This incredible classic (also known as New York City Inferno/Hotter Than Hell/Macho Men) is now presented in the most complete form yet available on home video, DVD, or streaming, and the only version ever fully subtitled in English.
A fascinating fusion of documentary, narrative, and sex film, this sizzling Marvin Merkins (aka Jacques Scandelari) production epitomizes “gay macho” late '70s, as it follows a Frenchman visiting New York City and encountering raunchy sex in a bathhouse, a leather bar, on the docks, and more. Structured around the journey of Jérôme (hairy, uncut Christopher Dock) in search of his lover, this French production also serves as a study of NYC's gay sex culture and locales and includes, along with its story and truly hot sex scenes, an interview with a gay political activist and performer/drag king/poet Camille O'Grady fronting a punk band (Stigmata Hari) in the film's epically wild orgy scene shot in the infamous Mineshaft!
Accompanied by voice-overs reciting the letters sent by Jérôme's lover Paul (Bob Bleecker) during his own visit to the city, Jérôme's exploration mirrors that of his lover's, as he traces Paul's footsteps and has many eye-opening encounters, getting a taste of sexual freedom, a first-hand look at the state of gay rights advancements in NYC, and an introduction to the kinkier side of the erotic.
From an early detailing of some of the gay sites by a very helpful (and horny) cab driver who leads him to a heavy, verbal scene in a meat locker, to cruising the docks, perusing leather shops, fucking in bar bathrooms, and more, Jérôme explores what the city has to offer while searching for Paul. This also includes guidance from a mysterious cum-reading oracle (Luke Morelay), watching a French woman (the very charming Daddy la Flippée) get tattooed in an underground tattoo parlor, and the incredible, raucous Mineshaft scene (one of the only films ever shot there, this scene also allegedly served as inspiration for the leather bar scenes in William Friedkin's Cruising). Jérôme's search finally leads him to Paul, where he must employ the advice of the mysterious oracle to see if he can win him back.
Attractively photographed (by François About of Le Beau Mec, Strictly Forbidden) and compellingly constructed and paced, the production values are high in this extremely engaging classic, which is also a gay porn rarity in its licensed usage of music, providing it with a stellar soundtrack.
Raw, gritty, kinky – and occasionally bizarre – this artfully made, historically significant classic is a major film of the '70s French gay porn boom!
Finally a near-complete edition of the film, combining multiple previously circulating truncated versions (and only minus some brief fisting that is sadly missing from any known source), this release of this important film also has improved clarity and color from any other available version, as well as full subtitles.
