Movie Talk: Bad Wives (1997)

Our first Vivid movie! In the world of straight porn features there are three big studios that instantly come to mind. You have Vivid, Wicked and VCA. Today we are going to be dipping our toes into the Vivid backlog with Paul Thomas's 1997 feature, Bad Wives. This is actually a rewatch for me, as I am pretty sure I watched this one way back in the early 2000's, but I'm going to be honest, I remember almost nothing about it.

Now, something to know about Vivid and Paul Thomas. If the movie was going to be one of their big, tent pole features that they were going to throw money behind and push for awards season, it was a Paul Thomas movie. While plenty of great directors made their way through Vivid, Paul Thomas was the one who handled the big budget features regularly. For me his quality is very hit or miss, especially the later you get into his career. While I remember The Awakening, The New Devil in Miss Jones and the original The Masseuse being really good, there are also movies like Sextet that just feel like an unfinished mess. Bad Wives was a big winner as far as awards go, but I do know that people have mixed feelings about this one. 

So, Bad Wives. We have Dyanna Lauren as a, for lack of a better word, desperate housewife. She is in her mid thirties, and her greatest thrill is stealing cookies from the grocery store. Then Steven St. Croix shows up, and her world starts to turn upside down, and she is going to drag her friend Melissa Hill into this whole mess as well.

First a big note, the version that is available on DVD, and also in streaming is VERY cut. When this got released on DVD the big thing was alternate angles during the sex scenes. This one was not shot with alternate angles in mind, so the film was trimmed to not only allow for the angles to be switched during the film, but also so it could all fit on the DVD. The film can feel jumpy at times, with a couple of scenes just suddenly ending. There are also scenes where characters will mention something happening that we the audience didn't end up seeing. The original run time was over two hours long. The version out today is about 71 minutes. So this one got chopped real good. It doesn't really change things too much, but for a movie that is really story heavy, it makes everything feel sloppy. As far as I can tell, the uncut version does not exist outside of the original VHS release. From doing a little digging, it seems like this is a problem with a lot of older Vivid titles that got put onto DVD after their initial release. 

This one is a domestic drama with a twist. You have unhappy wives, shitty husbands and Steven St. Croix devouring the scenery. I really wish I could see the full two hour + version of this, as the story portions are actually really good, and then big twist at the end is fun. This is a full on feature. There is production value, locations, extras. There are even some truly cheesy special effects. There are for sure plenty of hardcore sex scenes, but there is a lot of story between them, even with the massive cuts to the DVD version of the film. Bad Wives is an odd duck, but an entertaining one. The cast are all feature and couples porn staples. They know how to handle something more dialogue heavy. All the acting isn't always the greatest, but Melissa Hill managed tears in one scene, and Steven St. Croix's performance does need to be seen to be believed. That man has full on monologues, and he gives his all. I'm almost sad to think how much of that performance is lost forever. 

That actually brings up an interesting point about older films like this one. There is no one truly interested in preserving movies like this. That original cut of the movie is most likely lost forever, unless you can find an old VHS of it, and considering this is an XXX rated movie that is almost twenty years old, the chance of finding a quality VHS copy of this film probably doesn't exist.  These movies are considered disposable, and for some of the people who were involved in them, probably best left forgotten. I would love for someone to go in and rescue some of these movies from obscurity, but I honestly don't see that happening. I highly doubt there is any money in that. Especially because there are limited places where you could even sell the finished product. 

So, does Bad Wives work as a movie? Yes, although it is obviously chopped up. Still, for something that clocks in at just over an hour, it is enjoyable. If you are watching for the sex, it is pretty solid and features talented performers who know their way around a XXX scene. Sadly, in its current state it falls short, and there are better features out there. I am going to hunt around to see if I could possibly find a VHS copy, but I highly doubt I'll come across one. From what I can tell the sequel, which features an entirely new cast, was not cut for the DVD release. It was made several years later, and had its initial release on DVD. Kind of wish my first foray into Vivid for this blog was less of a let down, but these things happen. 

Going to end on a little sidenote. It looks like someone actually remade this one in 2018. It isn't a Vivid film, so I'm curious if they got permission to remake it, or they just did it and hoped no one would notice. I have a long list of movies I want to check out, including Bad Wives 2, but maybe some day I'll check it out.