Taboo (1980)

The Plot.
A female friend of a sexually frustrated mother tries broadening her horizons with a sex orgy. Though avoiding it, the new feelings inside her cause her to force herself on her sleeping son. To her amazement, the seduction is mutual.

The Cast.
Kay Parker – Barbara Scott
Dorothy LeMay – Sherry
Mike Ranger – Paul Scott
Juliet Anderson – Gina
Tawny Pearl – Diane
Turk Lyon – Chris Scott

Production Value.
Above average for a movie of this type. The video holds up well with contemporary cinema of the period which always adds weight to the quality.

The Porn.
Primarily male-female with emphasis on a rather lengthy orgy scene where there are both male-female and female-female action. The movie culminates with simulated incest so if offended by even the notion of such a thing stop right here.

Review.
Well….It was Mother’s Day recently.

Liberalism seemed to know no bounds throughout the 1970s as far as the porn industry was concerned. Having shocked the world with movies like Deep Throat the porn-hungry public wanted to go even further and there were pornographers out there willing to deliver. Thus began the porn industry’s brief love affair with the idea of incest. It seems so shocking to us now that this was quite a popular genre on the tail-end of the golden years of pornography. We like to think that we are even more liberal about pornography today but if anything we as a culture seem to have gone backwards with what is deemed good taste.

Contrary to popular belief this movie isn’t about the incestuous relationship of a mother and son but instead tries to build up a reason for why such a situation would arise. In that respect the actual incest scene (and there is only one) is in fact the climax of the movie. There are little hints along the way that they are perhaps closer than an ordinary mother and son such as a scene where Paul tells her that he has the hottest mom in town…Cringe.

So leading up to the end we have a rather long and frankly uninteresting orgy scene. These were pretty run of the mill things for these types of movies and especially from Kay Parker who seems to enjoy playing characters who like to watch these things. For me there is just too much going on to actually engage with it and I find myself looking at a mess of bodies sprawled along the floor. A much better scene is when Paul gets off with his girlfriend played by Dorothy LeMay, one of my favourite retro porn stars and one who will reappear later in the movie series.

So, Kay Parker leaves the orgy that for some reason she doesn’t want to get in on but is still fired up by it to the point where she is willing to just jump on any dick she can find even if it is her son’s…OK. I know I shouldn’t try to find sense in a porno but really I just didn’t buy this. What I will say to the film’s credit is there is passion in the famous scene and at times they do look like they are worried about the consequences of what they are doing while still wanting to press on.

Is it a turn on? Well with regards to the sex then yes but as to the content; each their own. I am not going to say that I am appalled by this because I am morally against incest (which I am by the way) but is it any different than watching something like Dexter where the star is a serial killer? One thing is for sure however that the porn industry’s interest in incest is quite alive and well today if somewhat subdued compared to 1980 when this hit stores with blacked out windows.

Conclusion.
More reputation than actual high quality. I will say that it is an average porno and that reflects in my rating. The sequels are better at first before the whole series takes a tragic nosedive and becomes extremely dull and half-hearted.

Rating: 3/5