MOOD PICTURES

Martial Law II

Martial Law is another fine release from the new Hungarian company, Mood Pictures. This sequel to Martial Law features the sexy Betty Sweet (the blond co-star of Guilty Wives) receiving a 100 stroke caning, an interesting Lesbian scene, and a CP executioner who really enjoys her work.

First we see four captive girls and two cute sergeants outside a prison. The General arrives and looks the captives over as they stand at attention. Next we are inside the prison. The Sergeant, Betty Sweet, orders the captives to strip; we get to watch. Afterwards they all stand facing the camera with their hands behind their backs in a nicely erotic scene. The Sergeant tells them that "whatever I say, goes, no matter what". She carries a machine gun and is unnecessarily abusive.

Then the Sergeant decrees that each captive will get 25 strokes of the strap with their hands up high on the bars of the cell. The brunette Sergeant's aide, who is not only cute but clearly enjoys strapping the captives, does the honors. The second girl reacts more than the others and the short blond seems quite frightened; their punishments are the more erotic of the four. The Sergeant tells her aide "don't spare them" when the strokes aren't hard enough. The three captives not being strapped are forced to count and we see some nice shots of them too.

Next the General's attractive blond aide tells him that the slim blond captive is especially pretty. He says "Arrange the usual show, you and her". Then she is brought to the General. First the aide runs her hands all over the blond, slowly caressing her. Then the captive's smock is removed and the caressing continues. Finally she is laid on the General's desk on her back and the aide continues to fondle and lick her with her tongue while the General enjoys this lascivious scene. Unfortunately the blond captive has little reaction to all this and that reduces the impact this scene could have had.

When the blond aide turns the captive over for more caressing, the General notices the strap marks from the earlier punishment. He demands to know "who hurt you without my order". Next we see the guilty party, the blond Sergeant running a high pressure hose on the other three screaming captives in the shower. Soon the General discovers the culprit and puts the Sergeant behind bars. So the tables are now turned ! Finally there is a military court scene and the General sentences cute Betty to 100 strokes of the cane so she "will learn her lesson".

The Sergeant is told she will probably faint and must count each stroke. The ominous looking apparatus is the same one used in the earlier Mood title Martial Law. The cane strokes are hard and after ten strokes a crying sound enters Betty's voice as she counts the strokes. However, the glaring side lighting causes the apparatus to cast a shadow on her face when her head moves forward and this detracts somewhat from the scene.

After 20 strokes Betty is really beginning to feel the cane and her head jerks after each stroke. After each 25 strokes, a Doctor examines her to see if she can go on. The CP Executioner is clearly "into" her job; she hits hard and enjoys making the guilty girl suffer which, for this viewer, adds to the sensuality of the scene. After 35 strokes, the cane strokes begin to fall on Betty's slim thighs and after 60 strokes she is sobbing constantly. At seventy strokes she passes out and the doctor must wake her up and the punishment goes on till all 100 strokes have been laid on. In a final scene, the Doctor treats a now contrite Betty in her office, giving us another chance to look over her nice figure and cute face.

The DVD extras include a much longer Lesbian scene with different girls who like each other; this creates a different atmosphere than the one included with the video. The Snapshot section includes various Out-takes from the filming but contains no photos. Two Trailers for other Mood titles are also included.

Overall, if you are a fan of severe punishments you will certainly like this one. The video and sound quality are excellent; however the lighting in a few scenes could be improved. I give this a 8.5 out of 10 and hope Mood Pictures continues to produce videos with harsh punishments and pretty girls.

MARTIAL LAW II

During the past year, Mood Pictures from Hungary have established themselves as one of the premier producers of severe caning videos. "Guilty Wives" was a true masterpiece, combining extraordinary female beauty, jaw-dropping severity and crisp production values in a package that few other companies ever achieve. But to truly inherit the crown from Rigid East, it remained to be seen whether Pedro and Pablo could actually continue on this loftly level. The answer is, they can, and they do. "Martial Law II" is proof of that. The sequel to one of their earlier titles, it's even better than the original, just as good as "Guilty Wives", and confirmation that these guys are simply head and shoulders above the competition right now.

Like its predecessor, "Martial Law II" has a "military" setting. We are treated to a short prologue, which introduces us to a prisoners' camp. Well, actually, it takes place outdoors, in a rather nice rural area, but apparently this is what the penitentiaries look like in Hungary. Two soldiers have a couple of girls lined up against a wall. Viewers familiar with "Guilty Wives" will immediately recognize the sergeant as Betty Sweet, also known as the most ravishing woman ever to be severely caned on screen. A slim blonde with short hair and doe eyes, she even looks rather good in her baggy uniform here. This surely is an auspicious start. For now, though, Betty plays the dominant role, yelling at her captives and waving a huge, fake-looking pistol around. Now we can also guess why there don't seem to be any walls or fences around this "prison" - anyone trying to escape is probably gunned down right away.

A general appears and demands to know what is going on. Nit-picking observation on the side: as she turns around and makes her report, the sergeant does not salute! If I were her commanding officer, I'd have her cute little bottom flogged for that bit of negligence alone. Say one dozen strokes, and another one for wearing facial piercings and too much makeup, which is hardly proper for a soldier. Wait a minute, I'm getting carried away here... Anyway, Betty tells her general that the four prisoners have just been delivered here: "They're useless for military purposes. Let's eliminate them." Whoa! She probably made her training as a prison warden in Abu Ghraib. Fortunately for us, the general has other ideas, since he's attracted to one of the captive girls. "I like you! I see you later" he promises ominously.

After the credits, the first actual scene takes place indoors, at a big cage with steel bars (hey, that's the same setting as in "Guilty Wives"). Enter Sergeant Betty and her aide, together with their four prisoners. The girls are made to strip and then, one by one, whipped with a belt, apparently just to get them familiar with the customs in the camp (what a welcome!). Patsy Passion, who plays the sergeant's aide and deals out the punishment, is a young, good-looking brunette with a ponytail. As the other girls watch and count the strokes, she makes her victim stand next to the cage, grip the bars, and off we go. Twenty-five strokes it is for each of the new arrivals.

The first one to get it is Mecedes, who already starred as one of the caning victims in Mood's "Love Story". She's a pretty blonde with a long face and, in this video, some rather elaborate braids. Mercedes takes her 25 quite well, with repressed moans the only indication that she is not enjoying herself. The second girl, petite and dark-haired, is more vocal, as is the third one, another blonde. Finally, a tall brunette is the last prisoner in line. The strappings all go by rather quickly, but obviously, this is only intended as the appetizer before the main course. I thought it was an okay scene in its own right. The girls are all young and fresh, and even though the severity never approaches the stunning level of Mood Pictures' canings, their asses are visibly reddened by the belt. Plus, Patsy Passion seems to be having a thoroughly good time dishing out, which is always nice to see.

After the captives are dressed in some orange prison uniforms and locked in the cage, we fade to the general's office. He summons his aide, who is incidentally yet another sexy-looking blonde vixen. Is the Hungarian army all female or what? If you take out the nudity and the beatings, this video could probably pass as an advertising campaign for gender equality in uniform... Or maybe it couldn't, since the next thing this general does may seem somewhat unorthodox: he orders his aide to bring in the blonde prisoner, for whom he had expressed fondness in the prologue, to perform "the usual show" with her. The man sure knows how to run a penitentiary and still have fun.

Said, done and off with the clothes, but before a full-out lesbian display can really begin, it is of course discovered that the girl had recently been beaten. Upon furious inquiry, the general is informed that it was ordered by "the blonde officer" (actually, a sergeant is not really an officer, but what the hell...). So it's back to Betty Sweet again, and just as she is about to be brought before the general, she is once more found torturing the remaining prisoners. This time, by lining them up in the shower and hosing them down with some high-pressure water gun! I might be wrong, but this could be another 'first' in spanking video history. And I really liked the weird sound of that hosing device, too...

But back to the story, which now unfolds along the lines you can well imagine. Betty is on trial before the general, who pronounces: "You're sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane so that you'll learn you mustn't torture anyone without my order." Notice: he isn't really opposed to torture per se, he only insists on it being implemented with his own permission! I must say, I like this attitude. Especially since it brings us to the grand finale of "Martial Law II", which is arguably one of the greatest caning scenes ever filmed.

It takes place in a dark room, which is dominated by the stockade-like device already well-known to viewers of the first part. Essentially, the victim kneels on a platform, leaning forward with the waist against a horizontal beam, the hands tied to the stockade frame above the head. It is an impressively nasty-looking arrangement, and it gives the punisher a good angle to the "target". This time, the soldier administering the punishment is played by Giulietta, who in my view is the best female CP executioner Mood Pictures have employed so far. Not that the others were bad or anything, but this one truly is a special find - a coldly beautiful blonde madame with stern features and a commanding, unemotional voice, Giulietta looks and sounds her part to a tee. She is also highly skilled with the cane, and quite utterly merciless, as we will soon witness. Apart from Giulietta and the poor sergeant, there are two other people present - Patsy Passion as the aide again, and a doctor played by Wanda Moore, who will do "medical checkups" after every 25 strokes.

Betty Sweet strips fully nude, finally exposing her exquisite, slender figure and her unspeakably cute ass - too good for words, truly one of the greatest sights ever to grace a spanking video, at least one of such severity. Her tattoos and piercings might be a minor turn-off for some, but in my opinion, these are insignificant gripes in light of such overall beauty. The two girls tie her to the stockade while Giulietta explains the coming proceedings. Count each stroke aloud, she says, and keep your eyes open so you won't faint. "Though everybody faints." The line is almost as good as its nonchalant delivery. And with that, the corporal punishment begins.

Giulietta uses a very flexible and whippy cane, somewhat thinner than those I've seen in the previous Mood Pictures productions. The welts it leaves are not quite as red and dark, but they are very nicely visible, and all familiar with such matters will know that the pain is just as acute - a bit more "superficial", perhaps, but ultimately just as bad as with a thicker implement. I thought it looked great in action, and that it made a very satisfying swishing sound, too. The first 25 strokes dealt out by Giulietta are light to medium, just to get things warmed up. It must be said, though, that "light" in this context means "serious enough", while "medium" means "as hard as some other video producers will ever go". By the end of it, Betty's backside has some nice stripes already. However, she is a tough girl, and although twitching and moaning quite a bit, she manages to take this first part of the session rather gracefully.

After that and the first "medical checkup" (Wanda Moore flashing a light in Betty's eye), the next 25 focus on the back of the upper legs. Giulietta seems determined to cover her victim as well as she can. I usually prefer strokes landing on the ass, as in, you know, "spanking". But when you dish out as many as 100, you obviously have to distribute them a little, so that's okay. Plus, with a caning administered so skillfully and severely, it is a joy to behold no matter where the instrument hits. Giulietta is starting to turn up the intensity now, and things are getting difficult for Betty - she throws her head back and struggles against the handcuffs, getting more vocal as she counts. Fifty, and another checkup.

Having striped Betty's legs quite well now, the CP executioner turns her attention back to the bottom, so to speak. And she's really letting loose now, typical Mood Pictures territory. By the time we're into the 60's, she fires off a couple of strokes that have Betty howling and screaming without restraint. Since she seems to have a high threshold (remember, she was quite composed in the beginning), it is all the more rewarding to see her like this now. After 75, Giulietta's cane is visibly damaged and fraying at the end. She calmly and simply fetches a new one, whereupon the two other, watching girls exchange an amusingly horrified look. And it continues. What can I say, this is the real thing, great stuff.

After stroke number 83, Betty "faints" and has to be woken up again by the doctor. Although it fits in with the military setting and the "hard CP" theme of the video, I thought the episode was a bit artificial. After all, we are talking about a very hard caning here, a severity which only the fewest of spanking video producers ever achieve. Betty's cries and tears are quite genuine, not acting, and even the aforementioned breaking of the cane was obviously unplanned and real. So I simply don't see the necessity to further "prove" the point - especially not by having her faint now, which is not real for once, and therefore detracts from the intensity of the scene rather than the opposite. True, with such an excellent scene, it is indeed a very minor flaw. But I thought I'd mention it, to show that even with Mood Pictures, not everything is perfect.

The rest of the punishment is perfect, though, with Giulietta administering the final strokes in truly frightening fashion. Betty is sobbing uncontrollably by now, her backside heavily striped from the buttocks down to the knees. The one-hundredth and final one, delivered with total abandon, causes her to scream at the top of her lungs, squirming violently as if she'd just been given an electric shock. It is a great closure to a great session. Not quite the end of the video, though, as we are treated to one final scene: after she is taken down from the stockade, we see Betty in another room, receiving medical treatment. The doctor rubs some lotion on her backside, and offers the humiliated sergeant a cigarette, which Betty smokes while still crying and looking visibly shaken. A fitting epilogue to an intense video.

It's another stunning piece of work from Pedro and Pablo, and like their previous effort "Guilty Wives", simply one of the best canings I've ever seen. Betty Sweet looks gorgeous, the severity is no-holds-barred, and the action beautifully photgraphed - using three cameras, mixing impact shots with facial reactions, wide angles with closeups. Rounding out the package are a five minute behind-the-scenes featurette, and a ten-minute "alternate lesbian scene" in the general's office.

It is evident that Mood Pictures tried something "big" with "Martial Law II". Four girls getting spanked, one of them taking a full 100 strokes. More actors and different sets than with any previous film. A quick outdoor scene, a lesbian scene, even a sort of "shower" scene. There's a lot here. But perhaps the greatest thing about this title is that it is never crushed by its own ambition, never buried by too much superfluous story and production, like some of the newer Rigid East outings. Instead, Pedro and Pablo cheerfully break out the plastic guns and the fake uniforms - they're just having fun, and we're having fun with them. And they're smart enough to know that the centre of attention with these videos should always remain on the corporal punishment, on the action. There, with the part we really want to see, they deliver. Spectacularly. Better than anybody else is doing it these days.