Many of the classics from this time I watched on the big screen with my heavily disguised girlfriend sitting next to me in the theatre. Room Mates, Taboo, Jamie Gillis, Kay Parker, Jerry, Harold, Ed, John, Vanessa, Serena, Selka, and even Marilyn C. (She went to HS in Westport, CT. I think they renamed the school after her. Not sure, but I considered it Holy Ground and tried to lead tours there at one time) 'Boogie Nights' covered the end of the Golden Age of Porn, and fairly accurately. I think Mark Wahlberg portrayed Tom Byron. Many of the stories/subplots did mimic/parody actual events in porn stars' lives and the business in general. VHS, such a boon to the porn industry, is what really caused the fall in quality of porn, as you've noted. I don't know what JAV was like back then, although from what I've garnered, most of it would probably be highly illegal these days. (Don't ask) Ease of production took the art out of the hands of artists and put it into any person who could hold a camcorder, and these days, an I-Phone. The Internet has made it INCREDIBLY easy to NOT pay for porn, so there's less money in the main business but LOTS of money in webcam accounts. (Pretty much ALL female porn stars have these accounts and make a nice buck with them, and unlike in the 'golden age' they all have other careers outside of the sex industry) I don't know the infrastructure of today's JAV or its stars, but they certainly don't look malnourished, and they do appear to have studios, equipment, finances, talented personnel, and facilities that allow for high production values, and they seem to believe in porn as an artform, and I appreciate that. Many JAV ideas have made it into western porn (Bukkake and Robomeat for instance), but JAV still has the best. I tried watching a western version of 'Sex on The News'. It was incredibly wooden and forced while the JAV versions are fluid and almost natural. Yes, there are lemons in JAV, suspension of disbelief is difficult when a pixelated schoolboy's face needs a shave or when a 40 year old woman has a 35 year old virgin son, or when a much larger and stronger woman (Hana for instance) can't just smack some little guy(s) who's trying to cop a feel. But if you compare a Cory Chase mother-son video to ANY JAV mother-son video, the excellence is clearly witnessed. The women in JAV don't make love to the camera (Unless it is POV). Western porn women are constantly contorting their bodies so their face is in every shot. (Dear Cory, If you're on top of your son, pounding away at his 'virgin' manhood, shouldn't your eyes be focused on his, not the camera? And lose the giggle and that sound you make while blowing him!) Believe me, I have collected porn fetishes, in a vain attempt to catalog them all. (Foolishly thought it would be a job for Webster's. Instead, it quickly turned into a job for Encyclopedia Britannica!) Several weeks of Danish porn left me scarred for life. Balloons left me terribly confused. And FEET! AUGH!!!! So yes, it is mostly subjective when I profess my admiration for JAV, and I am always looking for new forms from any hemisphere, but I'll stand by my love of JAV as art porn that is entertaining as well as highly erotic. RK

Actually, in many ways JAV is almost the opposite of American Porn during the Golden Age. If you look at those from the 1970's to the early 1990's, other than a small handful the women tended to have careers of around 5 years or less. Only a few like Aunt Peg and Kay Parker had careers of around 10 years. Most were there and gone within just a few years. The men however, often had careers that lasted decades. Peter North finally retired after over 2,000 credits and 34 years. Tom Byron finally retied with over 3,000 credits in 36 years. The Hedgehog, over 2,500 appearances in 39 years. However, interestingly in Japan, the only ones that really get credit are the females. It is almost unheard of for the male actors to get screen credits. Sure we see them over and over again, but how often do we really see their names? Not on the credits of the movies, not even on the web site of the companies. And there was porn in Japan in the 1980s. I even went into a few video stores back in the 1980's. However, most of it was rather extreme fetish stuff. Bondage, S&M, dripping candle wax on the performers, things like that. However, there was very much a market for "US Porn". Some of it subbed, some of it subtitled. The domestic stuff seemed to mostly be the kinds of things that were not produced in the US. I have not been to Japan since 1990, but if I have to guess their domestic industry probably shifted in the early 2000s when US companies started to turn away from "story based long format" videos, and more towards the 10-30 minute garbage that it produces today. And I imagine that a lot of that might be due to their censorship laws. Without being able to "see the good parts", they likely stayed plot oriented. And yes, they are really big into "taboo" subjects, like incest, adultery, coercion, and semi-rape (mind control, blackmail, old-young, etc). Some even semi-pornographic that would be illegal in the US. Like "Gravure Idols". These are girls sometimes as young as 14, that do magazine and video modeling in sexy clothing. They are solo and never nude, but many have gone on to appear in porn after they turned 18.

I love reading you, you are true porn lovers. In France we have this influence of "web-porn" and not for the best but we always have good productions with an artistic approach. I'm not as savvy as you in this field, I'm just fascinated by women I find charming, and if they do porn or erotica with a story, it's better. Thank you for your anecdotes (now I see "The Last House On The Left" differently.)

I've only seen the original. Learned to never say, "With both hands tied behind my back." after that. I've never seen the remake. Heard it was kind of toned down from the original.

Yeah me too only the original. It is free on Plex.tv currently. For those who never watched it, it's the moment.

Hi! I've read the synopsis of "The last house..." and well, it's not for me... too sensitive :) Talking about Euro Porn, I think its golden age was from late 90s to early 2000s. Saw nothing really good since stars like Tiffany Hopkins, Kelly Trump, ... retired. @Mushroom, I've never noticed it before, but you may be right about the rise of JAV. I discovered JAV in 2003, so I guess it was the time where JAV started to be more and more popular. The fun fact is that JAV was my first porn "serious" interest. Of course I've seen porn before, but I never bother to know actresses' name then. Around 2011, I've started a quest to find my teenage years porn actresses, and that's from that point my global porn interest began :) From my point of view, approximately, the best movies are: 1977-1996 : US 1996-2003 : Euro 2003-2008 : JAV & Euro 2008-2013 : US 2013-2017 : Nothing specific, or JAV & Euro & US 2017-now : JAV

This probably explains a LOT about my favorite type of JAV. The very first picture of a nude woman that I had EVER seen was a playboy picture of Bridget Bardot in a pose reminiscent of 'The Birth of Venus' by Botticelli. I didn't know it at the time, she was 40 years old. My first imprint of a beautiful nude was a MILF (Long before the word was invented). Unfortunately, most Western MILF is a little too.... stiff. (Their acting! Sheesh. Get your mind out of the gutter!) and the fakecest/young lovers just weren't believable. JAV tho... WOW! RK

I would agree with that when talking about the current crap out of the US. However, if you look at the "Golden Age", there are many that come to mind right away. And they actually could act. Of course, the most well known is the late Kay Parker. She was 33 when she entered the industry, and was 36 when she made "Taboo". Another was Lili Marlene, who was 28 when she entered the industry. Then there is Juliet Anderson (AKA Aunt Peg), who was 40 when she started. Georgina Spelvin was 37 when she appeared in "The Devil in Miss Jones". And Gloria Leonard was 34 when she entered the industry. But back then when the movies were made on film, the producers really were trying to get at least some actresses that were "seasoned", and could actually act. And the same with the male cast, most of them had at least some film and stage experience. Many may be shocked to learn that Paul Thomas actually started as a Broadway actor, and played Peter in the 1973 movie "Jesus Christ Superstar". In fact, most of the "New York Scene" actors in the early days were veterans of Broadway or off-Broadway productions.

No fooling, I had just googled Ms. Parker last summer when I heard that she was still alive. It's so sad to know that she has passed. My GF at that time (48 and British. I was 20) and I saw her work on the big screen. (My GF would wear a huge wig and dark sunglasses. LOL) I might have to find subtitles for the Taboo series (With Kay. After she left the franchise it kind of deteriorated) Georgina Spelvin featured in many strange movies (3 am, for instance), but I LOVED her in Police Academy. (The hooker under the podium) Vanessa Del Rio, last I heard, is living in Manhattan. The very reason that many of the actresses in 'the golden age' didn't stick around for very long was due to they're either being older and wanting that bit of infamy or younger and just looking for a rebellious paycheck. Many of the younger ones got into 'the scene' and burned out on drugs and alcohol. A few started working behind the camera. Some had really bad divorce and custody battles gong on in their lives, so they had to 'retire.' Aside from that, it was pretty much just like the lives of so-called 'serious actresses'. Many of the stars of regular TV series and movies from that time just 'disappeared' as well, many times for the same reasons. About the only difference between Hollywood actors and porn actors, aside from the pay and larger audiences, is that porn actors are honest about their lifestyles. (Jennifer Lawrence's selfies from her bukkake session. Imagine how much she could make on a porn movie!) Turn-around is pretty high in the porn industry mainly because most actresses only did it to make a quick buck/experiment, some couldn't deal with it afterwards, and a few went into legitimate acting. (Euphoria for instance) But the actors today are far more business savvy and most are actually incorporated, self-employed contractors, and millionaires. (their financials are public domain and available online) It is a shame that the quality of Western porn has diminished since those days, but that's more 'behind-the-camera' than in front of it. Given the right scripts, casting, facilities, and backing I'm sure the western porn actors of today could produce actual movies with hot sex thrown in, and not just peep shows. RK

Okay. You guys beat me to the subtitles for Kay Parker. Good show!