If MTV produced porn videos, it's a sure bet that they would look a lot like The Caller . Originally entitled The Calling and produced as a soft-core feature by Pride Video, The Caller has had explicit scenes edited back in and is now the first hard-core feature released by the collaborative team of Pride and Men of Odyssey under the name Pride Xplicit. It centers around adorable Taylor Jakks, who keeps receiving erotic phone calls from a mysterious stranger (hunky Shaye Bent). The film has great camera work, terrific imagery and plays like one amazing sexual music video.

The phone rings late one night, and Jakks answers. Bent's husky voice is on the other end. Thus, an unlikely friendship occurs between the two men as they exchange erotic stories and build sexual tension.

The first tale spun is by Bent, who recalls a soccer buddy of his (an unbelievably gorgeous, light-skinned black man named Bautian with a great body) and an escapade he had in the shower with a teammate (Yiannis). The visuals are stimulating as the two men exchange blow jobs while water cascades down their bodies.

It's Jakks' turn, and he tells of a hot encounter between a friend of his (Ged Davit) and an employee at the local gym at closing time. John Turnmills plays the worker and spots Davit as he lifts weights. Of course, in these films, spotting leads to sucking leads to rimming. The men devour each other, and the ass-licking is particularly good.

Bent spins his own little fantasy tale that includes Jakks and Yiannis in a sauna. Then Jakks responds with another tale of Turnmills in a bathroom, getting head by Darren Harker.

Up to this point, all of the scenes have been oral or rimming scenes. No penetration has been made at all. After a frustrating session with Bent that leaves him with scorching blue balls, Jakks turns to Davit (who, it turns out, is his fuck buddy) and lets himself be impaled. And, of course, Bent tells of his own encounter with Bautian in the locker room which ends with Bent nailing Bautian's beautiful black ass in a hot scene.

But the payoff is when Jakks and Bent finally meet. In a scorching scene that resonates with animal magnetism and raw desire, the men crawl all over each other, Jakks slamming his ass down on Bent's big tool. It's the best scene of the film and probably should have stopped there, because nothing could top it.

However, two more scenes follow. One is a hot oral scene that is part of a video that Jakks and Davit are watching. It features an adorable young man named Gabor and a studly, sculpted hunk named Sanyi (who amazingly resembles Jean-Claude Van Damme). When the video ends and the cuties have cum, the phone rings, and soon, Bent and Bautian arrive for a nice foursome. But it still doesn't get to the intensity of the pairing of the leads.

Having seen the soft-core and the hard-core versions, I think this works best as a soft-core. But this soft-core version adds more eroticism than most hard-core features have. Not much actual sex appears to have been added, and only four of the nine scenes have actual penetration. However, it is still a stunning film to watch, with the amazing photography and terrific direction by Esser and Bulfield.

Nevertheless, I am eagerly awaiting a new release by Pride Xplicit. If they can do such wonders with a soft-core feature, imagine the unbelievable things they could do to an all-new hard-core one.

- Jeremy Spencer

"The Caller" (1998) is a very highly stylized flick about what can happen when phone sex is good. Following upper crust British policy, it's not at all sleazy, though the stories told between the two fast phone friends are definitely sexy to a big degree. As they chat with each other, they merely tease with stories, not allowing each other to explode with full vignettes, so the scenes are by necessity short and teasing as well. This allows director Mike Esser to pack a whole lot of guys into a whole lot of picturesque scenes.

Taylor Jakks gets a call and doesn't know from whom, but he plays along. He's a lean good looking brunet with both nipples pierced and a smooth tightly packed body. The caller describes himself as tall with nine inches uncut and they start talking. Well, I would too!

The caller tells a story about his friend Bastian, a major-league hottie with pierced nipple and a few small tattoos, playing a swimmer and filling out the body type sensationally. Bastian, who also sports a really thick juicy cock, plays with himself in the shower in a glamour-ridden slo-mo self-pleasure scene that highlights every inch of his completely lickable body. The next shower turns on and the big-lipped Bastian turns his back, showing off his beautiful butt, which is further enticement for amiable brunet Yiannis, who wants to play with him. Bastian, the water still running down his body, pushes Yiannis down to his knees to suck him. The editing is fast and non-linear, which allows the sucker to take on all of Bastian's body almost at once. Yiannis rims Bastian's ass, the highlight of the scene, although clouded by too-quick editing. Bastian munches a little ass as well and then stands over his pal to cum on him.

Taylor is definitely turned on by hearing this story, but before the caller sets an exact time to return the call, he hangs up, leaving Taylor to hope he really does ring again. He does, right as Taylor is about to jack off. This time, the caller wants to hear a story. Taylor has a friend named John Tummille, a solid muscle stud, who works in a gym. As he's closing up one night, an also beefy Ged Davit is working out, the last one in the gym with John. John, with a mostly shaved head, is definitely turned on by the guy, who isn't wearing enough clothing to hide much. So, hairy-chested John spots his workout partner and is soon touching him. The two beefcakes go at touching and groping with mucho heat, done up in the same feverish editing that marked the previous scene. Ged has a straight hard cock that John deep-throats, although the editing again doesn't allow much of it to be seen. John gets his super round butt licked and does the same to Ged. They continue to suck and rim each other in some neat positions on the bench press while not only the editing but the lighting goes late-night-clubesque out of control. John makes a nice show of fingering Ged, but doesn't fuck him before sprinkling on his own abs as the other beats at his big pecs. Taylor reveals the gym rat to be his own fuck buddy!

The third call comes in the middle of the night when Taylor is asleep, thrilled to be woken up by his sexy caller, about whom he was dreaming into a noticeable hardon. The caller has another story. This one is about Yiannis again. He goes into the sauna with a guy named "Austin," a lean guy with nipple piercings (a favorite among the cast) who massages the slighty hairy swim team leader. Yiannis gets sucked, with what seems to be a nice hand-and-mouth combo when it's actually shown, and Yiannis sucks too. He also provides Austin with a spicy rimjob, this one not as edited as much, so existing in more realistic glory. Yiannis really worships Austin's body completely, and it very much deserves it. There is a fun chemistry obvious in the haze of black-and-white editing before Austin furiously beats off. Oh, and Austin? He's actually Taylor himself! I wanted to hold that back for just a moment.

Taylor is dying to know how his caller knows that story, but he has a story of his own. John returns, this time for a bathroom trick session, where he encounters Darren Harker stroking off in a urinal. Tall Darren has a dick worth noticing, even when one is "a little worse for the wear," as Taylor notes John was on this night at the bar. But, they fall against the wall and start co-stroking anyway. Passionate kissing ensues and John and Darren suck each other before Darren bolts. However, later in the night, they find each other again and continue. Darren, sporting dog tags, sucks John, comfortably placed in a chair to receive it. This blowing and rimming his shown with a tad more care at points, so once can see just how good Darren is orally. John sucks too, notably sucking uncut Darren upside down for a few moments. The lighting hearkens back to early-80s music videos, but it calms down a bit now and then to show off the talented partners sucking and rimming before John pinches Darren's nipples enough to get him to cum.

Taylor is in bed with his Ged, the one who played with John in the gym. Taylor had been warned not to talk about the calls, but he tells Ged because he's horny. So, Taylor goes down with a potent deep-throat and then jacks their cocks together as they kiss. John is an ace blower, but he's also a very sexy performer who knows just how to milk each sensual moment, knowing that the editing mandates he work quickly to score as many points as possible. He and his pal 69, where Taylor sucks wonderfully and gets a sweet ass-chewing. For the first time in the video, there is fucking. Ged lives up to his name and plows Taylor. It looks like a strong fuck and Ged gets in very deep. It's a bit rushed as Taylor seems in a hurry to let loose a sizeable cum spurt.

Taylor answers the phone with a smile the next time it rings. The caller has another story about Bastian, also a rugby player. Bastian, the standout pretty-boy in the cast, can't take his eyes off the new guy on the team, a tall strapping guy with a butt that doesn't quit, packed tightly into a jockstrap. The new guy brazenly approaches Bastian and pins him against the lockers so they can nuzzle and lick. Bastian doesn't waste any time getting to a blowjob, which he delivers with a brilliant head swivel, the editing finally showing a blowjob to take a natural course! And it's worth it, because Bastian is sensational. Bastian then gets an earnest sucking before going back to active duty rimming his new teammate's ass. A 69 finds them both expert deep-throaters. Now that fucking has been introduced, it finds its way into this scene, where Bastian's truly perfect ass takes a few moments of fucking before the top pulls out to cum all over Bastian's back. Brevity isn't such a bad thing! Well, it is for Taylor, who was about to cum when the caller hung up.

But, not to fear. The caller immediately phones back and tells Taylor to go to the door, where he's revealed to be Shaye Best, waiting for Taylor in leather pants. This tattooed hunk is also the fellow from the last scene (I have to play along with the video's teases, come on!), as large and dominating as he described himself to Taylor. The oomph they felt for each other over the phone translates in person and Taylor is winningly alive when sucking. Of course, he gets a good blowjob too and they both happily take each other's tongues up their asses. Quirky Taylor rubs the phone cord around his caller's cock and sucks before sitting on it to get fucked. Taylor allows himself to be fucked in a few positions, all quickly, but all with style and flair from the top. Remember, nothing is linear in this world, so positions move quickly, but they all add up to Shaye parking quite a load on Taylor's face and chest.

But things don't end there. Taylor and Ged are watching a porno when the phone rings and the caller is invited over to join them. They aren't the waiting types, so they start without him while the video plays in the background. The porn scenes involves two wonderfully handsome lookers named Gabor and Sanyi, who have sex on a bed for no other reason than that's what beautiful people should do together. The more boyish of the two submits to getting a head-wetting blowjob which eventually ends up in a slow-paced 69. The suckers aren't as adept as their counterparts in the story itself, but they are lovely to watch nonetheless. Only the cutie who got his dick sucked more gets to sprinkle a load.

Invited to join Taylor and Ged are not only caller Shaye, but also Bastian. I admit to a personal lust for the latter, having adored his work in other Mike Esser videos, and it's no wonder that he's used for a third time, and used with three other standouts of the tireless cast. The four guys get down to business where they kiss around each other, coming together at one point for a four-way smooch. Ged sucks Shaye with an aggressive mouth while Bastian and Taylor swap suckings. Cock-chomping is a specialty of all the guys here, but so is ass-chewing and the Ged reels off a damn good one. Taylor gets to blow his luscious caller again as everyone is allowed a taste of everyone else's cock and ass. These four really know how to have an orgy! Nobody remains idle and nobody remains unwetted. Taylor gets fucked again by Shaye while Ged takes Bastian. Both fucks are impressive and eager before Bastian and Ged rejoin the other two orally. Bastian and Ged get to cum before the four fall into a heap for extra kissing time.

Sexually, I have to admit that "The Caller" is wowing. However, director Mike Esser shoots himself in the foot with outrageously annoying editing and camera tricks in order to put a distinctive personal stamp on the project. That's all well and good, but it should never come at the expense of the sex. Guys like Taylor, Bastian and Shaye are enormously talented and to have their scenes chopped to mere seconds of garbled play is a crime! My already watering mouth would overflow if I could see the unedited version, the one where they play in real time. That potential is only hinted at here.

DVD features: Chapters; additional scene; gallery; and no regional coding (playable worldwide).

A DVD Review by Brent Blue