I was surprisingly disappointed by Eyes of Desire. So far I have enjoyed most of the movies I have seem come out of Candida Royalle’s Femme Productions, but this one barely raised my heart rate.

Designed with women in mind, these movies tend to be soft and romantic. Generally, they have a plot, good music, and at least one real-life couple. That means less grab and grind and more of the stuff we’re really craving – like girls actually getting off (what a thought!), eye contact, caressing, and even snuggling afterwards. Someone finally understood that not everyone likes a pelvic exam during their porn.

With those key elements in mind, Eyes of Desire does not quite measure up to some of their more recent releases, like Under the Covers. First off, I didn’t find even one of the men attractive. Two were older and fuzzy, and the pasty-faced guy had this really awful Prince Valiant haircut. Sadly, the dude in drag was the best of the bunch. I could have done without the sparkly necklace though.

Femme prides itself on using real-life couples and realistic actors, and unfortunately, this movie took that to mean middle-aged, funny-looking, or slightly heavy. Some things like that we really get enough of in real life, and I would not mind a bit more fantasy than reality when it comes to that department.

The premise of the movie itself didn’t do much for me. It’s all centered around voyeurism and telescope peek-a-boo. The timid little blond, Lisa, starts exploring her friend’s neighborhood through the lens. Her eyes land on two different couples, and she becomes obsessed with the (insert scary voice) mysterious “abandoned estate” across the street and the telescope in its window.

A little B&E later, Lisa manages to meet the “dark stranger” behind the lens (I believe they’re married in real life) and runs away, only to begin a little phone/telescope foreplay from the window. When she turns back up at his place (all in white, of course), he orders her to strip, get on her knees, and then they proceed to do their thing at length.

As a porn flick, I think at least some of the over-acting and cheesy lines need to be forgiven (they are actually acting, after all), but there were a lot of distorted flashbacks, both vocal and visual, that got in the way. The director really didn’t seem to trust the audience to keep up on their own. The only time this was used well was during Lisa’s solo bath scene, where we were given a glimpse of her fantasy.

When the huge “To be continued…” appeared on the screen, I was relieved instead of frustrated. This is another product that you really have to desire to appreciate. If the voyeuristic and slightly darker/BDSM subject matter towards the end (mostly illusions to part two) is not to your taste, there are a lot more Femme movies out there to try instead.