L'orgie de l'apocalypse

Entrusting the project to puffed-up pornographer Max Candy (who was also directing another Anna Polina film at the time "L'innocente") was a bad move by Marc Dorcel, as this horrible attempt to cash in on the "end of the world" fears based upon the Mayan Calendar ending in 2012 is an embarrassment.

Candy expounds at length in the "Making of" featurette prepared for Dorcel TV (heavily censored to hide any explicit XXX visuals) on how great he is, notably his recent work with the influential Michael Ninn. He reveals that Ninn collaborated on this project, but lucky for MN his name is not listed in the credits.

One point Candy drives home is how his approach to Adult Cinema differs from most of his peers, in that his crew is made up of professionals who are drawn from the mainstream, e.g., his d.p. working in commercials and documentaries. Yet an early sex scene here is shot in what I like to call Blurrovision: soft and nearly out of focus throughout. So much for that boasting.

Cast heavily overlaps with "L'innocente", probably filmed back to back with this one. Final edit released by Dorcel is a mess, with key points and plot/character elements "explained" by Candy in the "Making of" but absent from the actual feature itself. Basically, Tarra White (star of the film but demoted to second banana status in Dorcel's marketing which emphasizes Polina instead) and her husband Mike Angelo are attempting to escape the fate befalling the rest of mankind on December 21, 2012, when TV broadcasts and newspaper headlines proclaim the apocalypse is at hand.

Candy tells us her name is Zoe (not mentioned in the actual movie) and tells what each sex scene is about, nowhere implied by the actual footage. There is a ridiculous four-girl lesbian scene in which Samantha Jolie is dressed in a wedding gown as Tarra's alter ego, and a final, lengthy (and poorly staged/shot by the maestro) orgy set in the bunker that Tarra & Mike escape to.

Featuring prominently but confusingly are Anna Polina as Mike's assistant, who tries to steal the key that will admit Mike and Tarra to the bunker, and the great Anissa Kate as the mystery lady who delivers said key to Mike in a fancy box, with director Candy taking a customary cameo as chauffeur. Both Anissa and Anna appear in the final orgy even though that doesn't fit the story line at all -just a result of "sex is all" porno mentality. And Anissa is striking but misused briefly by the auteur as a Mayan goddess or priestess or princess -take your pick, as even in the "Making of" Max can't decide.

He promises plenty of special effects, but what appears in the final print is lousy. Most revealing is his admission that he has always loved orgies on screen and in fantasy and likes to pack as many beautiful girls as he can into his sex scenes - evidence of which is clear with the lengthy (and wasted) cast list.

Note to IMDb users: Candy's movies for Dorcel and as part of the Moire Candy team (with partner Louis Moire) at Private Media are all ridiculously and unreliably highly rated in the website's listings, obviously a gaming of the system.