Sanatorium - erotic video by Zero Tolerance - review by PassionQT

CONTENT/GENRE/AUDIENCE

"Sanatorium" is about Tabitha Stevens' battle against her own demons and against the hypocrisy of the powerful politicians, lawyers, priests, etc., who continuously condemn the porn industry, but who also have skeletons of their own. In addition, her sinister and controlling manager, Marcellus, tries to maintain a firm grasp on her career by holding someone dear to her hostage in a padded cell, unless she agrees to perform some final hardcore scenes to finish out her contract. In retaliation, Tabitha sets off on a ritualistic "vision quest" in the desert to find her own sanity in an often demanding industry, and to figure out how to free the "prisoner" in the cell.

The genre is NOT "gonzo" porn, with the sole purpose of getting the viewer off. No, this one is what I like to call a "thinker". There's actually a meaningful story going on in this bizarre tale, and if a viewer is patient enough to view the entire film, he/she just may catch on to the hidden symbolism, riddles, and clues buried within.

Hardcore enthusiasts may find this one boring, because although there is a brief scene depicting BDSM and some talk of double anal, the main sex sequences, albeit highly erotic and tastefully performed, are actually pretty vanilla porn (other than one anal scene).


SCENE DESCRIPTION

The following main scenes are non-linear, with the first in the present, and the subsequent ones beginning with scene II, either actual events or visions in Tabitha's past life that lead her back to the conclusion of Scene I. Between these scenes are other pieces of the puzzle, some beautiful desert scenery, and a brief suicide suspension scene, in which Tabitha was the actual stunt-woman. Ouch!

SCENE I:
The hypocritical Senator (Nick Manning), anti-porn crusader, and antagonist enters a hotel suite, calls his wife and kids, then proceeds to the bedroom where Tabitha and another sexy female proceed to have a girl-on-girl scene, enticing him; however he doesn't join in....not just yet.

SCENE II:
Another hypocrite, a federal obscenities prosecutor (Marc Wood)shows his kinky side with a lovely escort (Sarah Sloane), as he examine her privates under a magnifying class.

SCENE III:
Only anal scene in the entire movie. Nothing hardcore, but still tasteful and sexy. Done using a hand-held camera and only focuses on Tabitha. The viewer never sees the male actor. Tabitha also does some ATM (ass-to-mouth).

SCENE IV:
A beautiful blowjob scene shot in the wilderness of the desert. The is what Tabitha wants porn to be about, beautiful sex! Her best friend and photography/cameraman, "Alex" (the film's director, Gary Orona) thinks she is perfect just the way she is and tells her she doesn't have to do extreme scenes. The three then move to a hotel room to cool off from a hot day in the sun, where Tabitha has intercourse with Chris Slater while Alex remains grounded and reluctant to do more with her than rub her head. He is her "rock", but she's starting to lose it.

SCENE V:
Tabitha observes a steamy swap scene between two (real-life) married couples, Marc Woods and his wife Francesca Le and Raylene and her husband Ethan Hawk. This scene ends with an internal male orgasm, something seldom seen in today's porn, and yet still very erotic.

SCENE VI:
A landmark scene in Tabitha Steven's career as it marks her first ever interracial sex scene with black actor, Taylor Knight. Pay attention to her eye action, so hot!

SCENE VII:
Tabitha observes a younger couple, Kagney Linn Karter and James Deen, having some mega hot sex in the middle of a studio while a webcam films them. This scene was hot! The chemistry between these two actors is apparent and just adds to the intensity of the shot.

SCENE VIII:
The "baptismal blowjob" where Tabitha recaptures her essence as a strong woman, warrior, and heroine, finally free from all the brainwashing.

SCENE IX:
The senator gets fucked, in more than one way, by Tabitha and her friend Alex.

ACTORS:
Tabitha Stevens, Nick Manning, Ashley Roberts, Ron Jeremy, Dennis Hof, Nick Jacobs, Marc Wood, Sara Sloane, Lux Cassidy, Matt Bianco, Kevin Billingsley, Gary Orona (Director, Producer, and Writer), Teddy ZigZag, Kris Slater, Steve Joyner, Raylene, Francesca Le, Ethan Hawk, Tyler Knight, Alex Urban, High Pitch Eric, Tony Campos, Kagney Linn Karter, and James Deen.

EXTRAS:
Director's Commentary. Bonus DVD: Trailers, Popshots (the "cumshots"), Behind The Scenes, Slideshow, Tabitha Interview, Bonus Scenes, and Deleted Scenes.

PERSONAL COMMENTS:
This was not the type of porn movie I was anticipating, but nevertheless, it was interesting, to say the least. It didn't really excite me as I hoped it would, but it stimulated me mentally, and I have to agree with Tabitha that good porn doesn't have to be raunchy porn.

My husband and I intended on watching this together, all the way through. He didn't make it past the first hour. He was bored to tears and kept telling me to FFW. I told him that I HAD to watch it all, because I wanted to understand it. I continued the movie alone on my laptop the next day. I have to admit, the quality of the 35-mm film and the HD (sex scenes) was worth viewing, but I was a little bored too. I sort of figured out where the director was going with it, but it didn't make much sense to me until I watched the director's commentary the following day. This extra bonus is ESSENTIAL if you really want to understand the movie and the hidden messages. Suddenly, I found clarity, and could appreciate the movie as it was intended.

My favorite line is "We are all brainwashed to feel guilty. The moment you know you've been brainwashed, you are free." How true that has been for my life!

I'm not one to sit through any movie I've already viewed at least once, yet alone skim through it just to get to the good parts. Technically, since I also watched the director's commentary on Sanitorium, I saw this twice; that's overkill! The sex scenes, although tasteful, weren't enough to keep me coming back for any type of inspirational material. I didn't feel it was a bad movie, it was just really bizarre.