Cathouse

July 18, 2005

Rated: NR Runtime: 60 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Cathouse is the original HBO documentary that inspired the series by the same name. Like the series, it is the story of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, the world famous Nevada brothel. Although filmed in 2002, if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll see many familiar faces including owner Dennis Hof, Madam Suzette and pornstar Sunset Thomas.

For the Amish among you, prostitution is legal in areas of Nevada that are not densely populated. It’s illegal in Las Vegas, but if you take a ride out into the desert you’ll find many brothels that are perfectly legal operations. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch is one of these places, and this documentary lets us take a look inside.

The outside is fenced and has a bell. It’s not much to look at from the outside, no flashing neon or anyting, and the structure appears to be some sort of prefabricated building of some sort. Inside the outer area looks like a strip club complete with bar and a place to mingle with the girls. A ring of the bell signals the girls to form a line up, and by the time the customer is let inside they are assembled for his (or her!) inspection where he can choose one or more to “party” with. From there you go to the girls bedroom where you negotiate a price based on what you want, money is collected by the madam and then you get to play a round of hide the salami or whatever your pleasure happens to be. Oh, and bring around $1000 with you if you want an hour with the better looking girls.

Now dont expect hard core sex on this DVD, it aired originally on HBO and there’s no extra footage here. However, there are hidden cameras in the girls’ rooms and the guest isn’t told about it until “afterwards”. So what you do get to see is the negotiation process which I admit can be quite entertaining in a reality TV trainwreck sorta way. You’ll also get to know some of the girls and in general learn how a brothel works behind the scenes.

Dont expect your usual line up of truckers and high rollers. I’m sure they get plenty of those, but where’s the fun in that? No, they hit us with some strange ones. A couple really raised our eyebrows. Two brothers who looked to be early 40’s complete with big beer guts who wanted to “party” at the same time with one girl. Hey, we’re no homophobes or anything, but where we come from we dont hang out with our brothers like that. There was one sequence that was worse. Mom brought her 22 year old son to have him deflowered. She actually goes back fromt he negotiations and is in there while Sunset Thomas is crawling all over him and grinding to work the price, and other things, up. She did at least go sit at the bar while the actual deflowering took place. I guess on some levels thats a cool mom, but how would you like to have your mom forever associated with your first sexual experience? Shudder…

If you like reality tv style documentaries and have ever had any curiousity about a brothel, you need this DVD. Given that and the gratuitous amount of T&A we give this one 4 stars.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Air Force Amy, DVD, Dennis Hof, Documentary, NR, Sunset Thomas