Yes...I proudly state Christine Nguyen is one of my favorite actresses. I don't mumble when I say that, nor would I mumble in averring Veronica Lake, Kate Beckinsale, and Beverly Garland are also some of my favorite actresses. I know, I hear you. Ms. Nguyen was different, she has a number of softcore pieces on her resume. Right...and she does them well. Those shower scenes when she is all alone and she takes her hand and...well, you know. Or when she's in bed and some babe walks in and...well, you saw the same movie. In 1990 this would have been a secret...in 2026, it brings a yawn for a reaction. Yesteryear is gone, and now we can proudly proclaim we were keyed in on Cinemax after 10pm. What an era, the 80s and 90s softcore smut! Thanks to B. Harrison Smith, in his new book, Skinemax Uncut (Bear Manor Media), we can freely read all about Cinemax After Dark without hiding its cover from passengers sitting next to us on the airplane flight.
After a wonderful forward by Ms. Nguyen, Mr. Smith follows with the definitive work on softcore titillation that many of us grew up with. Back then, we kept secret about it. Now we look back fondly, as the deviance of kids today includes rough, forbidden, and maybe illegal porn. Yes, you fans of what we got on Skinemax can claim the moral superiority. What lamebrain would not eagerly watch an Emmanuelle film, especially Skinemax' Krista Allen spectacular Emmanuelle in Space. The author tells us about many of Skinemax' shows and original programming. The plots, reason for, history of, and offshoots of them are discussed. Legends in our mind, leftover from out teens and twenties.. are babes like Monique Parent, Shannon Tweed, and Sylvia Kristel. These after-hour vixens are frequent subjects in this one, as are the movie makers like Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau.
So why did Skinemax take hold on a whole generation of adolescents and young men back in the day? The shifting morality and blurred lines between puritanical authority and the perverted id was occurring. Read all about that in this book. Also, Mr. Smith does a fine job in differentiating arousal and seduction with hardcore porn, or mere sexual intercourse. The seduction works on the thinking man. It works on his imagination and creative senses. It stimulates, inspires, and stokes a manly appreciation for beautiful female bodies. It also enhances the fantasies of both men and women. Porno-Sex is blunt, and a one-act slam-fest. Skinemax was seduction. The smut we watched back in the day was mild compared to today's available smut. Wait! It was different. We were into seduction...not online or streaming porn. We were about seduction, or building a relationship, or human interaction (physical and emotional)...not just watching a tally-whacker slam into womanhood. Again, yes, we students of Skinemax can indeed assert a moral superiority.
Christine Nguyen never had sex on the screen...she was an actress. Today's deviants desire the act, close-up, with no relationship or seduction involved. Skinemax gave us this. It shaped us...not to be rapists, but to admire the human body. Not into misogynists, but beings able to value modesty and the human condition. Skinemax gave us plots (maybe thin, at times) and fantasies. However thin the plots of some of the original programming might have been, it was far more mature and substantive than the latest Marvel or DC superhero nonsense.
Eroticism is not bad...never has been...except from the peeps who are insanely angry that we may be enjoying ourselves. Veronica Lake knew how to seduce. Kate Beckinsale knew how to seduce. Christine Nguyen, Krista Allen, and Sylvia Kristel knew how to seduce. Seduce requires thinking and unselfishness. Mr. Smith's book is one of the best defenses for erotica in film or novels (Max Gunssler would be pleased).
Herald your affection for that old Skinemax after dark programming. This book is the foremost piece on that era and the peeps that made it, ran it, appeared on it, and all us who enjoyed and were molded into adulthood with its help. The author puts in several biographical stories that will have you laughing hysterically, gasping, and rethinking the next time you order a pizza. Do yourself a favor, and conjure up some erotic images of Krista Allen seducing in space, or Sylvia Kristel seducing on the Riviera, and smile as you order this work by clicking on the Amazon link below.
