Shannon Tweed

November 26, 2012

Shannon Tweed

This is an ongoing thread featuring films about Tweed, an erotic actress in the 90s who had already earned a reputation as a voluptuous Playboy bunny with a body that, while not without its enhancements, had an allure and caused quite a bit of salivating and bulging in the crotch of pants wore by many of us sneakily viewing her films when we were aware of our sexual awakenings in our teens.

Written 7/24/2014

I thought I would write a series of reviews on Shannon Tweed flicks just because I just seem to enjoy writing about softcore for whatever reason. I am especially fond of Scorned (1994), my favorite of Tweed’s films mainly because I thoroughly enjoy her performance and how vindictive, seductive, manipulative, and sleazy she is. A family is torn apart by her out of revenge. This is one of those films that come out of the popularity of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle as a vengeance-ridden widow (no matter if her husband wasn’t fit for a position or inappropriate to clients) plans to undermine a family she considers responsible for her man’s career demise. Despite the rather contrived premise (she seduces the entire family, not just the hubby!) that does feel rather shopworn at this point, it is how Tweed plays against type that is a pleasure. She quietly maneuvers her sexual advances towards the household. The son is obviously hot for her (why wouldn’t he be?) and Tweed gradually pits him against his parents. The father (portrayed by director Andrew Stevens who found a home in 90s erotica after a rather okay 80s career in various thriller/action films like The Seduction, Death Hunt, and The Terror Within) is her ultimate target. His downfall is what she desires.
A promotion not gained, no matter what he tries (including serving up wife Tweed to his sleazy boss for a fuck in the kitchen of their own home!), with Stevens instead securing it, Tweed’s hubby puts a bullet in his left temple. This provided all the incentive Tweed needed to aim for Stevens and hurt him at the core…by driving apart his family. Doping the wife (Kim Morgan Greene; really a sexpot although it would be hard to know it at times due to her suburban wife costume and after enduring the drugging, looking quite a wreck (albeit a very attractive wreck)), aggressively bewitching the son (Michael D Arenz, his steamy sex scene with Tweed towards the end is really erotic and well performed/photographed), and even luring Stevens himself into banging her across a pool table, Tweed’s temptress raises quite a havoc on the family. There comes a point towards the end where Tweed so enrages Stevens (holding a butcher knife to Kim’s throat after twisting her arm), using “better sex” with his son as leverage towards belittling him to the breaking point, that he punches her in the face, sending her in a flight out the window (she crashed to the sidewalk below!)! It is a scene that I don’t think the viewer (who hasn’t seen it) will expect. I’m sure many figured she would use the knife to flee as Stevens clutches the missus in shock after being assaulted by Tweed, but that punch is full of fury and the sound is quite alarming. This is the kind of punch that would hurl someone through a window.

While I think Tweed and Arenz’ second sex scene is really hot, I especially liked her first seduction of him. This is the kind of wet dream realized that remains commonplace in the fantasies of 18 year olds. The idea of this incredibly sexy woman--no matter how drab or ordinary the dress she wears to color her as this simple, less-than-extraordinary tutor--is showing you, this kid who has yearned to have such a worthwhile experience, that she’s quite interested in providing quite a good time in bed is perfectly conveyed in Scorned. This is as well directed a softcore “erotic thriller” as I can think of in that it delivers a storyline as well as sensual sequences with Tweed, not feeling restricted and boxed in to the confines of softcore nowadays (minimum, blah plotting that works as Elmer’s Glue and duct tape to hold all the fuck scenes in place), instead opting to show a woman, particularly in the early goings, quite successful in her single-handed desecration of The Great American Family. Stevens starts to show wear and tear psychologically, at home and at the job. Kim, who has done nothing wrong, endures quite a bit herself. This is mostly through underhanded doping. Tweed seems to be an ear, a new friend she can confide in while the hubby is at work all hours, and help around the house. But Tweed soon even seduces her! That’s quite an arousing scene in its execution.

I think why I like the sex scenes is because of the execution. There’s the smoldering gradual seduction with each scene. I especially like her approach to Kim who is battling the drugs Tweed has been secretly feeding her and loneliness because of Stevens’ dedication to his job. She wanted affection and in that moment of pure vulnerability, Tweed “offered assistance”. It isn’t overtly Sapphic (sure, Tweed kisses her around areas of the face, mouth, chest, and legs, but she doesn’t perform cunnilingus or heavily tongue her breasts/nipples), but titillating enough, I believe, erotic even if it never goes too far. It ends with Tweed using her fingers to excite Kim (under covers and not visible) and wearing an expression that informs us that she feels absolutely in control. To seduce this person after shagging both her son and husband is quite a conquest for Tweed. This is where the film proves that it has a plot and performances that are reasonable. The family had already been strained although they tried to put on a face that everything was fine. Especially Arenz who shows signs of frustration with his father, this dissonance that would further pry them apart once Tweed enters their lives. The marriage is shown as a seemingly fine relationship on the surface although cracks are there enough that Tweed could enforce a methodical divide. By film’s end, Tweed’s behavior and eventual psychopathy’s surfacing actually brings the wife and husband together as Stevens says enough and “puts the BITCH in her place.” Protecting his wife when she needed him the most, coming to her aid, and truly establishing his love for her, Stevens would no longer tolerate Tweed’s disruption of their lives.

For me, Tweed was at the height of her sexual power at this point in her career. She’d make a bunch of softcore features that would show up on late night Cinemax, but Scorned hits all the right beats in how she could be used so well. Her sex scenes are all about casting spells on each member of the family, capitalizing on the carnal lust that latently exists, and sewing seeds of discord within the suffering unit. Because Tweed is so beguiling and looks so pleasing, it isn’t as difficult to accept her character could pull off what she does until her homicidal urges to destroy physically ruin her best laid plans. If anything, just seeing her slowly remove her dress as Arenz’ attention is totally hers, during their first time sexually sets a fire onscreen. Then later on Tweed allows Arenz to disrobe her before the two of them engage in a sexual encounter that seems completely mutual as both look very involved in the lust-making. I like how this film develops that chemistry between Tweed and Arenz. Arenz can’t resist Tweed and she knows it. Yet during time she seems as into him as he her. Their second sex scene told me, in how the characters embrace physically, that she wasn’t just play acting but really digging it. When she tells Stevens his son is a better lover, it might seem like a mere poke of the bear, but I kind of believe she was being sincere. Haha.

I thought I would write a series of reviews on Shannon Tweed flicks just because I just seem to enjoy writing about softcore for whatever reason. I am especially fond of Scorned (1994), my favorite of Tweed’s films mainly because I thoroughly enjoy her performance and how vindictive, seductive, manipulative, and sleazy she is.

A family is torn apart by her out of revenge. This is one of those films that come out of the popularity of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle as a vengeance-ridden widow (no matter if her husband wasn’t fit for a position or inappropriate to clients) plans to undermine a family she considers responsible for her man’s career demise. Despite the rather contrived premise (she seduces the entire family, not just the hubby!) that does feel rather shopworn at this point, it is how Tweed plays against type that is a pleasure. She quietly maneuvers her sexual advances towards the household. The son is obviously hot for her (why wouldn’t he be?) and Tweed gradually pits him against his parents.

The father (portrayed by director Andrew Stevens who found a home in 90s erotica after a rather okay 80s career in various thriller/action films like The Seduction, Death Hunt, and The Terror Within) is her ultimate target. His downfall is what she desires.

A promotion not gained, no matter what he tries (including serving up wife Tweed to his sleazy boss for a fuck in the kitchen of their own home!), with Stevens instead securing it, Tweed’s hubby puts a bullet in his left temple. This provided all the incentive Tweed needed to aim for Stevens and hurt him at the core…by driving apart his family. Doping the wife (Kim Morgan Greene; really a sexpot although it would be hard to know it at times due to her suburban wife costume and after enduring the drugging, looking quite a wreck (albeit a very attractive wreck)), aggressively bewitching the son (Michael D Arenz, his steamy sex scene with Tweed towards the end is really erotic and well performed/photographed), and even luring Stevens himself into banging her across a pool table, Tweed’s temptress raises quite a havoc on the family. There comes a point towards the end where Tweed so enrages Stevens (holding a butcher knife to Kim’s throat after twisting her arm), using “better sex” with his son as leverage towards belittling him to the breaking point, that he punches her in the face, sending her in a flight out the window (she crashed to the sidewalk below!)! It is a scene that I don’t think the viewer (who hasn’t seen it) will expect. I’m sure many figured she would use the knife to flee as Stevens clutches the missus in shock after being assaulted by Tweed, but that punch is full of fury and the sound is quite alarming. This is the kind of punch that would hurl someone through a window.

While I think Tweed and Arenz’ second sex scene is really hot, I especially liked her first seduction of him. This is the kind of wet dream realized that remains commonplace in the fantasies of 18 year olds. The idea of this incredibly sexy woman--no matter how drab or ordinary the dress she wears to color her as this simple, less-than-extraordinary tutor--is showing you, this kid who has yearned to have such a worthwhile experience, that she’s quite interested in providing quite a good time in bed is perfectly conveyed in Scorned. This is as well directed a softcore “erotic thriller” as I can think of in that it delivers a storyline as well as sensual sequences with Tweed, not feeling restricted and boxed in to the confines of softcore nowadays (minimum, blah plotting that works as Elmer’s Glue and duct tape to hold all the fuck scenes in place), instead opting to show a woman, particularly in the early goings, quite successful in her singlehanded desecration of The Great American Family. Stevens starts to show wear and tear psychologically, at home and at the job. Kim, who has done nothing wrong, endures quite a bit herself. This is mostly through underhanded doping. Tweed seems to be an ear, a new friend she can confide in while the hubby is at work all hours, and help around the house. But Tweed soon even seduces her! That’s quite an arousing scene in its execution.

For me, Tweed was at the height of her sexual power at this point in her career. She’d make a bunch of softcore features that would show up on late night Cinemax, but Scorned hits all the right beats in how she could be used so well. Her sex scenes are all about casting spells on each member of the family, capitalizing on the carnal lust that latently exists, and sewing seeds of discord within the suffering unit. Because Tweed is so beguiling and looks so pleasing, it isn’t as difficult to accept her character could pull off what she does until her homicidal urges to destroy physically ruin her best laid plans. If anything, just seeing her slowly remove her dress as Arenz’ attention is totally hers, during their first time sexually sets a fire onscreen. Then later on Tweed allows Arenz to disrobe her before the two of them engage in a sexual encounter that seems completely mutual as both look very involved in the lust-making. I like how this film develops that chemistry between Tweed and Arenz. Arenz can’t resist Tweed and she knows it. Yet during time she seems as into him as he her. Their second sex scene told me, in how the characters embrace physically, that she wasn’t just play acting but really digging it.

Catfight!!!

The catfight scene, predominantly one-sided with Tweed aggressive and hostile to the max, is a hoot as the two ladies even bumpety-bump-bump down the stairs! And Tweed pulls out the butcher knife because what's a thriller with a psycho babe without that tool of destruction?