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Reviews
Hotel Paradise (1995)
I was hypnotized by the stranger's words...
I disagree with the user comment that called Hotel Paradise `The worst written film of all time!'. As a collector of erotic short films I can assure you that none of them are designed to stimulate the intellect. I am a big fan of Vincent D'Onofrio and I admit that is the main reason I got a copy of this film in the first place. Who could resist the billing `the naked stranger'? I really wasn't expecting too much from the story. but I was pleasantly surprised.
Possible spoilers ahead.
Hotel Paradise is a little different then most films in this genre. Other then a few flash-back scenes showing the couple rolling around in a big round bathtub, there is no love making. The whole time the stranger (D'Onofrio) is talking and talking and talking. You see, even though the bride (Theresa Russell) is originally handcuffed to the bed it isn't long before she turns the tables on the stranger. we never learn their names. and he is the one chained. He is helpless to stop her from walking out of the room. and out of his life. The only way he can hold her is with words.
He talks about love, he talks about fate, he talks about destiny, and yes, much of what he says is nonsense. but his words are beautiful to listen to and soon the bride. and possibly the audience. is hypnotized by them. My favorite scene is when she looks over at him and imagines she sees a large snake winding around his body like the temptation of Eve in the garden of Eden.
This may not be best short film ever written but it is far from the worst. By the end I thought that having Vincent D'Onofrio chained naked to a bed the whole time was only the icing on the cake. Over all I found Hotel Paradise an enjoyable way to spend 30 minutes.
Heat of the Sun (1998)
A joy to watch.
In 1931, after taking justice into his own hands, Scotland Yard detective Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve) is given the choice of prison or reassignment to Nairobi. He chooses Nairobi determined to do the best job he can, but he encounters obstacles everywhere he turns. You will find yourself loving to hate his superior, Police Commissioner Ronald Burkett (Michael Byrne).
From the beginning Tyburn doesn't fit in with his fellow countrymen. Mainly because he sees the natives as people. that have feelings, intelligence and rights. Tyburn seems to view the behavior of the pompous Englishmen he encounters embarrassing at best and down right despicable at times.
This video set includes three separate episodes: "Private Lives", "Hide in Plain Sight" and "The Sport of Kings". Investigating these cases Tyburn encounters arson, drug-dealing and murder. Each head scratching mystery will keep you riveted to your seat, but watch out for some surprising twists along the way. Running through the stories is the possibility of a budding romance between Albert Tyburn and the fiercely independent Emma Fitzgerald (Susannah Harker).
Great writing, compelling characters, beautiful scenery and a wonderful music score all combine to make "Heat of the Sun" a joy to watch over and over again.