Whatever Turns Ya On, 56 min

One of the best examples of early gay fetish films, "Whatever Turns Ya On" is a slow-build, but worth the trip. Featuring a sculpted Jim Cassidy performing some eyebrow-raising (and dick-hardening) acts, this film will appeal to fans of fetish, but also has enough vanilla candy to be a hit with the less adventurous crowd. If anything, the last scene of the film is worth the price of admission as Jim Cassidy and an unaccredited blond beefcake take their sweet time pumping and humping to a sticky end. The scenes and sound have been cleaned up to the point where you can imagine yourself watching it from the middle row of an adult theater pulling your pud with a bud. Early adult gay cinema saw a lot of directors take risks with material, like Jack Deveau's "Drive" and it's insane mix of drag queens, hedonistic sex and psychedelic plot twists. "Whatever Turns Ya On" takes different risks - more sexual, and less arty - featuring pissplay, bondage and extreme penetration all warped into one film. Using the "movie within a movie" mise-en-abîme, Lewis tells the story of two amateur porn makers (Cassidy, Laurent) who just completed their first flick. The film jumps in, pre-credits, on a fantasy. A mature daddy type sits on a chair with just boots, a leather hat and biker jacket on, furiously jerking off to a strange scene. A naked Jim Cassidy chases a slight, winged furry man in pink pajamas around a coffee table, attempting half-heartedly to capture the thin man in a net. As they cavort around the room, the leather daddy reaches his peak, spraying his jizz on his stomach. End scene. Soon after, his friend (Laurent) drops by with a film canister containing their first fuck film. Cassidy (still naked) lets him in, and we see the leather daddy and furry fairy trek out the back door. Cassidy threads the film on a projector, and the "inner" film "Whatever Turns Ya On" rolls to life sporting Tom of Finland art in the credits. The first scene stars Cassidy as a farm boy/biker type (the film isn't big on coherency) who stops to take a piss in a culvert. Unseen by Cassidy is a hitchhiker who watches every drop leap from dick to dirt. At this point viewers have to make an assumption about the next scene - while Cassidy and his admirer are up on the hill, we assume that they are in turn watching five cowboys down below. The group of cowpokes shackle a sixth man and piss on him until the bound man cums. Next is a fantasy sequence that will appeal to boot fetishists everywhere, as a young street side bootblack sets up shop. He watches the shoes and boots go by, letting his eyes wander north when hot males pass by. Finally a pair of black cowboy boots stop in front of him, and the fantasy sequence begins with him and the mystery cowboy appearing naked in the wilderness. The bootblack licks the boots clean, not missing a crease or fold, then he jerks his dick, spilling his load all over the newly-cleaned footwear. He can't help but smear the thick cum all over with his cock, and then lick it up. The cowboy walks away (and we can tell now that the cowboy was Cassidy), and the bootblack is back on the LA street, shine box and all. Laurent and Cassidy then recount their adventure with a hungry bottom on a brass bed. This scene hits all the 70's sex classics: light (half-hearted) bondage, lots of nipple twisting, Crisco, dildos and extreme penetration. The piggy finally kneels over Cassidy's outstretched forearm, and fucks himself with it to climax. The bottom is nothing to look at, and both Cassidy and Laurent never seem to get into the scene (or the sex) much. More flogging up next, this time between Laurent and Cassidy. The ever-buff Cassidy straps Laurent to a round spread-eagle board, flogs him a bit with a cat-o-nine-tails, then hoists him upside down to give his hide a serious tanning. Laurent's pale ass turns red under the thunderous beating, while his cock turns rock hard. Finally, Cassidy chains Laurent right side up, and strokes the man's fat prick to a sticky end. The final scene is Cassidy telling the story of a pool man who used to work for him, and how they ended up in bed. The unaccredited pool man is pure COLT - blond, gruff, built and hung. He and Cassidy start off stripping in the living room, admiring each others' built frames, then they move to the bedroom to continue. They take turns trying to swallow the other's cock, one of the only times in the film that Cassidy's lips wrap around another man's equipment in the film. Once they both are hard as nails, Cassidy bends the blond stud over and fucks him while the blond moans his approval. It's Cassidy's turn next as he reverse-cowgirl's the studs pole and jerks his meat at the same time. Great close-ups of their balls banging together as Cassidy gets deep-dicked. Finally they spray their cum on each other, light up a smoke, and fade to black. This is the only scene with real dialogue rather than a music soundtrack, and it's a refreshing change from the cheesy music you'd usually find in a driver's ed film. "Whatever Turns Ya On" fulfills its promise - there's a little something for almost every type, from leather-clad daddies, hippie fairy boys, bondage, pissplay and straightforward macho sex between he-men. This film has been extensively restored from the original film reel, and this is the first time it's ever been released since its original theater run. A bit of lusty gay history, recovered from obscurity!