advertisers are. ================================================================= 31 Can I really get 100 movies for 5 bucks? Where would I put all the videotapes? People often ask about the ads that appear in the back of magazines offering "100 movies for $5", or something along those lines. The common consensus seems to be that it is mostly a gimmick, and that once you order from them, your name is put on a mailing list for all sorts of companies to send junk mail to. Often, the tapes received are of poor quality, and do not give exactly what is advertised. (For example, you may receive one tape with a certain number of scenes, all recorded at extended-play.) ================================================================= 32 What are those annoying black dots for? Ads for movies in the back of Hustler and things like that are often plagued by the need for black dots covering the "naughty bits" Advertisements for porn movies have to use a black dot to block out any penetration. All excretory fluid must be blocked out, and no oral to vaginal or oral to penile contact can be shown without a black dot appearing. Often, the "black dot effect" is there 1) to make you think something really kinky or erotic is shown; 2) is there because advertisers worry about lawsuits when their ad is sold in states such as Utah or Georgia; or 3) is a lousy ad taken from another source, which required the black dot. Anyway, erect penises may be shown most of the time... Adult Video News has some very odd restrictions placed on it. They have two things that are restricted in their pages: one, they have advertisements, and two, they have scenes from the movies. The advertisements are under one set of restrictions -- mail order restrictions -- and the pictures are under another set of rules and regulations. Movie scene restrictions are different. Erect penises and vaginas can be shown; so can oral to vaginal or oral to penile contact. But no excretory fluids or actual penetration can be shown. In magazines that are not sent via the mail -- magazines that can be sold in porn shops only -- there are no restrictions. =========================================================================== 33 Snuff Flicks are real, right? Uh, no. The following is from the alt.folklore.urban archive: From: phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson) Subject: snopes Hits the Big Time Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 21:56:55 GMT This morning's edition of Metro, Silicon Valley's bargain-at-twice-the-price free paper, carries a Cecil Adams column on "snuff films" allegedly precipitated by the following two-cent letter: Is there really such a thing as a snuff film? --Snopes (sic), Canoga Park, Calif. Cecil says, in a word, no. Many of the points he makes have been made on this newsgroup many times before, but he comes up with some illuminating specificities: -- The whole legend, including the use of the word "snuff", started at least as far back as 1970, when one Alan Shakleton (no relation to the Antarctic explorer) hacked up a Manson Family rip-off film called "Slaughter" to produce "Snuff in New York City". His slogan was "Made in South America Where Life is Cheap". -- "Feminist legal scholar" Catharine McKinnon insists that snuff films exist, but won't put out when pressed for confirmation. -- Ted McIlvanna, keeper of The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality's collection of 289,000 sex movies and 100,000 videos, has seen only three on-camera deaths in 25 years of hard study. Two were accidents where not uncommon sorts of non-vanilla adventures went awry. The last was "a bizarre religious number from Morocco in which a hunchbacked kid was torn apart by wild horses while men stood around and masturbated". He also mentions the Zapruder film, "Faces of Death", and other things already bandied about here, and comes to the same conclusion our saner old hats have: "It's not impossible that one will turn up. But the notion that [a whole industry exists] and that for 20 years they've succeeded in concealing all traces of their handiwork strikes me as absurd". [Quotations cited under fair use; readers should buy Cecil's next book and write nice letters about him to his papers.] My only questions are these: How much did snopes and Cecil collaborate on this bit, and has anyone ever seen the enigmatic Ed Zotti and the apocryphal David Mikkleson in the same place? And is it Cecil or some copy editor who keeps capitalizing "snopes"? Phil "UL's at last! UL's at last!" Gustafson Subject: Re: Snuff films From: vacsc00c@vax.csun.edu (snopes) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 04:31:00 GMT > So, when a couple of people kidnap, rape and murder several > teenaged girls, and live off the money they made from selling the > videos, does _this_ qualify as a snuff film? Snuff? Snuff? Did someone mention snuff? Funny you should bring that up. (My heart always skips a beat when I find an official-looking envelope bearing the return address of "U.S. Department of Justice" in my mailbox.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, D.C. July 16, 1993 Dear Mr. Mikkelson: Your April 21st letter to the FBI has been brought to my attention, and I regret my delay in responding. My colleagues who handle investigative matters which could possibly involve "snuff films" have advised me that to their knowledge, the FBI has never found or confiscated a "snuff film." We, of course, cannot speak for other law enforcement agencies. I hope I have been of help to you in settling your debate. Sincerely yours, Michael F. Knapp Inspector-Deputy Chief Office of Public and Congressional Affairs Special thanks go to Jason Heimbaugh (jrh@cathouse.org) for bringing this to my attention This material could be found at the alt.folklore.urban archive (http://cathouse.org). *** END PART 9 ***