Porn does a Cliff Notes take on Sir Richard Burton's "The Arabian Nights" with the duo A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS 1 & 2 on Blu-ray/DVD combo from Vinegar Syndrome.

After discovering his unfaithful Sultana (Lisa De Leeuw, AMANDA BY NIGHT) in the arms of his general (Herschel Savage, PRETTY PEACHES 2), the Sultan Chaka Khan (John Leslie, ORIENTAL HAWAII) puts them to death and then decides to guard himself against the faithlessness of women by enjoying the talents of one of his harem each night and then putting them to death with the dawn. Scheherazade (Annette Haven, DEEP TANGO), however, uses her gift of storytelling to keep him on the edge night after night as her thousand and one stories dovetail into one another; from Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves to more arousing stories like that of a Greek fisherman (Jon Martin, HOT LUNCH) welcomed into the den of a noblewoman (Nicole Black, LAS VEGAS HUSTLE) who lets him play doctor with her daughters (CO-ED FEVER's Lysa Thatcher and STAR ANGEL's Tigr), or a prince (Paul Thomas, HER WICKED WAYS) whose golden horse takes him as far as the Orient where he beds a married woman (Mai Lin, SEXUAL HEIGHTS) and even into "futuristic" Victorian England where he tangles with a prostitute (Laura Lazare, PURELY PHYSICAL). To ensure her survival, however, her last story will have to make the Sultan fall in lust with her and make her the next Sultana.

Although it boasts a fantastic "golden age" porn cast – also including Joey Silvera (SEXWORLD), Jade Wong (PRISONER OF PARADISE), and Phaery Burd (BODY MAGIC) – the film squanders their abilities beyond the physical with lifeless (sometimes post-dubbed) line readings, cheap sets, photography that seems to be trying to be "steamy" but seems more grainy (courtesy of seasoned Joao Fernandes under the "Teru Hayashi" pseudonym he used for his Brown collaborations), and the use of male narration to cover anything remotely resembling action that cannot be substituted with stock footage (even the fates of the Sultana and the general are barely mentioned), the latter robbing Haven as storyteller. The sex is at least performed with more conviction than anything else but the entire enterprise suggests a disinterest on the part of filmmakers Edwin and Summer Brown who had taken some shots at the mainstream with HUMAN EXPERIMENTS and THE PREY. A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS PART II: THE FORBIDDEN TALE is a marginal improvement.

Sultan Chaka Kahn (Francois Papillon, BABY FACE 2) keeps the peace in his kingdom with sex, giving of himself generously (as evidenced in his opening scene with HOLLYWOOD PINK's Bunny Bleu, BEYOND DESIRE's Kristara Barrington, and INDECENT WIVES' Sandy Summers); but that was not always the case. There was once a time when Kahn's inability to get off was channeled into aggression until his court magician (Jamie Gillis, THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN) came up with a contest to find "the girl with 'it'," handling the initial auditions with such lovelies as fellatio expert Doria (Patti Petite, DEBBIE DOES THE DEVIL IN DALLAS), bosom-sucking Ample (Buffy Davis, BLUE LACE), and a pair of amorous sisters (HELPLESS COEDS' Tami White and SINDEROTICA's Constance Drew) before coming up with three finalists: Lady Vivienne (Keli Richards, DOCTOR LUST) who bribes her way into the contest but brings along swinging support in Alexis Greco (PLEASURE MAZE), Kristara Barrington (BIG BANG), Nina Hartley (DYNAMIC VICES), Joey Silvera (OUI GIRLS), and future porn director Steve Drake (HOLLYWOOD VICE); Mistress Elita (Karen Bree) who wants to teach the Sultan discipline with the help of slave Laya (Jennifer Noxt, HARD CANDY), and Scheherazade (Kari Foxx, LICENCE TO THRILL) who has only the gift of imagination, but boy does she know how to use it.

Not really a sequel so much as the Browns falling back on the idea, utilizing the same costumes, slightly better sets, some of the same supporting cast, but more of a comic tone that gives the whole thing a lighter feel, A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS 2 really benefits from the slick and sharp "porno chic" 1980s photography of "Guido" (who might be THE RIBALD TALES OF CANTERBURY's director Bud Lee who was just about to move onto slick softcore cable fare in the following decade). While Scheherazade has little to do and little screen time, it is ultimately the better of the two films even if the cast is not as distinguished (and some of the more notable faces like Silvera, Barrington, and Hartley are background window dressing more than anything else).