Movie Talk: Night Walk (2000)

Night Walk is an interesting bit of gay porn history, and by some is considered a classic. It is co-directed by Gino Colbert and straight porn director Michael Ninn. Using Ninn's heavily stylized technique the two directors set out tell the story of a young man's sexual awakening through his sexually charged dreams. This was a movie that had the full weight of VCA (under their HIS Video label) behind it, and they for sure put some time and money into making this one. Ninn was riding high at this point off of the popular Sex and Latex, with both films being very well received by critics and the public alike. With Night Walk, Ninn attempted to bring that same success to the world of gay porn. 

I picked Night Walk specifically because of Michael Ninn's involvement. He was a major force in the straight porn industry in the 90's and early 2000's, with his movies mixing striking visuals, hardcore sex and well done scores. His straight film Sacred Sin, that he did under his own label Ninn Works, featured music from the late Eddie VanHalen. I have actually never seen any of his straight output, so I thought I would at least check out his single foray into gay porn. Now, Ninn did not direct this entire film. Gino Colbert handled most of the filming of the sex scenes, with Ninn working on the general aesthetic and feel of the film. If this was because Ninn was uncomfortable shooting gay sex scenes, or because production company VCA wanted to make sure that someone who was more familiar with shooting gay content was involved, I don't know. I also really don't care. Ninn's style is all over this movie, with near constant play with visual effects, filters, and even facial prosthetics, not to mention a kind of musical number. This is something that almost has to be seen to be believed.

Does this work as a movie? Well... Night Walk has no real plot. We are essentially moving through the dream of Jason, played by Chad Connors, as he is led from one erotic event to the next by a man known as Master, played by Dino Dimarco.  There is very little dialogue, and most of the film is focused on various sexual situations. The majority are fairly straight forward gay sex scenes. Most feature multiple partners. There is also some kink thrown in, with a scene of several men shaving various parts of their bodies, as well as a scene towards the end of the movie that features some domination and allusions to pony play. So as a movie, in the traditional sense, not really. As something that is more avantgarde and experimental, it is interesting. This is a first time watch for me, so I didn't really know what to expect going into Night Walk. I'm not sure I fully understand what I just watched, really.

While I can handle the dream like "narrative", there just seemed like this odd disconnect with the material. This might be because of the shifting directors between the sexual content, and the more dreamlike material that leads the viewer from scene to scene.  There are parts of the film that work, Namely, a section towards the middle that takes place in a 1920's style club is genuinely interesting to watch, and involves not only some of the most compelling visuals of the film, but some of the best sex. There is an energy in this section of the film that really works. The rest of the sex is fine, although a few scenes really fell flat because of performers who just did not seem interested in what they were doing. The worst offender was the opening scene with Jason and two Gargoyles who look like the gay porn take on a Weeping Angel. Maybe it was the makeup and facial prosthetics on the Gargoyles, but no one seemed all that into what was going on. We are talking limp noodles through out. That is how the movie started out, and sadly, set the tone through most of my journey through Night Walk.

Here is the problem, when the main crux of your movie is the sex, and the majority of the sex is kind of meh, it makes the whole movie kind of meh. It took me a long time to get through this one, and it was not because I was stopping to enjoy the view. I. Was. Bored. It wasn't until the club scene that I even became interested at all. Then we move back to the kind of kink material that makes of up the rest of the movie, and I was just kind of done. I skimmed the last few sex scenes, and then called it quits. I am surprised by how meh this movie made me feel. 

Does this mean I won't be checking out Michael Ninn's straight films? Yeah, probably. He is talented, and he was very popular for a long time, but his type of porn just isn't mine. There were performers in this film that I have really enjoyed watching in the past. Hank Hightower was an amazing gay porn performer. Somehow I found his scene dull. HOW!?! 

So, this was an interesting foray into a director's work that I have never experienced before. Outside of a really wonderfully bizarre musical number, I think I am going to give future films by him a pass. 

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