A definitely non sexy documentary telling the life and death of adult cinema’s most prominent member (so to speak) John Holmes; With Holmes providing the inspiration for the character of Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights and a new movie, Wonderland, out about his life and especially his involvement in the Wonderland murders of the early 1980’s the time is right for a serious examination of the often bizarre life of Holmes.

Blessed with an unnaturally large penis Holmes was a cert when “adult” cinema went hardcore in the late 1960’s and throughout the seventies appeared in hundreds of porn films, often as a dodgy private eye called Johnny Wadd. Always a heavy drug and alcohol user Holme’s life hit in the skids during the late 1970’s when his spiralling drug use left him unable to perform as readily as in his heyday, from there he went further down, getting involved with crime and the underworld and in 1981 getting involved in the murder of four people in Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles, Holmes was prime suspect for the murders, was put on trial but aquitted by the jury who believed his story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – he still found himself spending almost a year in prison on a contempt of court charge though, the police then used Holmes to get to Lebanese businessman Eddie Nash who was also allegedly involved in the murders.  

Obviously Holmes’ career never really recovered from the Wonderland case and in the late he was diagnosed as suffering from AIDs dying in 1988. Without question the most interesting aspect of the doco is the Wonderland section but it’s also interesting for it’s look at how Holmes who really had no direction in his life found his true vocation (that of sleeping with thousands of women) thanks to the public’s appetite for porn.

There are contributions from the likes of Kitten Natividad, Al Goldstein, Ron Jeremy and Gloria Leonard and interestingly the movie is credited to the infamous Alan Smithee ( a well known non de plume in Hollywood for when directors no longer wish to have their name associated with a film). 

EXTRAS: Heaps of deleted talking heads footage (not the band of course but interviewees) as well as trailers for other explicit Umbrella material.