Dante: The Measure of a Man

a review by Harley Shadow

	Cast: Logan Robbins, Trent Atkins, Eddie Stone, Chad Hunt, Damon Phoenix, Zackary Pierce, Trevor Knight, Ty Hudson. Directed by Jett Blakk and Ty Hudson.
	Red Devil Entertainment, 13029-A Victory Blvd., Box 346, North Hollywood, CA 91606. Internet www.reddevilworld.com.

Ty Hudson is more than a handsome face and a sexy porn star. With Dante: The Measure of a Man, he debuts as a writer and director, teaming with director Jett Blakk to bring an ambitious piece of theater to the blue screen. It's inspired by Inferno by Dante Alighieri.
    To access the film, either choose scene one from the scene selection menu, or play the movie with Ty Hudson's introduction. Once it starts you can skip past it, but this 9:26 back story to the film should have been a menu option, like the audio commentary with Hudson and Blakk. Learning this story's origins, how Hudson changed it over the years, and his designs of how the film should look are all interesting, especially when most porn is so simple, but a lot of viewers looking to see Hudson get down and dirty with his barely clad boys Trevor Knight and Zackary Pierce are going to skip over it.
    Hudson says he wants the film to feel like Hollywood cinema with a porn twist. The film has a dramatic flair. Dante (Logan Robbins) loses his job, keeps getting mysterious letters with symbols on them, and thinks his boyfriend (Trent Atkins) is escorting again. Those three incidents culminate in life-altering events that explore intimacy, relationships, and self indulgence.
    There's an independent film feel with the dark, gothic and elaborate sets that open and close the narrative. There's also a Hollywood soundtrack with dramatic strings, swells of music that make you want to fall in love, and music that tells you something evil or dark is coming. Unfortunately that music is misplaced, since most of it fills scenes of cocksucking or ass eating — times when people aren't falling in love or when nothing evil comes this way. During the speaking parts, the soundtrack is a better fit, but while Pierce and Knight fuck Hudson, and later when it's discovered something dark is going to happen to Atkins when he sucks and gets fucked by Eddie Stone and Chad Hunt, the music is too overpowering.
    Sometimes the story is too strong for the actors and the film. For a project this huge, there wasn't much character or plot development. I never really felt like I knew who these characters were, how they were connected, or if I should care about them.
    For example, Hudson shows up in the first scene in a gothic chamber being sucked and fucked by Pierce and Knight. In the next scene he is like Mr. Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, firing Robbins, who despite the good looks delivers dialogue stiffer than a corpse. Later Hudson reappears, with a shaved head, fucking the bejesus out of Damon Phoenix. Then later he appears to Robbins and Phoenix in a flash, as if he were a genie, but coming off more like Robbins' conscience. Is Hudson the same character? Is he multi-tasking by taking on different roles? In the end, Robbins learns that a cloak will keep him well, but little does he know that he's a pawn in Hudson's game of chess, read as a metaphor for life.
    Some may think it's hard to get all philosophical and deep while making a fuck film; the idea is good, it's just not explored enough. However, some of the models show good acting chops. Hudson, at times, can chew the scenery like beef jerky, but who knew he could act. Eddie Stone plays best friend/backstabber very well, and Hunt is a little too Severus Snape.
    There are times when the sex is average, such as Phoenix, who usually stands out, but this time with Hudson doesn't have much to give. At times, he's just there. Robbins makes up for his acting with a poignant and romantic scene with Atkins. The two start in their underwear grinding on one another, Robbins bunching his lover's undies into his asscrack, showing off Atkins' tanned cheeks. They kiss, suck and then Atkins gets a hard fuck, but not as hard as when he somehow takes all of Hunt while up against a wooden restraint as Stone feeds him his cock.
    While the film ends on a sad note, there is room for hope, as "To be continued" comes up on the screen. Maybe Hudson will reveal and explain more of this interesting story.
    The DVD has cumshot and photo galleries, behind the scenes, trailers, set design sketches, audio commentary by Blakk and Hudson.

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