Sextool
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sextool (1975) is a film by Fred Halsted.
It was intended to be a crossover success. Like L.A. Plays Itself and Sex Garage, it was produced, written, directed, edited, photographed, and starred in by Halsted. It is centered around a party where a relatively innocent-married young man discovers the diverse sex practices of a dozen people. Sextool explores a fantasy Los Angeles populated by policemen, boxers, leathermen, a sailor, and one questionably straight man squiring his American transgender paramour. Whites are chauffeurs for the blacks, and two cops rape someone in the police station. The topic of the movie, according to Halsted, was "sexual politics." It has been described as an "art work" and not immediately appealing to those who watch gay porn for sexual purposes.
Halsted chose to use 35 mm film, hoping the movie would get shown in art houses, but the film only puzzled or offended the theater managers. Few of the theaters that did show gay pornographic movies had 35mm projectors. As a result, the film received very limited distribution. The use of the more expensive film meant Halsted was not able to shoot much transitional material, leading to a choppy effect.
The Museum of Modern Art, as a result of the success of the showing of L.A. Plays Itself and Sex Garage, acquired a copy of Sextool for its collection.
