After the smashing success of Behind the Green Door, and the more than adequate box-office response of the Mitchell Brothers follow-up Resurrection of Eve, Marilyn Chambers was unquestionably one of the biggest names in the adult industry. The respect these movies inspired within the ‘porno chic’ era, and the convincing chops Ms. Chambers had, served as a platform for a crossover to mainstream. So Marilyn tried to shed the porn star image and pursued a legitimate acting career. She had the lead role in David Cronenberg’s Rabid in 1977, and flirted with parts in movies that starred established character actors like Jack Nicholson and Rip Torn. Sadly, Marilyn found out that getting rid of the porn star tag was a lot harder than it seemed. So after being presented with the right project, with a big budget and other famous co-stars, she agreed to go back to porn in 1980 and shoot Insatiable.

Stu Segall (here under the name Godfrey Daniels), known as a mainstream film and television producer, did a solid job directing the movie. Chambers plays a famous heiress, model and actress named Sandra Chase. In spite of seemingly having everything, her life is full of loss and sexual frustration. After the death of her parents, Sandra replaces love in her life with her quickly rising sexuality. She decides to take what she wants unapologetically and has fun with it.

The plot is simple and it’s more about the backstory than the current or future events. The only thing that matters in the present seems to be Sandra’s sexual fantasies being fleshed out. The pacing feels natural, though, not rushed at all.

Really, the entire movie revolves around Marilyn Chambers, who does a pretty good job, sexually and otherwise. Even when she’s not the one having sex in a scene, they still cut to her masturbating to the thought of the other people who are fucking in the story. She even sang the movie theme!

Another thing worth pointing out is the significantly big budget. We have helicopters bringing actresses to mansions, Ferraris being driven in open roads, and tons of exterior shots on location in London. It was one of the last adult films to enjoy this kind of privilege.

There’s also a cute/clever inside joke in the initial minutes of the movie. When she opens the closet, there’s a box of Ivory Snow, a reference to her famous pre-porn commercial that got huge after Behind the Green Door, which Marilyn subtly acknowledges with a smirk.

Two things were a little off for me during most of Insatiable. The first one is the title seemed a tad misleading. Sandra came off like a woman with a healthy sexual appetite, sure, but maybe not to the extent they promoted. The second thing was that even though he also got top billing, I was left thinking, “Man, John Holmes is not in this movie!” However, these two theories are strongly disproven in the last six minutes. As a truly sweaty and insatiable (there we go!) Marilyn Chambers is begging her three companions not to leave her, Big John comes in to save the day. In a rare tender moment, John cleans up some of the other dude’s ejaculate from her face and kisses her gently. Then proceeds to do Holmes-esque stuff, naturally; which is a lot for many people, but clearly not for Sandra Chase. She wants more. She’ll always want more.

The film has been ridiculously popular since it premiered. It was the top selling video in the United States from 1980 to 1982, and even won the ‘Best Classic DVD’ at the 2004 AVN Awards. To this day it remains one of the biggest adult films of all time, and it’s easy to see why.