Movie Review: Discipline Within the Home

Producer:
Calstar (released in 2003)

Entire Story In Fewer Words Than Are In This Sentence:
Man spanks niece, wife

Victim Appeal:
I'm not a die-hard fan of domestic discipline. My preference goes towards more institutionalised, more ritualistic settings like schools, prisons, the military, mad scientist laboratories and virgin sacrifices. However, California Star produce some domestic-type videos which I find fairly watchable, because they are so unpretentious and unsophisticated, which in my mind suits this particular sub-genre very well. It's one kind of scenario where the usual weaknesses of this company, the lack of elaborate props and costumes, the amateurish technical quality, work in their favour. You feel like watching someone's home videos, and despite all the faux serious scolding, the overall impression is one of light-heartedness and merriment. In this form, I have nothing against the occasional "husband and wife" story.

Of course, for a home video to be entertaining, the people in it have to be entertaining. This is the case here. "Discipline Within the Home" stars two spankees, Natalie and Angela (as usual, Calstar don't give any credits, so I'm calling them by their character names). Angela, playing the wife of the domestic disciplinarian, is a mature brunette. The niece, Natalie, is a tall and slender sexpot with straight blonde hair, a shapely bottom and spectacularly long legs. Very easy on the eyes, that girl (and to be perfectly honest, the main, shamelessly superficial inspiration for this review).

Gratuitous Sadism:
As the movie opens, Natalie is confronted by her "Uncle Joey" about an email he received from her college. In the role, we get the familiar wild-haired bloke who does a lot of Calstar's male topping (he was in the last segment from Lady Vernon's Caning Heaven, for instance). I like him well enough, so it's an auspicious start. Anyway, the message says that the young lady under his guardianship stole the teacher's purse, dropped pins on the teacher's chair... You know, normal schoolgirl shenanigans (at least in CP video land!). It also says that she could benefit from a good spanking, the only trouble is, spanking was abolished at the school ten years ago, so they suggest Uncle Joey take care of it himself. Needless to say, he feels bound to oblige, and so, after some customary lecturing, protesting and surrendering, it's knickers down for Natalie.

Actually, it's "skirt up for Natalie" first, because California Star have their standard progression which they invariably follow. No surprises, never, but at least you know exactly what you're going to get for your money's worth. To start things off, a hand spanking over the knee, over the underwear. The knickers come down for the second part. Next, Natalie bends over the sofa so he can thrash her arse with a leather paddle. After a few minutes of that, Uncle Joey switches to a crop, which is actually a departure from the usual "hand, paddle, cane" formula. Its tip is shaped like the palm of a hand - which raises the question, why does he have this obviously kinky sex shop item lying around in his house? Is it really from his wife's cupboard, as he claims? Never mind. After only four strokes, he goes on to the next implement, another paddle. Last but not least, the cane makes its mark. Some of the strokes are repeated from different camera angles, but by my count, she gets ten "real" ones in total. By the end, Natalie is in tears and has some pretty nice welts.

In the second, somewhat shorter scene of the video, Uncle Joey thrashes his wife for over-spending money on clothes (another perennial favourite among spanko scriptwriters). She goes over his knee and gets smacked over the knickers, then on the bare. The paddle is next and finally the cane, thirteen strokes, some of them from different angles. Like the first segment, it is medium in terms of severity, the normal level for Calstar.

Best Reactions:
Natalie by a country mile. She offers a whole palette of delightful reactions, including long, protracted "Ooows!" and "Aaahs!", high-pitched yelps, surprised hysterical giggling (not an uncommon response when a spankee is on the limit), angry growling through clenched teeth, and quite a bit of swearing ("Fucking hell!"), which she gets properly admonished for. In a word, she suffers beautifully, grimacing and writhing a lot. Halfway through the paddling, Natalie moans "I'm gonna cry!" in a tone that is equal parts apology and plea for mercy. Uncle Joey retorts: "I don't mind. I did expect you to!"

But my favourite moment is when, during the caning, he makes a couple of feint strokes in the air (something I like to do on occasion, too). She flinches in fear, realises that it was just a feint, and angrily hisses: "You fucking bastard!"

Best Line:
When the wife, Angela, is told off about her over-spending, she points out that she didn't just buy clothes for herself, but also for the husband. Running a hand through his hair, she adds: "And while we're about it, we'll get your hair cut and a new pair of shoes as well!" It was a nice jest at the expense of the top, I thought, who really looks a tad out of place in stereotypical "rich guy" roles with his wild mane. Indignant, he replies: "How rude! I have to look like this, you know, for my job. I can't be looking like a straight head all the time!"

I wonder what job that is, where he can't look like a "straight head"? Evidently not a banker or a manager. Maybe he's supposed to be a famous concert pianist.

Nice Psychological Touch:
Uncle Joey keeps reminding his niece that it was all the school's idea, that he doesn't enjoy punishing her, that they suggested he should do it and he's basically bound to carry it out. Now, normally, I'm not fond of tops delegating their responsibility like that (stand up for your own decisions, man!). But in this case, it's kinda funny, because the girl uses the very same tactic, claiming that the mischief with the teacher wasn't really her own idea, that she gets dragged into it by "the crowd", yadda yadda... Like uncle, like niece.

How Good Is It Really?
As Calstar titles go, this one is very good. Obviously, it can't rival the famous Eastern European producers (or some UK producers, for that matter) in terms of professionalism and production values, but there is one wonderfully erotic spanking, paddling and caning session with Natalie, and that is enough to make it a highly enjoyable little video. The girl is gorgeous and her reactions are textbook material on how to make a sadist happy. The other half with Angela is merely average.

What You Learned:
According to one of the countless minions whom I pay to trawl the internet for potentially useful tidbits of information, Natalie aka Natalia also had a career in mainstream porn. My gosh, she looks dumb and bimbo-ish on that photograph! Not nearly as attractive as over Uncle Joey's knee. Good thing she kept her shirt on in "Discipline Within the Home", those tits are just too ridiculously and threateningly huge for this critic's taste.