The erotic thriller was the genre of the ’90s and Julie Strain was all about the ’90s. The six-foot one model had climbed to top when she was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1993. Even before that honor, the athletic Strain found herself on the big screen in minor roles in Steven Seagal’s Out For Justice, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Double Trouble and Christian Slater’s Kuffs. Strain got much larger roles in straight to video (or even cable) Erotic Thrillers of the ’90s. She became a favorite of Andy Sidaris in his Triple B series. Her appearance made a VHS box pop on the shelf at the Video Bar. It’s just right that she’s on the DVD cover for Skin Max’s double feature of Midnight Confessions and Private Obsession.
Midnight Confessions (1994 – 75 minutes) is about an erotic radio show that everyone on the gritty streets of Los Angeles listens to when the sun goes down. Vanessa (Power Rangers Turbo‘s Carol Hoyt) is behind the microphone giving callers a little meatball psychology or enticing them to share their sensual desires and experiences. While Julie Strain is on the poster, he’s not one of the major stars. She does call in and doesn’t hold back in her talk with Vanessa. She gets a bit frisky with her phone. The thriller part in the erotic thriller comes from a killer who is working the streets taking out hookers. Detective Harris (Galactica 1980‘s Richard Lynch) is looking to put an end to this nightmare. Is he going to make a bust before the next commercial break? Will the killer come after Vanessa? Erotic Thriller legend Monique Parent (Night Eyes Three) is in the film with a caller fantasy role.
If this movie feels like it was supposed to be a dirtier film, there’s a reason for that assumption. Director Allan Shustack was really Duck Dumont who made a lot of adult content. This appears to be his one time when he held back to get an R rating. Perhaps he wanted a film he could show his family at the videostore without everyone producing their driver’s licenses? After Midnight Confessions, Dumont appears to have given on up on making erotic thrillers and returned to make videos that go behind the beaded curtain. The film is a bit goofy especially when the killer’s talks with his twin brother in jail. They put a fake goatee and mustache on the actor.
Private Obsessions (1995 – 103 minutes) is a tale of what can go wrong when you get picked up by a limo. Emanuelle Griffith (Animal Instincts‘ Shannon Whirry) is a world-famous supermodel. Richard Tate (Peyton Place‘s Michael Christian) is an obsessed fan who wants to meet her and change her personality to make her more pleasing to him. Instead of the usual cute meet, Tate poses as her limo driver and when she asks him to turn up the air conditioning in the back, he gives her knock out gas. She wakes up in his high-tech dungeon in the basement of his mansion. He keeps her unclothed in the “guest room” while using his brainwashing techniques to make her the perfect woman for him. Can she resist? Her only hope is that a former Buford T. Pusser (Kill Bill Part 2‘s Bo Svenson) tracks her down. But there’s so few clues. Whirry has to go through a lot on screen to deal with the tormenting her character endures. The biggest reveal in the movie is comic Rip Torn (Wayne’s World 2) appearing without his toupee. I guess the budget couldn’t afford Rip and his hair. Private Obsession
If you need to connect these two films, Out for Justice also featured Shannon Whirry in a small role. Her and Julie Strain both worked with Steven Seagal when his career was going upward. Midnight Confessions and Private Obsession is ultimately a double feature about obsessed fans of women who make a sensual living in the media.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The films were made for home video and cable channels so this is their true aspect ratio. They also appear to have been transferred off a standard video master. I’m guessing the movies were shot on film, but edited on video since VHS was their core audience. This was a popular approach to post-production for TV dramas in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 which was also the original mix for the VCR crowd. The movies are not subtitled.
Trailer Gallery includes Bare Exposure, Illicit Dreams, Indecent Behavior 4, Midnight Confessions and Sex Roulette. All the movies are coming out from Skin Max in the coming weeks on double feature DVDs.
Skin Max presents Midnight Confessions & Private Obsession. Directed by Allan Shustack & Lee Frost. Screenplay by Marc Cushman, Jack Jacobs & Lee Frost. Starring Callie Michael, Alexa Fiery, Steve Michael, Julie Strain, Shannon Whirry, Michael Christian, Bo Svenson and Rip Taylor. Boxset contents: 2 movies on 1 DVD. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: January 24, 2023.
