by Sasha E. Young

I like voice-overs and tragic figures. I like romance but where is the romance these days? Is romance in pornography dead?

I’m hoping that Malcolm Sherwood, who directs/writes/produces Cruel Romance, a soft core series for Kink-on-Demand, shares my concerns. At the time of this interview, he has done five Cruel Romance films; none of which have hardcore content. All contain character and narrative-driven material instead. Who does Malcolm think he is, creating non-dick-pounding porn?

When Malcolm and I sit down to talk at Kink’s SF Armory, he is casual and calm - not appearing to be someone who directs pornography. But one of the things I’ve learned from working in the porn industry is: looks can be deceiving.

At 14, Sherwood opted for a guitar rather than a Super 8 film camera. For years, he played in punk bands and did “that music thing”. As one of his Facebook friends, I am privy to photos of young Malcolm on stage rocking out; they are pretty fucking awesome.

In his 20s, he got on the path that would lead him closer to making movies by doing sound engineering; including working on Tupac Shakur’s first album. Yes, that Tupac.

Being a person who likes to pry, I have to ask him who he thinks killed Tupac.

Malcolm Sherwood: [smiling] You know, it was a case of a nice guy who got involved in a bad situation. I don’t really know anything about that whole thing but I know that he was the life of the party. He paid attention to everyone in the room. It is a shame really.

Having rubbed elbows with Shakur and being punk rock himself; Malcolm knows a bit about music. He composed the original music for “Sin Never Sleeps”. But due to time limitations, he can’t compose the music for all the Cruel Romance films which is unfortunate for a big fan like me.

But I digress.

It’s not the music or Tupac that has brought us here. It’s Sherwood’s narrative-driven softcore stories. Why does someone who works at the hardcore BDSM authority like Kink.com do softcore erotica: the exact opposite of what Kink produces?

Malcolm Sherwood: I never worked in porn before Kink. I did make my own narrative movies, and they all had some kind of kinky weirdness, just not explicit. So it was an easy jump to take the kind of stories I liked to shoot and just make them a little more X-rated to sell on KOD. Also I’m not a rope expert or sexy female domme, so it was also a way to do something I knew I could do, and that would fit in with Kink material but not copy what is already being done here by very skilled directors.

And what was the subject matter of the first narrative movie you worked on? “A priest.” But what kind of priest? “A vampire hunter priest.”

Of course. Once he tells me what and who his influences are, the vamp hunter priest thing comes as no surprise.

Malcolm Sherwood: I’m a fan of Russ Meyers; he did Faster Pussycat Kill Kill. I think the late 60’s was a real golden time for exploitation [films]. By 1965 you could go pretty far, but by the early 70’s hardcore porn became legal and that kind of killed the exploitation market. I am also influenced by the adult underground comix I read as a kid and also many Japanese films from that time that were not explicit, but super kinky and very well made.

I also think most if not all porn films that try to have a story suffer in that the pacing of the story is ruined when you have to stop and show 10 minutes of fucking.

So why not cut out the fucking completely and do a ‘mainstream’ film I ask. Why not move to Hollywood and direct some cheesy romantic comedy?

Malcolm Sherwood: I’ve successfully avoided doing commercials or stuff like that, I never saw myself going to L.A. and churning out crap just for a paycheck. I like doing my odd movies and I would like them to be seen by as many people as possible but they would still have to have some kind of edge to them, so I don’t foresee getting an offer from Disney or Spielberg anytime soon. I’m really happy doing the Cruel Romance movies. It has “adult” content, but the story and filmmaking doesn’t take a backseat to cumshots and gaping assholes. I just wish I had a slightly bigger budget.

And yet, famous dommes ask to star in his films; and they do it for free. Big budget or not, Mr. Sherwood’s got some clout. But he is a laid back guy who isn’t one to talk openly about himself unless prompted, so I inquire whether he knows that he’s sort of famous or whether he expected Cruel Romance to be so popular.

Malcolm Sherwood: Yes? I thought a lot about the whole style in the beginning--again looking at the cult popularity of Faster Pussycat, and films like that, I believe there are many people, myself included, that get bored with straight up hardcore fucking or soft-core “erotica”. Who want enjoy a good story, with some hot chicks, that gets a little kinky.

I am surprised the movies have done as well as they have on Kink-on-Demand since I figure most people come to the site looking for hardcore action. But now I’ve written some scripts for other sites, like Whipped Ass, Bound Gang Bangs and Sex and Submission, and they’ve all sold well.

Aside from Russ Meyers and late 1960s exploitation films, Sherwood says he gets his ideas from French new wave films, bad TV movies, books from stores going out of business and his own life. Presently, he is working on something “based on a fragment of memory of an underground comic” he found when he was about 10-years old.

Malcolm Sherwood has become well-known for his unique scripts and use of stylistic, choppy dialogue-which shows his 60s and 70s influences; as well as perhaps a little sampling of 40s film noir in “Tenderloin Tramp”.

“The Wicked and The Whipped”, starring Princess Donna and Jynx Maze, was my introduction to Cruel Romance. Just the mention of those ladies’ names should be enough to spark your interest but once you click the “play” button, you will stay for the same reason I did - romance is not dead; it just got crueler.

End.

Future Cruel Romance films to watch out for: “The Punished Coed” starring Isis Love, Mickey Mod, Sky Bleu and Eden Coxxx and should be out in September.

“Satan’s Stepdaughter” starring Eden Coxxx and Simone Sonay should be done in time for Christmas.

Malcolm also wrote the Sex and Submission Feature "Spy vs Spy: The Medvedenko Affair."

**If you are interested in Cruel Romance, as well as other unique adult films, go to KinkOnDemand.com and check it all out!**

Sasha E. Young is an SEO/Marketing Copywriter for Kink.com, a contributing writer for Behind Kink and a tilter of windmills.