At first glance,
Inside Deep Throat looks like an easy excuse to not just get people in the theaters with the chance of seeing
porn, but to put it up on the big screen. However, the film, by
directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato is a funny and well-written look at the
impact of
Deep Throat, how those who made it feel about it now, and the lasting effect it had on both adult and mainstream society.
Among those interviewed include director Gerard Damiano and actor Harry Reems, many members of the film's crew, from production to distribution, and even Linda Lovelace's daughter. Starting before the movie's release and continuing through Lovelace's death in a car accident, the movie touches on hundreds of social landmarks and resulting uproar surrounding the film, including protests, Reems's drug use and obscenity charges, and the mob's involvement with the film and the theaters it played in. The comments from everyone are all quite interesting and funny, and range from Reems's prosecutor, who compares pornography to terrorism, and the film's location scout, who, unprovoked, starts bashing the movie as if he has Tourette's. Celebrities are also interviewed, including Dick Cavett, Wes Craven, John Waters, Dr. Ruth and and Gore Vidal.
The film itself is looked back on as goofy and certainly a relic of the time, the movie's completely ridiclous plot coming under attack from just about everyone. And even if Bailey and Barbato's only goals were indeed to make a movie that got porn in the theater, they succeeded, as the act that made the flick famous in the first place is presented in all its glory under the NC-17 rating.
Inside Deep Throat's only problem is that, as many have said in reviews and online, the film runs for barely more than 90 minutes, and so all of the above topics are indeed only touched upon. But Inside Deep Throat is still a funny and well-made look at one of the most famous X-rated films of all time.
To compliment Inside Deep Throat's run in theaters, the original film was cut to an R and played alongside it in selected cities. The film was released on DVD soon after.