Shot entirely on the Italian Rivera, Lucas Kazan's latest feature is beautifully shot, using the lush scenery as the perfect backdrop for some the most gorgeous European men around. The story is told through subtitles and voice-overs and is accompanied by an exceptional music track.

The story centers on adorable Dario D'Alba and his family. It's his last summer with them before heading off to a university in America. He and his father (super hot Pietro Cattani), his stepmother (Esmeralda Berg) and his best friend (Ettore Tosi) are staying at a charming hotel where a lot of the action takes place. It all begins one day while D'Alba and his family are eating and he spots ultra sexy Erik Kovak.

Later that night D'Alba's father, lies restless in bed as his wife sleeps. Meanwhile, in the other room, his son and his best friend are fooling around. In what begins as an innocent game of wrestling soon turns into a fabulous sex scene between the friends. Poor sexually frustrated (and closeted) Cattani gets up and listens at the door while his son gets it on with his best friend.

The next day, the boys head out for the beach, where they soak up the rays and the plethora of beautiful men. As D'Alba watches Kovak, Tosi fantasizes about two beachgoers, Marian and Andrea Albani. He pictures the two muscular men showering together by the ocean and jacking off.

Later that day at the hotel, Tosi jumps in the shower while Cattani shaves. As he washes his perfect young body, he notices Cattani sneaking peaks at him. When he gets out, he heads for Cattani and begins touching him. But when he hears Esmeralda's voice, he quickly leaves. Although nothing happens, this scene is truly erotic.

The next day in the hotel lobby, a cute desk clerk, Daniele Della Valle, has an interesting encounter with one of the hotel guests, Marco Ramazzotti. Della Valle and Ramazzotti shoot each other come-fuck-me looks from across the room. Della Valle locks the front door to the hotel and proceeds to service the guest. They share an amazing oral scene, but it gets even better when Ramazzotti tops Della Valle on the sofa. What they don't know is that Tosi has been watching them and stroking his hard, uncut cock. A bellhop, Roberto Volta, stumbles upon Tosi, and without skipping a beat, the two have their own very hot oral scene.

Later on, Cattani and Tosi are alone on the balcony talking, and without warning, Tosi goes for it and kisses Cattani on the lips. They move into the bedroom, where Tosi tops Cattani in one of the hottest scenes that I've scene all year. I can't stress enough how hot every single one of these men are, especially Cattani with his deep tan, muscular body and salt and pepper hair.

The final scene takes place in an abandoned tower. D'Alba and Kovak finally hook up for an explosive sex scene. They exchange amazing blow jobs, then move the action into a bedroom, where Kovak tops D'Alba. This scene is just as hot as the following scene, which is hard to top.

The sex in this video is steaming; words just don't do it justice. The direction is worthy of an award, and the men oh, the men. I rarely go ga-ga over a porno, but this one is definitely different. It's romantic, sexually charged and so well done it seems wrong to categorize it as just porn. If you watch just one video, make this the one. Trust me, you'll thank me for it.  

This video also comes in a soft core version called L' Albergo , which includes extra never-before-seen footage, including a solo scene that was cut from its hard core counterpart. It's also very much worth watching, not just for the cast of fine men but Kazan's remarkable ability to make a soft core version that is just as hot as the hardcore, if not more.  

- Ricki Martinez  

You have probably never seen gay porn like this before. Director Lucas Kazan's "Hotel Italia" (1999) is just like a REAL movie. The camerawork, editing, lighting, music and other technical values are almost like that of a general release feature. It even has a sort of touching story to it. Some of you may object to anything that gets in the way of pure sex; but the plot and characterization here actually make the movie more erotic.

Cute Italian boy Dario is spending a last summer vacation with his parents and his friend Ettore somewhere on the Italian coast (from the credits, we think it's Liguria). Dario has those model-like, youthful features that many fans adore. He's young, smooth, and lithe. Ettore, in contrast, is heavier and hairy, but also young. Well-done first-person narration (in unaccented English, of course) informs us that Dario is heading to America for college soon. At breakfast one morning, Dario spies adorable Erik Kovak at a neighboring table. Their eye contact makes Erik freeze with a half-eaten pastry in hand.

"Everything changed then," Dario's narration informs us. Dario and Ettore are sharing a room next door to Dario's Mama and Papa. That night, they wrestle in bed, laughing and shouting "Dai!" ("Give!") This is actually a pretty erotic scene, more so than many wrestling scenes because it seems so natural and because the boys genuinely seem to be having fun. Papa (the gorgeous, gray-at-the-temples Pietro Cattani) in the next room finally yells at them to shut up. So they proceed to quieter activities. A terrifically filmed encounter follows, with the two kissing and jacking each other, then moving on to 69 before both show great cum-shots. Their moans and sighs awaken Papa next door, who is curious enough to go to the wall and quietly listen, as the sex continues with the hairy Ettore fucking the smooth Dario and jacking him to another climax. All this activity gives Dad a huge hardon, which peeks out of his undies. Meanwhile, Ettore continues his fuck with Dario on his back so they can kiss. Dario keeps a hardon through most of the fucking, and then puts it to use by unexpectedly flip-flopping and fucking the macho Ettore, who grabs his hips to urge him on. Dad goes back to bed, but can't sleep with all the racket. The two boys finally go to sleep after two more climaxes, but poor Papa has to lie there with blue balls. You're not sure what he's thinking about -- is it a little incest with sonny, or the butch Ettore, or just the idea of two men having sex? It's incredibly erotic.

The next day Ettore and Dario are on a scenic beach. Well, more of a rocky outcropping by the water. They're embracing and watching the other gorgeous boys. Uh-oh! Erik is there! The other boys are absolutely beautiful -- young, muscular, handsome. Dario wanders over to Erik and bums a cigarette to make friends. At first Ettore is jealous, but in a minute he just laughs it off and starts fantasizing about the other guys. Wow! Talk about easy come, easy go!

Ettore dreams of the two boys on the rocks, Marian and Andrea Albani, taking an outdoor shower together. They're both smooth and beautiful young men -- if you like Bel Ami guys, you'll love them. In fact, you'll like them even if you like your men more mature, that's how cute they are. Andrea is especially gorgeous, with his crew-cut haircut and square-jawed, youthful masculinity. This scene features only views of them in the shower and a side-by-side jack-off, but it's beautifully shot with lovely music and is just as erotic (if not more so) than any such scene the Emperor has ever seen.

Later that night we see Papa Pietro on a balcony with another stunning young man with an incredible body, Tiziano Cortese. He's smoking, of course (this is Italy -- it's a national pastime). You have the distinct feeling that there's cruising going on, only Pietro is too shy and scared to follow through. Well, mischievous Erik and Dario scamper to the door of the hunk's room and peer through the keyhole, where they see him shirtless in the moonlight, standing on the balcony disrobing and rubbing his body sensuously. He approaches the door ... and that's it. End of scene. Phooey. We wanted the boys to get caught and pay the price -- with their asses.

The next morning, Ettore pops into the shower while Pietro shaves. They chitchat while Dad casts sidelong glances at Ettore's sudden hardon. Ettore exits the shower and without a word slowly strokes Pietro's chest. Pietro is frozen with fear and anticipation, but the moment is broken when Mama yells in to ask if he's ready.

Down in the hotel lounge, the smolderingly handsome Marco Ramazzotti, dressed in khakis and a camouflage tank top, is tantalizingly rubbing his crotch and casting meaningful glances at bow-tied desk clerk Daniele della Valle. If you have a thing for macho Italians, you're going to LOVE Marco. He exemplifies that whole stereotype -- only he's not just a stony-faced do-me queen. He has a beautiful, smooth and muscular body, and he feels up Daniele's body and even kisses. Daniele looks like American porn star Jared Wright, but with a smaller dick (although it's still quite large -- the largest throughout, in fact). Opera music plays on the radio as Daniele begins an enthusiastic blowjob, which Marco clearly is enjoying. Marco shoots a great load, and, then, contrary to our expectations of this macho guy, sucks Daniele's big schlong. He jacks him off to an absolutely spectacular load, which leaves Daniele's hard stomach dripping with cum. Ettore comes by but is frustrated by the "closed" sign on the door (Daniele's no fool -- he knew he didn't want to be interrupted). When we return to them inside, Marco is throwing a hard fuck into Daniele right there in the beautiful parlor. Oops! Ettore has sneaked in the back way, and from the stairway above spies on the two fucking studs. Then yet another employee, Roberto Volta, discovers Ettore on the stairwell rubbing his crotch. They suck each other to the accompaniment of the grunts and groans of the men below. Daniele and Marco both cum, with Daniele delivering yet another award-winning cum-shot all over his chest and stomach. The guys upstairs take this as their cue to split, without cumming.

As more opera music plays, Dario, Erik, and Ettore wander through the scenic harbor town, evidently thinking things over. Ettore ends up talking to Pietro, who -- in his deep, sexy voice -- informs him of the failings of his son: he has no table manners and he eats too much sugar. Actually, for our part we think we could deal with that. Then Papa Pietro proceeds to gently scold Ettore for staying out too late and partying too much with Dario. As he proceeds to chitchat about the weather, the aggressive Ettore takes matters in hand, throwing Pietro against the wall and kissing him. They move to the bedroom where after much kissing and making out (with Ettore especially fond of Pietro's hairy pecs), Ettore sucks his friends' dad's prick. And a big one it is, rivaling Daniele's. They cast longing glances at each other. They then lie in bed in opposite directions with their dicks together, and after jacking off Ettore fucks macho Pietro, whose big dick stays hard. This is a great scene, and Pietro and Ettore both shoot sizable loads. There's an awkward, post-orgasmic moment when they seem to realize what they've done, but the tension is broken when Ettore flashes his silly grin and laughs.

Meanwhile, Dario's new love Erik has finally been unable to restrain himself and planted a big kiss on him, so they retreat to a picturesque bell tower to get more serious about it. Dario sucks Erik's big Czech sausage until he shoots. Erik reciprocates (although less skillfully). The music in this scene is kind of cheesy -- it sounds like the score to a 1970s movie-of-the-week where some teenager "finds herself." The music doesn't keep Dario from his cum-shot, though. The couple then moves to a bedroom for more sex. After more kissing, Erik fucks Dario thoroughly and cums on his thigh. The movie closes with more opera music, a setting sun, and the credits.

What? Don't leave us in suspense! Is Dario still coming to college in the U.S.? What about Erik? Will Pietro divorce Mama and settle down with little Ettore? This movie begs for a sequel. After the credits, we're treated to a few outtakes of casting and bloopers, as well as the scantily-clad cast boogying down in a disco, and Ettore wandering around in Naples and nearby sights. Watching him try to be serious while he says from a bed, "Good morning! It's cloudy today, and I feel horny," with an overpowering Italian accent is pretty amusing.

This is just a great film. It's enjoyable on so many levels. Not only is the sex hot, but the story and music actually enhance the sex. The scene with Pietro is made much more intense because of all the lead-up. The models seem to have their natural body hair -- the boys who are smooth are mostly that way because that's how nature made them. The camera angles and editing are unusually professional and don't follow the usual cliché porno conventions. A lot of the sex has no musical score, but instead we're treated to the ambient noise of the environment, with some realistic details added such as dogs barking in the background. In addition to all this, the cast is just stunning, and they're even decent actors for the most part. Lucas Kazan is to be commended for his excellent direction. It's a shame it was not nominated for best video of the year at the 1999 GayVN awards (it was, however, nominated in a number of other categories).

DVD features: The Emperor's town crier is on vacation, so we'll announce this ourselves. Hear ye, hear ye! "Hotel Italia" is even better in DVD. We think it was probably the best video of 1999. Now, with the DVD, it's even more fun. The picture quality seems better. All that beautiful scenery and all those beautiful young men -- just imagine. And certainly the sound is improved, which is a real advantage with the lush classical music. The chapter feature allows you to jump to your favorite scenes (Pietro Cattani, the salt-and-pepper haired dad being fucked by young Ettore Tosi). Each sex scene usually comprises at least two chapters, so you can be very specific about what you want to see. The photo slide-show is sort of a wash -- it's just stills of scenes you've just looked at in the movie. There's also a preview of another Kazan effort, which evidently takes place in a desert where cute nude guys are wandering around ("Across the Ocean"). Ettore Tosi is in it. The nicest feature is the model bios. It displays a series of nice pictures of the models with their vital statistics. Some of these boys are tall! Our imperial favorite, Pietro Cattani, is 6'2". Having the names of the performers by their pictures would have been a HUGE help in reviewing the movie. But the best are the lines that list "previous occupation" and "skills." Pietro was a fashion model. We'd believe it. One guy was a bodyguard; another a dancer (read: stripper). As far as skills -- well, they don't type! Ettore's is "mechanics," Pietro's is "languages" (as are several others); one lists only "athletics," while another lists "singing and dancing." Yee ha! "Hotel Italia" is a must for any good porno collection.

A VHS + DVD Review by The Porn Emperor