This has been the hardest review I've had to write because frankly, I really did not like Sanatorium. I didn't like the plot and I didn't care for the sex, but again, this is all personal opinion. Some people may love it, but it just wasn't for me.

The plot of Sanatorium is complex and non-linear. It follows Tabitha Stevens, who plays herself, through her journey to recover her sanity. It starts with her meeting a Senator who is on an anti-porn campaign, yet hires her to have sex with him. Most of the movie is her telling her story to the Senator. There are also many scenes that are symbolic of Tabitha's "vision quest." Most of the symbolic scenes I would not have been able to decipher without watching the director's commentary. I got a little more out of it that way, but even when I watch a non-pornographic movie, I don't watch movies with non-linear plots. I am just not a fan of complex plots like this.

The one thing mentioned in the commentary is how porn stars from different generations have different body styles. Gary Orona said that Tabitha Stevens has the hard almost ripped body style, while most current porn stars have a softer body style. I do find that I prefer the softer body style, which is why I do not find Tabitha Stevens particularly attractive. Sarah Sloane and Kagney Linn Karter are both very cute, though I wish they didn't have fake breasts, I think they'd look much better without.

As far as the sex scenes, I found them to be mediocre. Most of the scenes were pretty vanilla; blow job, sex, cumshot. There was one scene with anal, and one with a four-some with some girl-on-girl action. There were some shots of bondage, but those were not in sex scenes. The best scene, for me, was between Kagney and James Dean. Their scene was very passionate and intense. Another noteworthy scene is that the scene with Tabitha and the African-American male was her first interracial scene ever. This was part of her 'vision quest' and represented her overcoming new experiences and breaking boundaries, which was a nice allusion. For the sex, the lighting was great and the music didn't really interfere. However, the music through-out the entire movie is kind eerie and I freaked myself out with it when watching it late at night.

Overall, I did not enjoy Sanatorium. I'm not into movies with non-linear plots and I can't say I really watch porn for the plot in the first place. Most of the sex scenes didn't do much for me. I am also not a fan of the harder body style of Tabitha Stevens. However, there are many people that this movie would appeal to; I am just not one of them.

I watched this once with the directory commentary but I couldn't bring myself to watch it again. It's just not my kind of porn.