Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Hungarian Hostel

Yay! I'm alive and well, and I am back in Munich after my train journey to the east. Unlike Jonathan Harker, I didn't go all the way to Transylvania, only as far as Budapest. But it was a great, memorable, delightfully dark adventure nonetheless. I'm still brimming with the adrenalin of it all. As most of you will have gathered, the spanking movie shoot I announced before my departure was with Mood Pictures. I'm proud and thrilled to bring you the first ever behind-the-scenes report from the notorious Hungarians.

I wasn't just visiting them in my capacity as intrepid reporter and blogger, though. I also acted in my first full-length, professional CP film, and along the way, I even managed to fulfil one of my kinky new year resolutions: adding one more nationality to my list of "victims". I now have Hungarian blood on my hands. Or rather, on my cane, and quite literally, too. Overall, I think it was a pretty successful trip.


Mood Pictures are famous (and infamous) for producing extremely hard CP videos that are certainly not for everyone. They firmly occupy the "shock horror" niche among spanking movie makers, and comparisons with films like Hostel aren't very far-fetched. Some of their stuff is too gory even for an admitted severity freak like me (I don't mind blood and broken skin, but I prefer it when the marks are neat and orderly instead of all over the place). Generally speaking, though, I am a big fan of Mood Pictures and count them among my favourite producers. They don't make elaborate historical epics like RGE / Lupus or good old-fashioned CP fantasies like most of the British producers, but they have their own unique "torture porn" appeal, and they do what they do extremely well. As a sadist, I find their vicious caning and whipping scenes highly enjoyable.

Judging from the huge popularity of their videos (and the amount of traffic I get from their site), there are plenty of people who share my taste. But despite the fact that Mood are one of the most in-demand and commercially successful spanking film producers, not a lot is known about them. After undercover agent Niki Flynn shed some light on Lupus Pictures (Czech Republic) and Pain4Fem (Austria / Slovakia), the Hungarians remained the last of the great Eastern mysteries. Until now, that is (sorry, Nikita, but I get to unravel this one).

When a strange company based in a former Eastern bloc country starts putting out super-severe corporal punishment films, it sparks all sorts of urban legends on the forums of the English-speaking spanko community. It happened with Lupus Pictures, and a few years later, the same thing happened with Mood. Ironically, perhaps, the two most widely believed legends contradict each other. The first one is that the videos aren't truly consensual - that poor, starving Eastern European girls are exploited by ruthless pornographers. The other rumour is that the videos are fake, that it is all make-up and special effects.

Of course, neither of these rumours is true. But even after Niki wrote at length about her work with Lupus (followed by others like Adele Haze), some people still choose to believe the old myths. I don't suppose that my testimony about Mood Pictures will convince them, either. By definition, no amount of evidence will ever convince a conspiracy theorist. So I will say it only once, for the record: the Mood Pictures videos are produced in a consensual manner, and the CP action is one hundred percent real.

Anyone with a shred of common sense can see that, anyway. After all, why put in the time and effort to fake a severe CP video when it is much cheaper and easier to just film a real one? Or why would you coerce people and risk getting in trouble with the law when there is no shortage of volunteers? There are enough girls (not starving, not poor) who are quite willing to take a hard thrashing on camera, you know. So there simply is no reason for coercion or complicated fakery. If you insist on believing in the conspiracy theories, I can't help you. But the fact is, I have visited Mood Pictures, I've seen a shoot with my own eyes, and I have caned two girls myself. You haven't.


So, on that note, let's get to these facts and to the truly interesting part of my story. I've been keeping an eye on Mood Pictures from the very beginning. The company was founded some five years ago by two spanking movie fans from Budapest, calling themselves Pedro and Pablo (after film director Pedro Almodóvar and painter Pablo Picasso). I soon took note that there was a new and promising producer there, and I actually wrote my first ever spanking film review about one of their videos back in 2004 (under another pseudonym). My email correspondence with Pedro also goes back to that year. As a penpal, I've known him even longer than Niki. But we didn't meet in person until a few months ago, when he was on holiday in Bavaria. I got a one-line mail one day saying: "Hi, currently I am in Hohenschwangau. Beautiful!" I said great, if you happen to travel through Munich, let's get together.

Pedro did travel through Munich, so we met at his hotel and talked for a few hours in the bar (we also frequently went outside, because he smoked half a pack of Pall Malls). It was a very interesting chat and, among other things, the idea took shape of maybe doing a movie together someday. While Pedro prefers F/F spanking action, Pablo likes M/F, so there might be a part for me in one of the films scripted and directed by him. I said I'd be delighted to work with them, and that I would write a behind-the-scenes report for the blog.

We also discovered that we share a special fondness for the old Rigid East classic Wild Party. Pedro cites it as his main inspiration for trying his own hand as a spanking film producer one day. It's exactly the kind of video he likes, and you can see it in the usual Mood Pictures formula: lots of different girls, lots of very hard punishment, and just enough backstory to create a CP fantasy scenario instead of merely a sequence of beatings. Pedro freely admits that his main focus is on the action. He doesn't aspire to make the kind of intricate historical drama or dark comedy that Lupus put out these days. At the same time, he wants his movies to be more than just brutal thrashings without context, which is something he finds utterly boring. It's important for him to have a proper fictional backdrop for the action, something that sticks to memory and provides a bit of immersion. Pedro sums it up like this: "I am not interested in stories. I'm interested in situations."

The "situations" Pedro is interested in are often straight out of classic exploitation cinema. Indeed, one could regard Mood Pictures as its equivalent in the spanking film industry. There are women in prison ("The Santiago Prison"), girls kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery ("Enslaved") and hot young nuns whipping each other in a convent ("Hour of Penitence"). Mood made a controversial homage to the 1970's sexploitation flick Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS, called "Gestapo" (Pedro emphasises that the movie is a non-political spanking fantasy, and that he absolutely detests Nazism and the real Nazi atrocities). After the recent banking meltdown, they released a video titled "Crisis": "During the 2008 financial crisis, a manager of an investment company must fire a few stockbrokers. How will he decide which ones to fire?" I guess you know how (the ones who agree to be severely caned can stay!). This is the kind of rapid B-movie making Roger Corman would have been proud of.

The film I ended up starring in (which will be out in a few weeks) is another prison scenario. It is "documentary style" with a voiceover narration, something a little different from what Mood Pictures have done before. I play one of the guards, and because I don't speak any Hungarian, it is mostly a mute role (I have one line - acting awards, here I come!). During the non-CP scenes, I'm the sidekick guy who escorts prisoners, takes their fingerprints, puts handcuffs on them, opens cell doors, writes down a schedule on a piece of paper - that sort of thing.

I didn't mind not doing any real acting in my first full-length spanking video. Actually, I kind of welcomed it, because it would allow me to get familiar with the environment of a professional shoot without too much responsibility resting on my shoulders. I could just concentrate on taking in all the impressions and making mental notes for my blog report. And if I did another film with Mood, we could still go for something more ambitious with a German- or English-speaking role.

So I didn't have to memorise any lines in the days leading up to the trip. I did a lot of caning practice on a pillow, though, because the plan was that I was going to thrash one girl (I ended up doing such a good job of it, they tossed me another one). When I arrived at my hotel in Budapest, I was dismayed to find that the room was too confined to do any proper full-arm swings. It was probably all for the better in light of the noise, and I already had blisters on my hand from all the "pillow practice", anyway (seriously, I did). I was too excited to sleep much, so I spent most of the night watching BBC News. Tops get nervous before a shoot, too, you know. But it was good nervousness, the kind that energises you. I was really looking forward to the day ahead.

Pedro picked me up from the hotel in the morning. We had a good laugh when I told him about my ominous departure post. He lurks here occasionally, but hadn't seen that one yet. We were among the last of the cast and crew to arrive at the studio. It is a pretty large ground-level building with many rooms and, appropriately enough, windows behind bars. The entry room was a sort of relaxation area, crowded by beautiful, soon-to-be-chastised Hungarian girls who were sitting around, chatting and smoking (all Hungarians smoke, all the time). Regular Mood star Victoria Young was there, but most of the girls were apparently newcomers, and I didn't recognise any others.


They were certainly pretty, though. On the way, Pedro had explained to me that it would be a big production, to be released in two parts, with over half a dozen spanking victims. "Enough for everyone!" he laughed. I could see that. My gaze went from one girl to the next. Enough indeed, I thought, in quantity as well as quality... Wow. And while I'm being a total, superficial chauvinistic pig here, I might as well admit that the "candy store" analogy did come to mind - a candy store for sadists. I also had a flash of Ben Kingsley as the former secret police torturer in Death and the Maiden, saying: "I couldn't think straight. And inside, I could feel I was starting to like it... They lay the people out, flesh on the table, in the fluorescent light!"

We went deeper into the building. Crew members were setting up cameras and lighting equipment, assembling props for the different "prison locations", activity everywhere. Pedro introduced me to Pablo, who would be directing the film. After a brief welcome chat, they pointed me to a clothes stand with prison guard uniforms. Grey, archaic design, probably from the 1950's Communist era. Pedro handed me one: "Try this one." I went into a corner of the room to put down the bag containing my canes and change into the uniform.

It seemed to be a good fit.

(To be continued in a few days in part two of my behind-the-scenes report.)

18 comments:

! said...

Oh that sounds so exciting! Can't wait until it comes out - If Mood takes bank transfers, then I might just be able to buiy this one =)

And yes, you were right - this is a really good, high quality post. Can't wait for part 2!

SPANKEDHORTIC said...

"I'm proud and thrilled to bring you the first ever behind-the-scenes report from the notorious Hungarians."

"I've seen a shoot with my own eyes, and I have caned two girls myself. You haven't." - You could have put Na na, na na na! after that one :-)

"I was going to thrash one girl (I ended up doing such a good job of it, they tossed me another one)."

Honestly Ludwig, you have to resist this tendency of being so overly modest and stop shying away from talking yourself up a bit.

Rib poking aside, that was a fascinating report and I am desperately awaiting part 2.

Prefectdt

Ludwig said...

Prefect: Well, you know me, modesty isn't one of my strengths. I have so many others, though...

But all kidding aside, I think most of my readers understand (as I'm sure you do) that I am not all that serious in self-congratulatory passages like: "I ended up doing such a good job of it..." I'm just poking fun at my megalomaniac self (not for the first time), and you're more than welcome to join in with a bit of rib poking.

Of course I'm proud, there is no denying that. I'm proud that I've been in my first professional CP film, that I did a reasonably good job of the topping, that all the caning practice paid off, and that I'm the one who gets to bring the spanking community the first behind-the-scenes look at Mood Pictures. I put a lot of heart and soul into this and I'm thrilled that it all worked out. But I'm not losing the ground under my feet and I am not taking myself deadly seriously. More than anything else, I just feel fortunate.

Also more than anything, I'm glad that I can bring you something more exciting to read than my usual dry philosophical ramblings. As much as I enjoy writing those (hey, hopefully one or two people even enjoy reading them...!), this is something else. I hope that I'm able to transmit some of the excitement and contentedness I feel to the readers through these posts. I just want to share that.

Indy said...

Gosh, Ludwig, you make a rather convincing prison guard. But shouldn't the uniform have some indication of your unusually high rank for such a task?

Seriously, thanks for the entertaining tale and congratulations on your first full-length film!

Anonymous said...

wow-I loved Budapest before...but now! Little did I know! Go to the Carpathian mountains next-the Romanians are just as lovely.

Caroline Grey said...

I'm really glad I found this blog! I'm a bit terrified of these types of films, but find them fascinating as well...I guess it's the same thing, in the end. :)

I've linked you on my blog, hope you don't mind!

Anonymous said...

@Ludwig:

"Also more than anything, I'm glad that I can bring you something more exciting to read than my usual dry philosophical ramblings. As much as I enjoy writing those (hey, hopefully one or two people even enjoy reading them...!), this is something else."

I'm one of those people who definitely enjoy your philosophical ramblings a lot! But of course this report is very exciting, too. :-)

K'Ehleyr

Anonymous said...

... I did a lot of caning practice on a pillow, though, because the plan was that I was going to thrash one girl.....

So how come (Lady) Jessica's canes are always all over the place??? Doesn't she do pillow practice??? Will you please ask MOOD what happened to POKEMON as she used to administer careful canings that were hard enough and properly distributed over the ass???

Congs on the excellent achievement by the way.

bripuk said...

What a great insight into Mood
So many questions for the second part
Did the girls seem apprehensive about their caning.
What was their attitude when they saw the first girl get beaten.
Was any lotion put on their bottoms after they had been caned.
Please give us the inside story

Anonymous said...

I am one of those people who thoroughly enjoy your blog, Ludwig, even your "usual dry philosophical ramblings".

But I admit: Never have I been waiting more eagerly for a new posting of yours than now. And only now do I realize the slight sadistic streak in your oh-so-regular update schedule...

PS: I see your caning practice paid off. As one photo proves, you're able to hit a butt with your eyes closed ;-)

Ludwig said...

Indy: It should, but it doesn't. Maybe they simply didn't have enough shoulder rank insignia in this 1950's Communist prison, because of the inefficient planned ecnomomy?

Come to think of it, I have no idea which era the movie is set in, if any.

Caroline: No, I don't mind at all. Thanks for the link.

K'Ehleyr: I know you like my philosophical ramblings. I regard them as one of the strengths of this blog, and they will always remain a feature. At the same time, I'm glad that my readers get to see some "action" now. I aim for a good balance between the two in the future.

Anonymous (2): Indeed, Lady Jessica's accuracy is far from perfect. On the plus side, she is reliable to work with and takes care of most of the spoken lines, and that seems to have been enough to make her Mood's main domme in recent years.

I met Pokemon during the shoot. She is still doing the model's hair (her original job) and, as far as I know, has no interest in acting / topping at the moment.

Bripuk: Your questions will be answered in the third and final part of the behind-the-scenes report, which deals with the CP scenes. The second part which I just posted covers the shoot up until then.

Arjuna: Yeah, I blinked during that photograph. It's a posed still shot, the photographer takes them when the filming of the actual CP scene is over.

Anonymous said...

Wow Ludwig! What a scoop! Congratulations! I am envious of course, but you have earned this unique experience of being in a Mood film. You work seriously with people and their activities, you produce a serious blog. And when needed (by whom?) you put your own butt on the line.
I too have been a fan of Mood since their start, and have at times also corresponded a bit with Pedro. But not like you.
I look forward to seeing your art of the cane. Of course I must buy that film. I've got or have seen all the others, except the very most recent.
I have liked also some of the action in their Elite Pain films, and I enjoy very much Mood Castings. Hardcaning has had some kind of connection to the Mood people too I think?
One question about the people you met in Mood studio: did they all speak English or German? Was it easy to socialise?
One other question: I hear my great fav Lara C Nord has gone to live in the UK. Did you hear any rumors about her?
And the BIG question, that you surely asked yourself before going: HOW can a lot of those Hungarian girls take such hard canings often without yelling or kicking, just with a tiny 'umph'?
Did you ask the girls in your shoot?
And last: true that the Mood people are part of some bdsm club or society there?
Keep up your good writings in your own and other blogs, dear fellow Ludwig!
(We should meet some day.........)

Ludwig said...

Frants: Thanks for your kind words about my blog and the work with Mood. The first part of the film will come out in the next few days, but you will have to wait a little longer to see my skill with the cane - both my CP scenes are in the second part, which will be released in the second half of March.

"Hardcaning has had some kind of connection to the Mood people too I think?"

Hardcaning went out of business because of excessive video piracy and home-made problems. I believe that, since then, some of their people have gone on to work with Mood. But there was never an official connection that I know of.

"One question about the people you met in Mood studio: did they all speak English or German? Was it easy to socialise?"

Pedro and Pablo are quite fluent in English, as was Lady Jessica and one of the other dommes. Max Lomp doesn't speak much English, so somebody was translating when we talked. Some of the girls knew a little English and / or German.

"I hear my great fav Lara C Nord has gone to live in the UK. Did you hear any rumors about her?"

No, I didn't hear anything about her. She was an interesting girl - I might ask Pedro what became of her, but it isn't certain that he knows it himself!

"And the BIG question, that you surely asked yourself before going: HOW can a lot of those Hungarian girls take such hard canings often without yelling or kicking, just with a tiny 'umph'?"

I'm not sure what you are talking about - there is plenty of yelling and kicking in the Mood Pictures videos, from the majority of the girls, I'd say. But different people have different reactions to pain, so there are some who have less vocal, silently suffering, "lip biting" reactions.

There was one girl like that in "South American Vacation" (very sexy), and Avril from "Sweet Revenge" was pretty restrained as well - even though she, too, let out a few proper screams when the caning got harder. And there are other examples. Like I said, at the end of the day, it's simply a matter of individual reaction - some people kick and holler, others just clench their teeth. Doesn't mean that the second kind are feeling less, though!

"Did you ask the girls in your shoot?"

The girls in our shoot were all pretty vocal during the CP. The two I caned certainly were! *grins*

"And last: true that the Mood people are part of some bdsm club or society there?"

I know that Pedro isn't. He is only interested in making movies and doesn't care much for the local BDSM scene. As for the others, I haven't asked them, but I don't think that they are part of the scene, either. Max Lomp or Nelly might be.

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered about the mind-set of those young E.European girls who take such hard spanking and caning. I assume that most, if not all, are NOT spankos and only do it for the money.
In that case what goes through their minds before and after a session having their tender young arses thoroughly dealt with, leaving stripes and bruises?
Any info on that Ludwig?
FatherJon

Ludwig said...

FatherJon: That is correct. Most of the models aren't spankos and do it only for the money. I write in detail about that in part two of my behind-the-scenes report. They are not desperately poor or starving girls, though. They are people who want the extra cash rather than needing it, so I'm fine with that.

On a personal level, it's more interesting to work with fellow kinky enthusiasts. But I have no moral objections to thrashing vanilla girls, as long as what they do is a truly free choice and there is no exploitation of crippling poverty. It certainly is a lot of sadistic fun, no complaints there. *grins*

What goes through their minds before and after the thrashing? I can only speculate, but I'm sure that it differs from person to person.

Of course, there is visible nervousness and anticipation before the CP. They deal with it in different ways - some appear tense and introverted, others brave and quite relaxed. Some of the girls are cheerful and smiling and chatting a lot, others keep more to themselves. I got the impression that some of them quite enjoyed the "adventure" of the shoot and being on the set, even though they are not into the actual CP.

Afterwards, the reactions differed, too. Most of the girls were sobbing uncontrollably and took a few minutes to regain their composure when the thrashing was over. Another one started smiling and giggling as soon as the cameras were off, in a mixture of shock and happiness. What all of them had in common was a huge and obvious feeling of relief, which they showed in different ways. It rubs off on you, and it is quite addictive to behold, really.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that, Ludwig.
Father Jon

Anonymous said...

1). Some gay/bisex or with men instead of women being abbussed in CP productions would be welcome. I've never seen something like that done by male performers and many ladies/gay clients would enjoy that.

2). Stay away from Rumanians! They are... evil! They have no honour. And no real enthusiasm for anything at all.

Ludwig said...

Anonymous: 1) There are plenty of "gay" (M/M) spanking sites out there. I even have two premier ones on my link list, as a matter of completeness - Discipline4Boys
and Spanking Central. Both of them are quite severe.

I sometimes take a look at them out of general curiosity, and the videos are usually very nicely done (much better than the average F/M garbage). But ultimately, being a straight guy myself, I don't get anything out of M/M on an erotic level. So I'm not going to write about it on the blog, except for a one-off "look at the other side" post someday, perhaps.

2) As for Romanians being evil and having no honour, well... I've been to Romania myself, I have some friends there and, needless to say, they are perfectly nice people. So I hope you are only trolling and not serious. Either way, keep it to yourself, mmm-kay? Thanks.