Captured Beauty

When Bela Lugosi in the Universal horror classic The Raven menacingly exhalts the values of exquisite SM, he might have been presaging the theme of Andrew Blake's opus, Captured Beauty. Mixing a luscious composition of naked beauty and theatrically - driven bondage, Blake's latest feature finds a comfortable residing spot both in the specialty and alternative sections of video stores. Blake happens to be one of the few director/cinematographers who can lens a woman standing next to a sewer pipe and somehow make it look impossibly provocative. Challenge accepted in a stunning opening sequence, but the action soon shifts to the loftier climes of Beverly Hills and the elegance of penthouse living in New York City where SM appears to be the entertainment equivalent of Seinfeld. During the course of the exotic vignettes, with Celeste being the ring leader in most of the spirited play, witness a cavalcade of body jewelry, lurid games of blind man's buff/bluff in the rear of stretch limos, a woman turning into a human credenza; captors becoming prey and captives becoming captors. Fashion being the watch word of any Blake testament, bondage accoutrements range from the often-seen to an unfurling of outre item to-be-found in the spring edition of the "Kick the Shit out of Me" Quarterly. With riding crop in hand, Celeste, as the piano teacher, and Jenteal as the tentative student, appear in a richly rewarding spanking sequence that also incorporates use of an elaborately designed air paddle. If prizes were given for a whipping restaurant, this textured, rhythmic and sensual experience boasts a drawing room elegance few award-winning scenes can duplicate. And when hot wax rains in Captured Beauty, it tends to pour in the time it takes to render Dahlia Grey's body the rustic consistency of a table candle in an Italian restuarant! Cast: Renee, Dahlia Grey, Jenteal, Celeste, Misty Rain, Seana Ryan, Taylor St Claire