Almost Heaven by New Sensations - review by Tuesday

"Do our memories define our identity? If we are merely the sum of our experiences, what do we become if those experiences are lost?"
- a quote from the Blank Slate episode of Outer Limits

As I watched Almost Heaven I couldn’t help thinking of the Outer Limits episode where a man’s memories are stored in vials which he injects back into himself one at a time. His personality changes with each injection.

Almost Heaven also reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode where a man thinks he’s in heaven because he gets everything he wants, but soon realizes that he’s actually in hell.

Really, any place where you’re limited to only one memory is not heaven. Frankly, if I were forced to make such a choice, I would choose a memory where my entire family were present, not an episode of sex. But then such a choice wouldn't work in this movie.

THE MOVIE

Scene I - the waiting room and initial interview
Almost Heaven begins with star, Angie Summers (Kiara Diane), in a waiting room. She is taken to see Michael (Xander Corvus), who is handling her case. She is told that she died, which apparently is news to her. She is told she can take only one memory with her to the afterlife.

Scene II - The garden
Angie is given an example memory of a couple (Brooke Lee Adams & Danny Mountain) having sex in a garden. The woman in this scene has very nice natural breasts. This scene was excellent, even though the camera zoomed in close too many times. I almost never like zoom ins. I want to see the whole scene. I would have preferred that Brooke Lee were more quiet but it was otherwise one of the best sex scenes I've seen in a porn movie, mostly due to the scenery and her breasts. We are 20 minutes into movie when this scene is over.

Scene III - the break room
Michael and his assistant, Sarah (Allie Haze), who seems smitten with him, have sex in the break room. They assume numerous positions in this almost half hour long scene. Afterward, other coworkers enter and invite Michael to go to the cafeteria with them. He leaves, tossing the coffee Sarah made just the way he likes it into the trash. Sarah, of course, is hurt over being after being cast aside. Michael is quite the insensitive clod in this scene.

Scene IV - Sarah and Angela
Sarah shares her frustrations about Michael with Angela and tries to help her choose a memory. Sarah tells Angela that she and Michael have no memories and must work. Why they have no memories and whether they'll have memories later is never clarified.

Scene V - the new memory
The other recently dead couple (Victoria White and Rocco Reed) stop by to chat and tell her they decided to make a new memory. They proceed to a bedroom and the new memory creation. I found their sex scene to be uninspiring. And Victoria is far too loud for my tastes.

Finally Angela is assigned a private room, which looks like the same one the previous couple used. She then dreams of the time she met her husband Jake (Chris Johnson) and of and an argument she had with him.

Paul (another assistant) and Sarah enter to help her. Paul tells her its the little things that are important. Paul reveals that he hasn't chosen a memory yet because he doesn't want to limit his life to one memory.

Angela then meets again with Michael, discusses various memories, tells him that she has chosen a memory, and fishes a love note that Sarah had written for Michael out of the trash (and that Michael callously discarded in the first scene) and hands it back to him. He seems to have a light bulb moment at this point. He enters Sarah's room, thanks her for the note and kisses her. Even dead people can become better people.

Scene VI - Angela's memory
Angela helps Jake pick a tie, then finds a sweet note Jake left for her in the bathroom. Then he tells her he loves her and they make love, even though he told her earlier that he was already late. Their scene lasts 20 minutes. With this memory, the movie ends. There is nothing special to say about their scene, at least it didn’t inspire me.

All the males used condoms in this movie. The camera work was reasonably good, although there were too many closeup zoom-ins for my taste. The sets were fantastic.

Its interesting that while the scene with couple in the garden was by far the best, they are the one couple not shown on the front or back of the DVD. Apparently my tastes don’t match that of the director or producer.

While there may not have been a lot of variety in the sex in this movie, there were few acrobatic positions. The sex was more realistic than is usually seen in porn movies. The actors weren't over-eager. I'm relieved to report that the men didn't finish on the women's faces. The sex was very respectful and genuine. In that respect, this movie is a complete win.

This movie is part of New Sensation’s Romance series. Its intended to be a couples movie or perhaps to appeal to women. While it does have a plot that carries through the entire movie, its a super sweet story line that is clearly geared to those who like soft, romantic movies. Those looking for a couples movie or actually a women's movie and who don't mind vanilla sex will like this film.

EXTRAS
Behind the scenes - interviews with cast members about what they find to be romantic, etc.
Photo Gallery
Pick Your Pleasure - a fantastic idea. Choose to see clips with just the positions/activities that interest you.
Trailers of other movies in the Romance series
Web Trailer
Company Info