New Wave Hookers (1985)

Notorious now as one of the films that had to be re-edited after Traci Lords was arrested in May 1986, New Wave Hookers is a typically stylish and unusual piece from The Dark Brothers. The premise is knowingly silly - 'new wave' music turns innocent young things into sex-crazed vixens - but nonsense plots are de rigeur in the crazy world of hardcore where any old excuse will do to get viewers from one sex scene to the next. At least the Darks seem to know and readily admit that this is all nonsense and just get on with enjoying themselves.

At the time of its release, New Wave Hookers had one of the best casts ever assembled for a porn flick - the men were led by hardcore legend Jamie Gillis who has a high old time hamming it up in punk clothing and affecting a ridiculous Chinese accent (don't ask...) while Jack Baker gets to mouth some of the most outrageous, PC-baiting dialogue while sporting an alarming bright yellow jumpsuit and Devo-inspired shades! Steve Powers, Peter North and Tom Byron round out the male cast but, let's be completely honest here, no-one really gives a damn about them. It's the girls we've paid to see and what a fine collection of video vixens they are - Kimberly Carson, Kristara Barrington, Desiree Lane and Brooke Fields would probably have been enough for most viewers, but on top of that impressive line-up we have 80s video porn's dream team of Ginger Lynn and Traci Lords, though on this occasion they don't appear together. Lynn's three-way with Byron and Powers is still fondly remembered by devotees of 80s hardcore and was memorable enough for her to jokily quote dialogue from it on her return to the industry in the 90s.

But the film ran into trouble over the brief appearance of Lynn's long-time rival Traci Lords who turns up as a very horny devil in a stylish and very erotic coupling with Powers. When Lords was busted for being under-aged, the film disappeared for a while, turning up some time later with the offending scene and any other references to Lords removed and replaced by scenes featuring Taija Rae.

A top-notch cast, some genuinely erotic sex scenes (not always a given in porn) and directors who actually seem to know what they're doing make New Wave Hookers one of the best adult movies of the 1980s. The story is completely out-there but really, who cares - the cast seem to be enjoying themselves and the Darks direct with the sort of wit, style and innovation that most of their contemporaries didn't give a damn about. Not for the easily shocked - the politically correct would curl up and die if they heard some of the deliberately confrontational dialogue - New Wave Hookers remains a powerful and arousing porn classic.
DAVID PALANCE

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009