MOOD PICTURES

RIVAL GIRLS

The video opens with a pretty blonde and brunette chit chatting on a bed in an dorm environment. The two talk about boys they like or dislike and continue on with normal "girl talk". One of the blonde's friends is apparently seeing her "guy" and decides to set her up so she'll be grounded. She plants cigarettes under the unsuspecting girl's bed to get her in trouble. The friend "Monica" comes into the room and says that in seeing her ex-boyfriend she is only following her heart. Monica is also blonde, but has curly hair instead of the straight hair her friend sports. The first girl says she is long over Peter and that this other girl is her best friend. The two embrace with Monica completely unaware of what is about to unfold. The headmaster enters the room and complains of how messy the room is. He asks to see their report cards, and when Monica attempts to retrieve hers, the cigarette box shines in the light of day. The headmaster immediately spots it and orders the young blonde to bring it to him. She protests, stating it's not hers and that someone must have put it there. Naturally he doesn't believe her and reminds her of the strict standards at the boarding school. He informs her she will receive 50 strokes of the cane and will be grounded for 2 weeks. He orders Chris (the first blonde) to retrieve the restraints and Monica flops down on the bed saying how unfair this is. The brunette can only try and console their friend, knowing full well that she was not guilty of the charge.

Monica and the brunette place a small chest onto the bed and then cover it with a large pillow. Monica is made to lower her jeans and then get on the bed and lean over the chest. Chris and the brunette then apply the restraints and lower her thong down to her knees. Each girl takes on of Monica's hands and the punishment begins. Monica is ordered to count out each stroke, which are applied with vigor. The headmaster wastes not time in firing off the rounds, and only after 10 strokes her bottom looks like a railroad switching station. After 20 or so, her bottom begins to bleed in areas. She protests saying she didn't do anything wrong, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. He continues to pound away at Monica's poor bottom until all 50 strokes are completed. The brunette helps Monica get her pants up and the headmaster then decides to continue his inspection of the room.

At that time he finds the rest of the cigarette cartons on a small bookshelf. The brunette tells the headmaster that Chris was the one who set Monica up. He is none too pleased and states that the brunette will be grounded for 2 weeks, while Chris will be grounded for 4 weeks and receive 50 strokes of the cane. To further even the score, he orders that Monica will administer Chris' punishment. She is made to strip completely naked and assume the same position Monica had been in earlier. Chris complains about how Monica stole her boyfriend, which only makes Monica wield the cane harder. Red stroke marks rapidly appear on Chris' fair bottom. The headmaster instructs Monica to hit Chris as hard as he hit her. She lays into Chris' skin, causing it to bleed in several locations. After the 50th stroke, Chris is ordered to get dressed. The two blondes exchange dirty looks as Chris raises her panties.

The DVD also includes a short extra scene segment and trailers for their other 2 videos. This was a fine production with hard caning and pretty girls. Top notch material from the newest CP company.

Rival Girls is an outstanding release from a new Hungarian company, Mood Pictures. It features two beautiful girls (receiving 50 cane strokes each), an excellent script, and unusually good acting from the girls. It is one of the better releases so far this year.

First we see two girls, sexy blond Chris and her attractive friend Esther in their dorm room discussing their PE teacher. They also talk casually and candidly about their boyfriends while Esther combs Chris's hair. Chris is plotting to "ground" a third girl, Monica, because Monica stole her boyfriend. Soon Monica, another very cute blond with a great figure, enters and says she hopes there are no hard feelings because she's going with Chris's ex. Chris lies and says it is OK because "you are my best friend" and they hug.

Next their teacher enters and the girls all jump to attention. He finds some cigarettes that he believes belong to Monica and reminds her that students get punished for smoking at boarding school. Chris smiles with joy in the background as she planted the cigarettes for Monica to be caught with. Monica, who has beautiful curls in her shoulder length hair, says "please, anything but the cane". The teacher asks Chris to get the cane and straps to hold Monica down while Monica complains "this is so unfair; I don't even smoke". Esther is asked to remove Monica's clothes and strap her down. Esther and Chris hold Monica's hands down during her caning.

The punishment is 50 strokes and Monica must count. She is caned on her slender thighs as well as on her bottom unlike most spanking videos. Immediately red lines appear. After 7 strokes, Monica gives a sharp cry and says "it really hurts". That Monica is innocent and her rival gets to hold her down adds to the eroticism of her punishment. Especially when a "catty" smile of joy is seen on Chris's face after every stroke.

However the effect is diminished a bit by the overly contrasted lighting. Also the teacher while appropriately stern is also a bit "wooden" in his performance. The girls, on the other hand, are excellent actresses, especially Chris.

Monica's cries increase and now have a sexy "fluttering" quality to them. At 20 strokes she cries that she can't stand it anymore. There are both rear views and side views with some excellent face close-ups. At 30 strokes Esther quietly asks Chris to try to stop the punishment. Of course she refuses. At 40 strokes, the teacher warns Monica to brace herself for the hardest strokes to come. Chris is obviously beside herself with joy at seeing her rival suffer. As the punishment ends Esther caresses Monica's hair to comfort the innocent girl.

The teacher searches the room again and now finds a whole pack of cigarettes. Esther confesses that "it is all Chris's machinations. She wanted to see Monica punished". Chris is now to get 50 strokes of her own for "framing" Monica and the teacher says "it is only fair that Monica will administer the punishment". Ah ha, it's payback time!!

Chris must take all her clothes off and she has a great figure. The teacher tells Chris "let's see if you are still so self-confident as earlier". After 12 strokes, Chris is still defiant. The teacher tells Monica to "hit her harder, remember how you suffered thanks to her". Soon Chris starts sobbing as she counts the strokes. After 27 strokes she briefly looses control and says "It hurts too much". After 37 strokes she breaks down and starts crying and sobbing after every stroke as the teacher instructs Monica to "hit Chris as hard as I hit you". Some great side face shots of Chris's anguish follow.

When the punishment finally ends Chris gives Monica an angry look saying "I hope you are happy now". And she is obviously in pain (as was Monica) when she pulls her tight jeans up around her red bottom.

But wait, there's still more as my copy was a DVD (available in both NTSC and PAL format) and there are DVD "extras". These include a most interesting "Behind the Scenes" segment where the teacher (who may also be the director) instructs the girls how to act during and after the punishments. And we also see the girls' amusing reactions. Plus some hilarious out-takes are included. Previews of other Mood Picture releases follow.

Overall, you will love this if you enjoy watching two "catty" and beautiful girls receiving prolonged severe punishments. And the video quality is excellent throughout. I give this a 9.5 out of 10; it is am impressive achievement for a new production company.

RIVAL GIRLS

Entire Story In Fewer Words Than Are In This Sentence:
Smoking can be damaging to your buttocks

Victim Appeal:
This is the second film Mood Pictures ever released, back when they were a brand-new name among spanking video producers, and their first one featuring more than one victim ("Ancient Regime" originally came in two separate volumes). Two girls get caned here, Mandy Moon and Kate Lust, both of them fairly hot. Mandy is a curly blonde with a tanned, gorgeous body. Kate has straight, lighter blonde hair, paler skin and a similarly lovely figure (she later appeared in another Mood movie and did an interview for Spreview.net). Miss Lust, a small-time adult video and webcam model, is the more lively of the two. She even does a half-decent acting job, which one wouldn't necessarily expect from a "Hungarian porn girl (briefly) turned spanking victim". Pity that she didn't make more CP videos.

There is a third, dark-haired girl in the film, going by the name of Lara Coal. But except for a single experimental stroke in the "Behind the Scenes" segment of the DVD, she doesn't get thrashed. That's a pity, too! I shouldn't complain, though, because the victim appeal of "Rival Girls" is pretty good overall.

Gratuitous Sadism:
Here is how the inevitable punishments unfold in this one: Christina (Kate Lust) and Esther (Lara Coal) are pupils at a boarding school, in their room, chatting. Stereotypical "girl talk" about boys and the handsome new PE teacher. When Christina learns that their roommate Monica (Mandy Moon) is going out with her ex-boyfriend, she decides to get Monica in trouble so that her rival will be grounded and she can get the boy back in the meantime. Despite Esther's objections ("You're completely out of line! What if she gets caned?"), Christina plants a pack of cigarettes among Monica's belongings.

Monica returns soon thereafter and actually talks to Christina about how awkward she feels, going out with her ex. Christina gives a wonderfully dishonest smile and shrugs: "I don't really care! I can hardly remember him. And you are my best friend!" The two embrace and Christina grins contentedly, in anticipation of what is about to happen to her unsuspecting "friend".

When a teacher (played by Mood regular Maximilian Lomp) inspects their room during one of his routine visits, he discovers the cigarettes. Monica protests that they aren't hers, but to no avail. He punishes her on the spot: "You will receive 50 strokes with the cane! Christina, bring me the cane and the straps!" Fifty strokes? Straps? Wow, they sure use some draconian measures at this boarding school... Monica has to kneel on the bed with her pants down and her upper body over a wooden box with a pillow on top of it (a rather sorry excuse for a whipping bench, but hey, this is Mood Pictures in their very early days). The other girls strap her down. She keeps her sweater on, but it is pulled up to her shoulders so that we can get a glimpse of her breasts.

The teacher then canes Monica, all the while admonishing her that smoking is forbidden at the school and that she should have known better. In between her cries, the girl continues to protest her innocence. After it is all over and a sobbing Monica puts her pants back on, the teacher continues his inspection - and finds more cigarettes! At this point, Esther finally breaks her silence and informs him that the whole thing had been Christina's ploy all along. So now, it is Christina's turn to get thrashed (Esther merely gets grounded for not interfering earlier). As a compensation of sorts for the injustice she suffered, Monica gets to administer the strokes (50 in number, naturally). Christina goes on the bed and over the box. Unlike the other girl, she has to strip completely naked. Another caning follows, much to Monica's and the viewers' satisfaction.

Best Reactions:
Watching this early Mood film again after several years, I was struck by how tame the canings are. I wouldn't exactly call them light and playful - we are talking about two times 50 strokes here, and they are applied with moderate force, some of them in the "fairly hard" region. But compared to the super-vicious stuff Mood Pictures put out today, this is positively harmless. Both girls get visible red stripes and even a couple of darker welts, but that has more to do with the fact that they have obviously never been caned before than with outright severity.

However, this is not to say that there isn't anything of interest for the sadistic viewer here. I found "Rival Girls" quite enjoyable, because the victims show strong and genuinly pained reactions, flinching mightily under the cane and complaining about how much it hurts (the "vanilla factor" again). Kate Lust, in particular, is a joy to watch. During the first twenty plus strokes, she is tough, defiant and visibly angry at the other girl who dishes out her revenge. Mandy Moon aka Monica then snarls "I see you haven't had enough yet!" and suddenly goes harder. Kate starts breaking down and crying real tears until she is sobbing uncontrollably and barely able to count the last few strokes aloud. Not a particularly hard thrashing (at least not by Mood standards), but one with a very satisfying - and very real - effect.

Best Line:

At the beginning of the movie, Esther tells Christina how Christina's ex-boyfriend adores his new sweetheart: "He is so romantic, giving her roses." The line itself isn't funny, but the annoyed, eye-rolling grimace which Christina makes in response is absolutely priceless. Hilarious (over-) acting by Kate Lust, who really hams it up.

Nice Psychological Touch:
I like the basic setup with its themes of justice and revenge, with the evil-doer receiving her comeuppance in the end and the framed, innocent girl getting to cane her. It's a simple yet effective way to spice up a conventional "catty schoolgirls" scenario, to put both M/F and F/F action in the film and to let one of the models act as top and bottom. No, the idea certainly isn't new, but it works and the "turning the tables" results are always fun to watch. Especially here, where the chemistry between the players is quite good. Kate Lust as Christina and Mandy Moon as Monica give each other plenty of wonderfully dirty looks.

Mood Pictures make the most of these dynamics with nice little touches. For instance, when the girls prepare Monica for her punishment, it is Christina who pulls Monica's panties down and her sweater up (smirking with the secret knowledge that her nasty little scheme worked). The teacher then orders the other girls to hold Monica down for the caning, so Esther and Christina each grab one of the victim's hands. While Esther (the silent and uncomfortable accomplice) squeezes Monica's hand with tender compassion, Christina grins wider and wider after every cane stroke. The contrast is nicely captured by the camera. Moreover, the teacher orders Christina to count the numbers aloud while Monica suffers. Needless to say, she is only too happy to do the job, and you can hear the gleeful purring in her voice.

Later, when Christina is thrashed, Esther holds her hand. There is a brief, interesting out-of-character moment after stroke 25. The actress playing Esther is the only one who can see the victim's face, so she is the first one to realise that Kate Lust aka Christina is starting to break down and cry. She gives the actress playing Monica a quiet, wide-eyed look, signalling her: "Wow, you are really making an impression now..."

How Good Is It Really?
This is one of Mood's very first efforts. Naturally, the scale of it is much smaller than that of their later, more professional and grandiose work. "Rival Girls" takes place in only one room, there are no props or costumes to speak of (just look at the poor man's "caning bench"), and only two girls get spanked. Moreover, in terms of the CP action, this is the lightest of all their films (it is also one of their most light-hearted - in the "Behind the Scenes" extra, everyone is goofing around, drinking tequila, and even Max Lomp gets a "revenge" cane stroke over his trousers from the girls).

However, while a producer's first couple of films are obviously never as polished as the later ones, they usually offer an interesting look back. This is certainly the case here. Fans can get a glimpse of Mood Pictures in their early and less extreme days, before they started churning out monthly CP epics where half a dozen girls or more receive the hardest beatings ever recorded on video. While "Rival Girls" isn't typical for them, it is a highly enjoyable little movie in its own right - the technical craftsmanship is decent, the story is fun, the two victims are pretty and there are some great reactions during the CP. With its comparatively low severity, this is also a good choice for viewers who want to see sexy Hungarian girls spanked, but not ultra-hard.

(Mood Pictures now offer "Rival Girls" in a package with one of their other early films at a bargain price.)

What You Learned:
Smoking can be damaging to your buttocks.

Okay, I already used that for the "Entire Story In Fewer Words..." section. I'll try to think of something else... How about this: Hungarian girls look great while being spanked. But we didn't really need Mood Pictures to demonstrate this - all girls look great while being spanked! It is common knowledge. So I guess I didn't learn all that much. I liked the flick, though.