Of course, we all know this from seeing Boogie Nights (1997), right? Burt Reynold's character Jack Horner is a serious sex movie director who is fighting the switch to video (although the camera he is using in said film is 16mm, and of course there were a fair amount of adult films made in 16mm, blown up as necessary for 35mm theatres). But whereas Boogie Nights placed this transition in 1980, in the 'real boogie nights' video was initially a boon to the X rated movie industry, because suddenly people were shelling out $100.00 for a VHS cassette of an adult movie that also played in the theaters. The result? Producers could make more 35mm adult movies, with bigger budgets, because they were making lots more money. It is said that the adult movie got the home video era rolling what else but sex would prompt people to pay huge dollars to stay home for? Particularly when VCR¹s cost over $1,000.

Many of the greatest adult movies were made in the eighties, the first half of the eighties, anyway. Cecil Howard one of adult cinemas most notable directors, and a true auteur created the bulk of his oeuvre between 1980-87. At the same time, the legitimacy and influence of adult movies continued to grow. The effect on Hollywood had been felt since the early 70's, with art movies such as Last Tango In Paris (1972) bringing blatant sexuality into the mainstream. Another notorious result of adult movies influence was Japanese director Nagisa Oshima's In The Realm of the Senses (1976), in which he pointedly set out to emulate porn¹s explicitness. It is still touring art house cinemas to this day. In fact, there was a distinct optimism within the adult movie industry at the beginning of the 80¹s. There was a sense not only of the adult movie becoming legitimate, but even merging with mainstream cinema.

"Where adult cinema will go from here is still an open question. Whether the films will continue to improve to the point where we might talk about an alternative Hollywood, or whether Hollywood finally jumps in and co-opts the industry will be determined in the next five years. What effect will this have on our culture? Some experts are predicting a second sexual revolution, with adult cinema knocking down the last doors of hypocrisy and repression." Adult Movies: Rating Hundreds of the Best Films for Home Video and Cable, 1982 (Beekman House, New York)

And how about this naively optimistic statement from famed adult movie director Henri Pachard; "I have a feeling that explicit sex is really only a passing thing as a major part of a film. In ten years we may only see a few minutes of explicit footage... the genital close-ups will go first, then the come shots and then we will only have the real intense emotional part of the physical relationship to concentrate on." (Rustler Magazine, Dec. 1982)

Talk about wrong predictions! By 1992 the exact opposite was occurring; the gonzo genre throwing away story and character and leaving just the close-ups and come shots. And Henri Pachard the serious director? Apparently reduced to churning out video product. Although the one that I happened to see -- Bodies In Heat II (1989) -- was a tight, funny yet suspenseful noir piece with solid acting. It still had plenty of cum shots and genital close-ups.

There is even a specific point to which we can mark the almost-merging of two film worlds only to have them move on to different destinies. Director Brian De Palma made the film Body Double (1984.) The plot involved a porn movie actress who gets caught up in a murder plot, and there are scenes which take place on a porn movie set. Originally, De Palma planned to include hardcore scenes in the movie casting adult movie actress Annette Haven in the lead. It would have been the first X-Rated (as in avec hardcore) Hollywood movie. Unfortunately, studio execs nixed the idea. Over the next few years, Hollywood got bloated and sequel-ized, while adult movies went that way of cheap video and amateur.

Actually, 35mm never died out completely. Yes, video took over, but 35mm productions continued to be made, and still do today. It is just that there are no theatres to show them in, no audience that will go to a theatre, and no 35mm film prints to show. The productions are released on video and DVD (in Europe the situation may be different.) Finally, the porno chic era is being renewed in modern times with the appearance of explicit sex in certain arthouse productions, such as Romance (1999), a lame movie that nonetheless garnered a huge press response and adoring woman audiences, who magically found a film that graphically explored the female as a "hole" to be powerful and worthwhile. The magic ingredient? Said French film was directed by a woman. Incidentally, contemporary porn star Rocco Siffredi had a role in it, which involved acting as well as sexual penetration of the female.