Written by Jack Deveau and Tray Christopher
Starring: Kirk Luna, Peter DeRome, Peter Fersen, Michael Corrigan, Mary Jane Sstuning (aka Christopher Rage), and a host of others.
Movies have always acted rather schizophrenically when it comes to sex. On the one hand, films like Bob Carol Ted and Alice seemingly celebrated the sexual revolution of the 60’s and 70’s; while a feature like Looking for Mr. Goodbar painted carnal liberation as a one way ticket to self destruction. Directors like Brian DePalma have built entire careers making movies that feature both sexual titillation as well as punishment of the characters for enjoying sex. In the early 80’s slasher films often featured nubile teens acting out sexually only to be dispatched by hockey mask wearing psychopaths. What then, is one to make of 1974’s Drive!, a movie that purports to be a pornographic gay fuck fest, but is all dressed up like a psycho/sexual nightmare?
Directed by Jack Deveau, Drive! tells the story of secret agent, Clark (the wolf-like Mark Luna) who is investigating the disappearance of a government scientist who has created a drug that allegedly destroys the sex drive of anyone who ingests it. The film opens with one of the most gruesome shots ever committed to celluloid; we get to see a penis being sliced with a kitchen knife, close up and in color --- not exactly the kind of thing that one would expect from a porn film, unless one were into snuff . From this charming opening shot, we then get to meet our villainess, Arcane, played by Mary Jane Sstuning (Christopher Rage in drag). Arcane is “typing a letter to the world” about her plans to eradicate sexuality from mankind, and to create a Utopian society after achieving this end (that she seems intent on only ending the sex drive in gay men should not be lost on the viewer). Through narration we find that Arcane knows she is being followed by a detective known as Clark. We then meet Clark who has just picked up his brand new ’74 Mosserati and is driving it to an art museum in New York City where he is going to meet his boyfriend. In a beautifully shot scene, reminiscent of the art museum scene in DePalma’s Dressed to Kill, we watch as Luna cruises a collection of modern art until he hooks up with his boyfriend. And as the men exit the museum, the title of the movie comes up, looking somewhat like a piece of pop art itself. Then it’s off to Clark’s apartment. In a poorly dubbed scene (it’s obvious that this scene was shot silent and that the soundtrack was an afterthought), we find Clark and his partner figuring what to have for dinner. Once it is decided that a couple of Swanson frozen dinners are on the menu, the men retire to the living room for some pre-meal sex (these were the pre-microwave days, so a TV dinner took at least 30 minutes to cook). Finally, some action. Set to some cheesy electronic 70’s style music, the guys go at it, and what a joy it is. If nothing else, the sex in these early porn films seems authentic. Luna and his partner Mark Frome engage in a truly sensual exchange that is both highly romantic as well as exciting. Unfortunately, we keep cutting from the sex scene to a disco where men are dancing to the same cheesy music that Luna and Frome are fucking to. While cinematically it is an interesting gimmick, it’s also a great way to ruin an otherwise hot sex scene. And if that’s not enough, just as the guys are reaching orgasm, we cut back to the disco where we see someone in a gorilla suit walking the dance floor. Finally the monkey mask is removed and we see Arcane again who looks into the camera and says, “Good evening, my name is Arcane, welcome to the club!” I guess life was a cabaret after all.
After the sex/disco moment, Clark is summoned to the office of his very fey boss (this is all a rather obvious homage to the James Bond films when Bond meets with his superior, M), and is told to find the missing Dr. Martle (the horribly miscast, but visually stunning, blond hippie, Michael Corrigan – obviously, Dr. Martle must have been something of a boy genius as Corrigan seems to be all of 19 years old). As he is about to leave, he is handed a key and told that he might need it. Meanwhile, Arcane is seen fretting over the missing scientist, since her goons were supposed to kidnap him, but instead killed his assistant. Here, Sstuning utters the best line of the film saying, “Now every gumshoe on the east coast will be looking for me”. This bit is sure to bring a smile to lovers of film noir. All good villains need an accomplice, and Arcane is blessed with hers, the aptly named, Androgen (Peter Fersen) who assists his painted lady by supplying her with tapes of Clark he has. Together, the dastardly duo watch a film of Clark and his boyfriend having sex and this promptly sends Arcane to the bathroom where she throws up (as the site of sex seems to sicken her). From here we discover that poor Arcane is just misunderstood, she used to enjoy sex but hand been jilted one too many times and so she had decided to dose the world’s drinking water with the elusive drug she is so obsessed with. When Arcane goes to the refrigerator and opens it revealing several jars with disembodied cocks in them, one suspects that hell hath no fury like a drag queen scorned.
Hey, what’s Clark been up to during all of this?
Well, he’s in a bathhouse somewhere in New York City, and finally, Drive! delivers some good old fashioned anonymous sex; a veritable smorgasbord of men is served up in the steamy locker rooms and saunas of the bathhouse and we get to see Sodom and Gomorrah 70’s style, and boy howdy, it’s fucking hot. As bottles of Rush are passed around, men indiscriminately fall into each others arms and engage in all kinds of pig sex. To add to the erotic tone of this scene, it filmed in slow motion and while stimulating, is also very artistic … yup, this is the real deal, sex without boundaries, fear and commitment – damn, I miss the 70’s sometimes.
After the orgy, we find our multi talented diva of evil, Arcane preparing for her “number”. It seems that Miss Thing not only makes evil plans and castrates, she also enjoys singing old tunes in gay nightclubs. Done up like Marlene Dietrich, Sstuning pushes the camp envelope of Drive! right over the edge as she belts out, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” to an enthusiastic crowd of half dressed patrons. This scene is sheer, fucking genius!
Now, comes the difficult part.
As the music is ending we are back in the bath house steam room where Clark finds a locked door. He takes the key he was given earlier and unlocks the door and discovers a man being fist fucked. Now, depending on your tastes, you’ll either find this a huge turn on, or you’ll be wishing for a barf bag. Fisting is not my thing; more power to you, if you are into it, but frankly I wanted to pull my eyes out of my head after watching it. But hey, our hero seems to like what he sees, so he lathers his arm up in Crisco joins in the fun. Whatever turns you on.
Once he leaves the bathhouse, Clark is now suited up in leather and hops on a motorcycle and heads out of the city to the country where as luck would have it, he discovers the missing Dr. Martle holed up in a little farm house. Joe Corrigan, who plays the Dr, is a beautiful, long haired blond with the face of a cherub. Seriously, he is one of the most gorgeous men you might ever see. Obviously, Clark likes what he sees, and the two go at it. Never has leather riding gear been removed so quickly from a human being as it is here, and once Luna and Corrigan are naked they go at each other like a couple of mad dogs. Unfortunately, once the scene really starts heating up, we flash to Clark’s boyfriend (remember him?) who is at the circus (no kidding!!) waiting for his prodigal boy friend. So instead of actually seeing the sex scene uninterrupted, we keep cutting back and forth until finally we are treated to a double exposure of the sex and the carnival all set to psychedelic music. This was a creative and artistic chance on the film maker’s part. That said, it gave me a headache.
After the agent and the doctor finish up, they are set upon by Arcane’s goons and kidnapped.
Cut to black.
Fade in to Luna and Corrigan strung up nude in a room with a few dozen other men. And then Arcane enters and begins a very, very, very long monologue about her evil plans. All the while she is brandishing a kitchen knife taunting our two heroes about how she is going to castrate them. If anyone has ever watched a spy film of any sort, the hero always has his last chance at salvation if the villain is long winded. The same thing applies here. As Arcane is going on, we see that Clark and the Dr are both starting to get erections, and once Arcane sees this, she positively freaks out, screaming and shouting (remember, she is sickened by sex), so instead of killing or maiming her hostages she takes off in a fit of rage. Our heroes manage to undo their bonds and they set about freeing the others … and well, this makes sense, instead of everyone fleeing, a final orgy takes place.
Make no mistake, Drive! was an extremely ambitious film, with moments of beauty, humor and horror. Jack Deveau was a gifted director and managed to cobble something together that might have even worked as a mainstream film, unfortunately, it seems that he never really made his mind up concerning this venture. A porn film with a good plot is a good thing, but when the plot overtakes the entire production, one is left with a picture that commits the mortal sin of adult cinema; it’s just not sexy enough. By all means, check this movie out for what it is, but do not expect much in the way of erotica. Frankly, I’d love to see some filmmaker today take this script and re-shoot it as a legitimate motion picture; calling Brian DePalma!
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