Cinemax Memories: Sins of Desire (1993, directed by Jim Wynorski)

Posted on May 27, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Kay Egan (Tanya Roberts) goes undercover as a nurse at a sex clinic because she thinks that Dr. Scott Callister (John Henry Robertson) and his wife, Jessica (Delia Sheppard), are responsible for the suicide of her sister. Working undercover leads to Jessica meeting private detective Barry Mitchum (Nick Cassavetes), whose partner Monica (Gail Harris) died under mysterious circumstances while she was working undercover at the clinic. Is there anyone working at the clinic who isn’t undercover?

This is a Jim Wynorski film, which means the plot is mostly just an excuse for the female members of the cast to disrobe. Like many of Jim Wynorski’s films, it’s trashy but entertaining. It’s a sex clinic where therapy comes in the way of hallucinations, strobe lights, and choreographed stripping. Kay falls in love with Barry but, when she realizes that Jessica is into her, she used that to her advantage and buys Barry some extra time for his investigation. Jan-Michael Vincent plays Warren Robillard, a twitchy associate of the Callisters. It’s a Wynorski film all the way.

Jim Wynorski later said that he had a difficult time working with Tanya Roberts, who brings little of her old Charlie’s Angel spice to her role. But John Henry Robertson and Delia Sheppard are a blast as the evil sex clinic owners. Adult film actress Gail Harris is so sexy and likable as Monica that it’s a shame that she’s only has a few minutes of screentime.

Sins of Desire is a perfect example of why you couldn’t have late night Cinemax without Jim Wynorski.

Cinemax Memories: Mortal Passions (1990, directed by Andrew Lane)

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Todd (Zach Galligan) is married to Emily (Krista Errickson), who was previously involved with Todd’s brother, Berke (Michael Bowen). When Berke comes by for a visit, he discovers that Emily is cheating on Todd with Darcy (Luca Bercovici). A confrontation between Emily, Berke, and Darcy ends with Darcy dead. While covering up the murder, Emily is also plotting to take all of Todd’s money for herself. David Warner appears as the therapist who struggles to keep straight who is double-crossing who.

In the 90s, where could you see the lead of Gremlins being betrayed by both his sexy wife and his no-good brother? Where, in the 90s, could you see the star of Hello Larry try to reboot her career as a Kathleen Turner film fatale? Where, in the 90s, could you see the man who would one day play Buck in Kill Bill playing Zach Galligan’s long-haired brother? Only on Cinemax!

Mortal Passions was an attempt to do a modern noir and it has all of the expected tropes, from the clueless husband to the morally gray relative to the wife who is planning on betraying everyone. Krista Errickson is sexy and dangerous as Emily, ruthlessly plotting Todd’s downfall while walking around in lingerie. Errickson’s femme fatale is never as clever as she thinks she is but fortunately, for her, all the men around her are idiots. Galligan and Bowen are both believable as two of the most easily manipulated people that you’ll ever meet. And then there’s David Warner, phoning it in and getting away with it because he’s David Warner.

Mortal Passions is Late Night Cinemax at its trashiest best!

Cinemax Memories: Stormswept (1995, directed by David I. Fazer)

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Brad recently told me that he missed out on Late Night Cinemax in the 90s so, for this week, I’m going to review a few films from the era. I’m going to start with Stormswept, which is currently available on Prime.

Dottie (Melissa Moore) is a Louisiana realtor who has been assigned to show a plantation to Marla (Kim Kopf), an actress. When Dottie enters the main house, she has flashbacks to a traumatic experience that happened years ago. Dottie tries to talk Marla into looking at a different house but both Marla and the crew who are shooting her latest movie are drawn to the plantation. On a stormy night, a game of truth or dare leads to hypnosis, nudity, attempted murder, more nudity, the supernatural, and even more nudity.

Stormswept is the epitome of a 90s Cinemax film. Before Cinemax became a semi-respectable network and all of the old direct-to-video softcore films moved to streaming platforms, late night Cinemax was the main place to see films like Stormswept. Movies like this are why Cinemax was, for the longest time, nicknamed Skinemax. (Even Jerry Seinfeld made a joke about it on an episode of Seinfeld when he said, “People don’t just bump into each other. This isn’t Cinemax.”) Most of the movies that showed up on late night Cinemax in the 90s weren’t very good but, for viewers of a certain age, they were very popular.

So, what about Stormswept? Is it any good? The plot is impossible to follow and the dialogue is so risible that it could have been written by AI but it’s a still a film that, for better or worse, epitomizes an era. Whatever else, Stormswept does generate some atmosphere and, even more importantly, it features some of the most popular B-movie actresses of the 90s. Melissa Moore, Kim Kopf, Lorisa McComas, and Kathleen Kinmont are all featured in the movie and they all give better performances than the material probably deserved. Melissa Moore, who I will admit is one of my favorite Cinemax actresses, is especially good as Dottie. Even though the camera ogles her and, as soon as Moore opens her bedroom door in a towel, it’s obvious that the towel will be on the floor within minutes, Melissa Moore still gives a committed and sincere performance as the only person in the house who truly seems to understand that something bad is going to happen. She is still sympathetic and believable as Dottie and you actually do want to find out the secrets of her past experiences with the mansion.

I should give proper warning here. Stormswept is definitely a softcore film, make no mistake about that. Even by the standards of 90s Cinemax, a few of the scenes are unusually explicit. But, with its game cast and occasionally interesting story, it’s also a pretty good example of what made late night Cinemax memorable beyond the nudity.