Inside Deep Throat Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey

Before the release of Deep Throat in 1972, the Porn Film Formula of absurd plotline + disco soundtrack + ill-advised moustache, had yet to be created. As preposterous skin-flick gimmicks go, the following would (supposedly) be considered de rigueur by modern standards: Woman has clitoris in her throat, therefore can't achieve orgasm by conventional means. The solution? Said woman must give copious amounts of head for the stimulation she desires.

Following the death of the film's love-sword-swallowing star Linda Lovelace in 2002, the enduring cultural and personal legacy of what has become the most profitable movie ever made was duly revised, resulting in this entertaining documentary by risqué filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey (101 Rent Boys, Porno Valley).

Sensing a wind of cultural change at the end of the 1960s, New York hairdresser Gerard Damiano traded in his hairdryer for the cut'n'blow world of adult filmmaking. Shot by Damiano for less than $25,000, Deep Throat gained notoriety both for Lovelace's undeniable knack for suppressing the gag-reflex, as well as the obscenity charges that were brought against the movie's stars and producers throughout the 1970s. Heralded as the height of 'Porn Chic' by an article in the New York Times, Deep Throat's popularity thrust adult entertainment into the disco spotlight of '70s pop-culture and almost single-handedly turned porn into the multi-million dollar industry that it is today.

Interviewing the main players behind the production, media coverage and subsequent condemnation of the seminal porno, Inside Deep Throat spits up a perversely palatable cocktail of perma-tanned granddads, smut intrigue and publicity craving politicos that wouldn't be it of place in a James Ellroy novel.

That Inside Deep Throat is so ceaselessly entertaining and anecdotal is, however, both its greatest attraction and biggest flaw. Racy and stylishly cut it may be, but the more ugly elements of the subject matter are too often glazed over by the nostalgic retrovision of the directors. The alleged physical abuse of Lovelace is mentioned but not investigated, and the downward spiral of the personal lives of both Harry Reems (Deep Throat's male star) and Linda Lovelace, is portrayed more as a result of the performers' treatment by the American judicial system than by their involvement in the decidedly murky porn business of the 1970s.

Minimal time is also spent exploring exactly why the film was considered to be obscene and morally corrosive by so many upon its release. The directors choose instead to devote far more coverage to Gerard Damiano and Playboy don Hugh Hefner's claims about the artistic integrity of Deep Throat, leaving the audience in no doubt as to which way Barbato and Bailey swing.

For those looking for a well-balanced analysis of the values and vices of Deep Throat and the industry it spawned, this doc will probably leave an unpleasant aftertaste. If however it's a gripping romp laced with mullets, money and Mafiosi that you're after, Inside Deep Throat has all the spills and thrills that one could possibly hope for.