It's one of the fundamental laws of the universe, right up there with the fact that nothing can travel faster than light, the fact that you can't measure the position and momentum of a particle simultaneously, the fact that two electrons can't share the same quantum state, and that fact that there are no exceptions to rule 34. That fundamental law is that a sequel is never as good as the original. Yes, last night we watched Café Flesh 2. If you recall our review of Café Flesh, we described it as "More a Blade Runner-esque sci-fi film with sex in it than a straight porno". It did enormously well and became something of a porn classic. Given that the porn industry is famous for recognising a good thing and then mercilessly flogging it to death (Barely Legal 493 anyone?), the only surprising thing about the existence of Café Flesh 2 is the fact that it took them so long to make it. It was released in 1997, a full 15 years after the original.
Café Flesh 2 is set a number of years after the original. If you recall, in the first film, the world had been ravaged by a nuclear war that left 99% of the population as sex negatives. The negatives would go to sex clubs to watch the "lucky 1%", the positives, perform. The most famous of those clubs was Café Flesh, run by Moms. Well... years later and things have gone from bad to worse. A virulent virus (the posivirus) has wiped out all but a tiny handful of the positives. Cafe Flesh is long gone and humanity is in a very dark place indeed. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here...
In the ruins of New Vegas, Violet Chinchilla (Jenna Fine), a negative herself, dreams of re-opening the iconic Café Flesh. She has advertised far and wide for any remaining positives but so far only has one guy - Snake (Vince Voyeur). Fortunately for her, a sewer worker unearths a long-lost cryogenics unit from the 1970s. As luck would have it, the only surviving occupant is female and, untouched by the radiation, a positive. She is also a naive virgin. Financed by Max Melodramatic, the old club's MC, now reduced to just a brain in a jar, she buys Buffy (Stacy Valentine) off the sewer worker and things are looking good for opening night.
Even better luck befalls Violet, when out of the wastelands comes Mookie (Raylene), another positive with her negative boyfriend (Chappy- Alex Metro) in tow. After a quick tryout performance, Mookie is hired and all systems are go for opening night.
Things don't go smoothly though. Snake falls madly in love with the virginal Buffy and as she doesn't really want to perform, the two run away together. Worse still, Mookie won't perform either as Chappy, having gotten the hump at seeing his GF getting rogered when he can't do it, has vanished.
Chappy, heartbroken and filled with angst over his inadequacy has left to go out into the wastelands. Right at the edge of civilisation (there's even a sign saying "Warning: this is the end of civilisation"), he meets a mysterious woman who turns out to be none other than Moms, the owner of the original Café Flesh (played by Veronica Hart, reprising her role from the first film). She takes pity on him and gives him her supply of a mysterious serum that can temporarily cure negativism. She apparently used her riches to have it concocted but kept the secret for herself.
Things look all over for Violet when back comes Chappy, serum in hand and lo and behold - it works. He is able to properly bone Mookie, opening night is a raging success and the new club is an instant hit.
This is a very different film to the first one. The first was a sci-fi film with some sex in it. This was a sex film with some sci-fi in it. It was very much more a traditional porn. The sex was far more conventional and there was more of it. The plot took a back seat. Production values were still very high. The sets and costuming were very good. The art direction was excellent. The sex was conventional but enthusiastic and well done (Mookie's try-out scene was particularly good; it really looked like she had spent the last few years with a negative and really, REALLY needed a good rogering). It was a good, conventional porn. In addition to the performers mentioned above, it also features Rebecca Lord, Mustang Sally Layd, Simon Delo, Kitten Natividad, Billy Glide, John Decker, Tony Tedeschi and TT Boy.
What it wasn't was anything near as good as Café Flesh. A reasonable effort, not the worst sequel we have ever seen (Highlander 2 still wins that dubious honour), but nowhere near as good as the original. I will say this for it though- the original wasn't the sort of film you could have a wank to. It was too dark, disturbing and strange for that. This is a much more accessible film as a porn.
