AllMovie

Unlike his sleazy, anti-erotic Dark Bros. porn films, director A. Gregory Hippolyte's mainstream efforts tend to be sleek, stylish, and erotic like this popular item, a kinky thriller based on a true story. Maxwell Caulfield (Grease 2) plays a voyeuristic cop, and Shannon Whirry is his neglected wife. They start bringing home tricks from a classified ad, and Whirry plays with them while Caulfield covertly observes via hidden camera from another room. At first it appears that the couple has solved their marital problems, but things get ugly when one of sleazy bar owner David Carradine's goons answers an ad and gets dirt on the heroes. Caulfield is forced to videotape his wife with Carradine's political rival (Jan-Michael Vincent) in order to protect himself. The angry Caulfield then tries to turn the tables on Carradine, who is blackmailing him, and ends up marked for murder. A solid genre entry, silkily photographed and filled with familiar faces and great bodies, Animal Instincts is one of the more entertaining entries in a seemingly endless cycle, and was followed by two sequels.