This film is significantly less interesting than its predecessors for one key reason: it forgets the guilt. The first film was drenched in post-coital shame. Taboo III treats the acts as foregone conclusions. The dialogue is purely functional: "I know we shouldn't, but..." followed immediately by a fade to a sex scene. Kay Parker is still present, but her role is reduced to a supportive matriarch, almost winking at the camera. The taboo has become a sitcom premise. That said, for fans of the genre, this entry is often cited as the most "fun" because it abandons pretense. But for a critic, it marks the point where the series loses its nerve.
What makes the first film remarkable is its restraintāat least for the first hour. Stevens shoots the film like a low-budget drama. The lighting is moody, the dialogue is stilted but earnest, and Parkerās performance is genuinely affecting. She doesnāt play a vixen; she plays a tired, sensual, emotionally starved woman. The famous seduction scene, where she hesitates, cries, and then surrenders, is uncomfortable in the best way. It captures the very real psychological friction of the premise. The sex scenes, by modern standards, are soft-focused and unhurried. This isn't gonzo; it's psychodrama. The filmās successāboth critical and commercialāhinged entirely on Kay Parkerās ability to make you feel the guilt as much as the pleasure. She is the soul of the series. Without her, the taboo is just a gimmick. Taboo I-II-III-IV -1979-1985-
To discuss the Taboo series is to discuss a peculiar, uncomfortable, and undeniably influential pillar of the "Golden Age of Porn" (late 60sāmid 80s). In an era that gave us the narrative ambition of The Devil in Miss Jones and the mainstream crossover of Deep Throat , the Taboo films carved out a darker, more psychologically fraught corner of the adult film landscape. They traded slapstick and disco soundtracks for heavy drapes, Oedipal tension, and the magnetic, maternal presence of Kay Parker. Watching Taboo I through IV (1979, 1982, 1984, 1985) is less a marathon of eroticism and more a case study in how a franchise can begin as a transgressive art piece, find its formula, then slowly devolve into mechanical repetition. This film is significantly less interesting than its
The fourth entry is the oddity. Subtitled The Secret of the Taboo , this film attempts to be a prequel of sorts, exploring Barbaraās past and the origins of her liberal attitudes. It also introduces a convoluted plot about a mysterious diary. Directed by Peter Savage (under a pseudonym, likely), this film feels disconnected from the first three. The dialogue is purely functional: "I know we shouldn't, but