Reflection: More Sex Lies & Depravity (2013) + RARE Photographs

If you’ve missed my first post about the 1st Sex Lies & Depravity film (2012) check it out here first!

The first film was quick to gain distribution in the States, and I started writing the sequel by the summer of 2012, following the completion of the first film in April.

Originally entitled ‘Ethan’, the idea was for this film to shift central character following the events of ‘Jake’. Before release the first film was retitled (by the distributor) Sex Lies and Depravity; this one subsequently became ‘more sex lies and depravity’.

‘lovers’ – Wade and Zac take over the central focus of the story.

Wonderfully most of the cast were up for returning, the ones whose storyline ‘allowed it!’. Jake & Hannah, the predecessors of the original’s central characters, were shifted to the focus of Ethan and his other half Kyle in this film. Lisa returned and now had a storyline with Julie, who took a larger character in this flick. Basically, the supporting roles of the first film found themselves in the main cast, with characters dealing with the fallout of the final events from S.L.D. New characters included two ‘drug dealing thugs’, and though not a new character, very minor in the first film, the role of Heather was returned but played by someone new. Other minor roles included an appearance from Ethan’s mother Natalie, and his sister (who so happens to actually BE my sister!).

I’ll state here, I think the second film is far superior – the best of the bunch! When I say that, no, I don’t think it has the grungy charm of the original, but is a far faster-paced story, with constant action throughout. The first film had almost been a dress rehearsal and everyone upped the ante on this one!

Filming in a Cafe – Summer 2012.

Again, shot in and around Milton Keynes Central, we were fortunate enough to be able to keep all original interior properties for the second film. The only real change was a shoot in Southend on Sea, which we left at 4am for in torrential rain – It didn’t help that Zac and I had been having a pre-filming round of drinks the evening before! Naturally, we shot the beach scenes here, when Ethan and Kyle go on their ‘caravan’ getaway. In reality it was super cold, and poor Victoria (Carla) was on crutches – for real! My best memory is her ironically walking past road printing that said ‘Dead Slow!’. – See below.

Jason started this production with, like the cast, a restored confidence and finesse – It felt like everybody wanted to bring their A-game to this!

Usual hilarity ensured, working on independent films you seem to just attract awkward situations. In the scene in which Heather is sexually assaulted by an older pig, Toyin (actress) was screaming in the back of a car – We’d picked a quiet country lane, that got typically little traffic. However, as is usual, as she is being ‘sexually assaulted’ a couple turns onto the lane walking their dog, they are horrified and quickly turn around (thanks guys!) – Our make-up lead, Niah, chased after the couple assuring them of the filming. They walked by and smiled at us, finally reassured, well, it was either a smile or embarrassment for being a potential bystander to a crime! During a rather ‘romantic’ caravan scene, Victoria humorously put a dildo on the side, and thus, we decided to pop it into the film, and Ethan proceeds then to kick it off the bedside. The caravan was situated on Victoria’s parent’s driveway; it was for sure ‘rocking!’.

Now this film gave me a great gift – I got to smash the fucking shit out of a car! Victoria had found a salvage yard in Bedfordshire, and this became the only expense we paid out for – We purchased the car for £200, and talked them into letting us smash it to bits on site!

More Sex Lies & Depravity flopped upon release, our distributor decided to release it the same day as our then anticipated ‘Boys Behind Bars’ – The failure brought around a halt to the series, but the aforementioned success of ‘Boys’ demanded that we draw attention to making two further sequels. It is a shame, Boy’s Behind Bars (and intentionally so) has nothing on the quality or substance of the SLD films … but it is what it is! An original American copy of SLD2 subsequently became rather rare, and became a deleted title quickly! It is one of my regrets that this film didn’t perform, as most people who enjoyed the franchise, regard this as the best entry – I concur, as did Jason!

The finale of the film saw Ethan and Jake reunited for a showdown – this is probably the most detailed to attention Jason and I ever gave to a scene. It was a long shoot for just minutes of footage – but most worth it!

As streaming continues to rise, as well as a limited edition trilogy released in 2020, More Sex has started to find its audience again, and claim its place as the best entry in the franchise! The soundtrack again was HARDCORE, featuring the return of Honey Bane and her brutal punk sounds. Adiescar Chase with her band, and as solo composer also joined us once more for this film – Adiescar went on to become a highly regarded composer, being nominated for a BAFTA for her music on ‘HeartStopper’.

I mentioned in my last post about the memories being so fond of filming these titles, due to their ‘innocence’, and by that I mean we hadn’t achieved ANY success at this point and were a bunch of young people enjoying being creative. I can say much the same for this film – however, the early signs of wanting to better ourselves to generate more success than previously, were subtle, but there! It is a striking contrast that seven years later we finally did make a final film in the series, and I think I hated every moment of it! It wasn’t working with Jason, or veteran friends like Honey Bane, or Victoria Howlett that I didn’t like, that part is always a pleasure, but the film featured a new cast that didn’t connect, wasn’t working! It was a lesson in itself that sometimes you can’t recreate the past – Sex Lies & Depravity was made fun by all of us cast that honestly enjoyed each other’s company in the first two films. I think the industry, even then was very different!

The Last Sex Lies & Depravity isn’t a ‘terrible’ film, but I think it is apparent that the connection, the magic, and the youthful dreams we once had were gone…

‘More Sex’ back in 2013 upon it’s release marked a turning point in our films – Youth was over! By that, I mean distributors’ demands started, and everyone wanted a say in what Jason and I were doing! For the most part, we resisted but we certainly weren’t free of responsibility any more- and that is why looking at these pictures of those first two films is so wonderful!

Zac, Wade & Victoria – Southend on Sea (C.2012).

Victoria Welton as Mother Price!

Jason ‘hanging out’ – This was my old Rover 25, I drove this away from the ‘drug thugs’ in the film to smash it up! Notice in the film the car I smash is red and NOT a Rover, but you never see the outside of the blue car when stolen!