I admired Arch Brown's PIER GROUPS for trying to inject some meaning into typical homosexual porn, but with MUSCLE BOUND he reverts to the clichés of the genre. Result is tedious and ho-hum.

It's basically about guys (who seem overly lonely, a recurring theme implicit in this brand of movie) going to a Times Square emporium where they can indulge in anonymous sex with like-minded guys. A theater marquee nearby advertises Brown's FIVE HARD PIECES, and the once-familiar Howard Johnson's restaurant is visible.

A patina of would-be sci-fi (not really) is injected as a voice on the p.a. system intones "I possess you", and guys are tied up and dominated by someone known as The Provider. With a decent script, real actors and even sound recording this might have been developed into the semblance of a real suspense movie, but all we have here is wall-to-wall manly sex. For the aficionados, besides the b&d content there is also a leather boy and some fisting action, no longer permissible in porn production.

A sort of happy ending is conjured up by a mini-revolt, trussing up the gatekeeper guy and permitting the slaves to exit, out onto the rainy, unforgiving streets of the Big Apple. Back home our two main protagonists have a final smooch.

I never went to a gay hardcore movie back in the day ('70s), and forgetting the explicit sexual content I'm glad I missed the generally depressive mood of so many of these films, at least those not in the "hand-in-hand" romantic porn genre that co-existed with the stronger stuff.

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Muscle Bound

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