(1984)

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5/10
Cracks in the Facade
cricharddavies24 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The third film in this notorious series is most interesting for what it doesn't say, as opposed to what it does. In many ways, it actively contradicts what has gone before, and there's a disturbing subtext. (And given the subject of its maintext, that's saying something.) To begin with, we have Kay Parker and Honey Wilder returning to the roles they played in the first two films. However, while Parker's character mentioned that her son (who was also her lover) had gone off to live with his father in Taboo II, in this one he seems to have been living with her for a while ... only to suddenly abandon her, leaving her with her other son (played by Jerry Butler.) Meanwhile, Wilder's marriage has disintegrated and she's now shacked up with *her* other son (not the son she was schtupping in Taboo II.)

I don't think anyone needs a guide to what's going to happen here. Parker and Wilder end up knocking boots with each other's sons, as well as their own, and said sons have lots of other sexual encounters. But it's with this film that the series begins to show a problem of sustainability. Put bluntly, adult films can't realistically argue for monogamy, or even on-going relationships, so while the previous film ended with Wilder's marriage weirdly rejuvenated by the various incestuous couplings going on, it's described as over here. The film ends with Parker breathily announcing that she feels beautiful, but in subsequent films her character becomes more and more stressed as a result of the taboo that she's violating. So even as the films seem to be showing incest as "fun for everyone", they also portray it as damaging. Realistic, yes, but not really the sort of thing that audiences enjoy ...
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7/10
Will appeal to MILF lovers
Lynnston12 October 2022
Not as intense as the first two in the series, Taboo 3 is weakened by the unaccountable presence of a second son, though Jerry Butler younger than Mike Ranger is a bit more believable. It is all shot with more thought and intelligence than the average explicit sex flick of the time, such as the scene where Barbara gazes at the rear view of Jerry as he humps fickle girlfriend Lisa Lake, capturing her conflicting emotions. This leads to her walking in on sexy Honey Wilder with Blake Palmer making the ensuing threesome another erotic encounter. Could be said Honey has taken over the role of sexpot mentor to Barbara previously realised by Juliet Anderson, and their seduction of pizza man Marc Wallice will be appreciated by lovers of sexually rampant mature women. Barbara's inevitable romp with Jerry is prefaced by her voluptuous figure climbing into a sexy outfit, while the very final scene of her looking radiant and happy as she looks forward to more adventures, in contrast to her angst expressed earlier, makes for an uncompromising and upbeat conclusion.
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7/10
Confusing but interesting
RONY-328 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The movie begins with Barbara from the first movie learning her son Paul whom she had an incestuous relationship with. Has left apparently because he wants the relationship to end. But in the first movie he was the one who wanted it to Go on and Barbara was against it . So she took on a lover to be her shield. In the second movie, Barbara said Paul moved in with his father, I assume because Barbara Didnt want to continues with him. But now in this movie we are led to assumeBarbara's the one who 's pursuing Paul which is why he left. And she has another son whom we never saw before. And like Paul he cant Help but be enamored by his mother. And Joyce Ma bride from the second movie is her friend even though they Didnt interact in the second movie and like Barbara has sex with her son, junior, who doesnt appear in this movie. But she has another son who was not the previous movie, and she decides to seduce him, too.
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3rd Times A Charm
chaosnbeer23 March 2004
Taboo III brings back Kay Parker as the star focusing on the character of Barbara Scott again who is still lusting for her son Paul who has moved out. She lives with her son Jimmy the infamous Jerry Buttler and his girlfriend who Barbara disaproves of. This 1984 film reeks of 80's in terms of the subplot about Jimmy's rock band trying to score a record deal , and the music has gotten way more cheesy since the first two making it all the better. The main problem with this film though is the picture is wayyy too dark suffering from a dark tint making the scenes hard to watch and it runs way to long for a porno movie 95 minutes. Still a good watch...look for Ron Jeremy as the record producer classic scene

9/10
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8/10
A further exploration of the pleasure principle
StevePulaski2 September 2015
Kirdy Stevens original Taboo sits as one of my favorite pornographic films of all time. Its eloquent and honest depiction of incest, in a way that's accessible and understandable to anyone willing to forgo judgment and willing to give it the time of day, is extraordinary, and, with the gorgeous Kay Parker at the center, the film helped pioneer the "MILF" and "mature" genres into mainstream pornography (it has taken many years, but now it there's a bigger interest in 'incest porn' as well). Stevens' sequel to the film, however, was a subpar example of a film that was never intended to exist, and the end result was a film so ordinary and lackluster that it stripped the taboo element away from the film, making it just another run-of-the-mill skinflick with little substance.

Taboo III: The Final Chapter, even with its gaping plothole (I'll reserve my dirty pun here), is a lot of fun and returns to capturing the spirit of the original Taboo. The familiar characters are back, the combination of humor and guilt is embedded into the screenplay once more, and the sex is as filthy and taboo as ever. After taking timeout from her to focus on an entirely different family in Taboo II, our focus returns to Barbara Scott (Kay Parker), who's loneliness returns when her son Paul suddenly moves out, to which her focus becomes on her younger son Jimmy (Jerry Butler). Barbara finds herself increasingly jealous of Jimmy's girlfriend, similar to when she found Brian's girlfriend a simple tart that took him away from his mother in the original Taboo.

Barbara can't take her mind off of Jimmy, so she confides in her friend Joyce (Honey Wilder), who is having sex with younger son Brian (Blake Palmer) since Gregory is away. Barbara, who still has Paul on her mind, wants to try and seduce her son Jimmy, but her better judgment tells her not to after her obsession for Paul grew deeper and deeper when she began having sex with him. It doesn't help that Jimmy and Brian are both involved in a band that is struggling to get the attention of record labels in the meantime their mothers are making attempts to have sex with them.

Hormones flare, sex occurs between different parties (Joyce and Brian, Joyce and Jimmy, Barbara and Jimmy, etc), and the ominous but inviting title is earned for this film. The aforementioned plothole comes from the fact that neither Jimmy nor Brian were ever mentioned in either of the previous Taboo films by any character, evident that Stevens and the production company couldn't foresee the longevity of this franchise.

The sex in Taboo II reminded me a lot of the sex in Mona: The Virgin Nymph because, despite the raw and unadulterated subject matter, the sex was messily filmed, depressingly tame, and wholly unremarkable. With Taboo III, the romanticism between the characters is restored due to the fact that the characters work to rekindle the heart and soul they possessed in the first film, through honest conversations about love and emotions, and Stevens decides to make the film as explicit as the original. Almost every sex scene, from the casual fellatio to the compromising position that's everyone's favorite number, has a tender, romantic side to its eroticism, giving the film that extra edge.

This is where I depart on the Taboo train, however, despite finding two-thirds of my ride successful. As of today, the Taboo franchise has extended itself to twenty-three films; maybe later on down the road I'll find myself perusing the other twenty films. The latter sequels, except for the fourth one, don't include Kay Parker, the heart and soul of the film, and after this particular endeavor, judging from stray clips I've seen of selected films, the focus becomes more on the sex than the themes of the story, as modern porno sequels usually do. There's a thinkpiece somewhere in all of this, and, like the twenty sequels I still have to get through, maybe one day I'll tackle it; I'll save that taboo for another day.

Starring: Kay Parker, Honey Wilder, Jerry Butler, and Blake Palmer. Directed by: Kirdy Stevens.
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8/10
Another solid entry in this popular porn series
Woodyanders8 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Barbara Scott (ably played with touching vulnerability by the great Kay Parker) and Joyce McBride (a personable portrayal by the yummy Honey Wilder) become close friends do the fact that they have both had incestuous relationships with their sons. Moreover, Barbara starts having lustful feelings for her youngest son Jimmy (an engaging turn by the hunky Jerry Butler).

Director Kirdy Stevens and screenwriter Helene Terrie not only recapture the blithely perverse erotic charge of the classic original pretty well, but also neatly explore the weighty themes of guilt, jealousy, and repression. The sex scenes are really explicit and arousing, with the sequence in which Barbara and Joyce seduce lucky pizza delivery boy Billy (likable Mike Wallace) rating as a definite sizzling highlight. Moreover, it's acted with zest by a game and attractive cast, with especially lively contributions from Blake Palmer as Joyce's happy-go-lucky horndog son Brian, foxy blonde Lisa Lake as Jimmy's faithless conniving girlfriend Diane, and Ron Jeremy as a sleazy record producer. Colleen Brennan, Misty Dawn, and Kristara Barrington appear as hot to trot groupies in a dynamic orgy set piece. The rock band angle and the funky-grinding score by Tom McAdams add an extra groovy kick. Good naughty fun.
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Better than No2, but not as good as No 1
goat6614 January 2007
Kay Parker has always been hot. Let me make that perfectly obvious from ball one. Honey Wilder is almost at KP's standard....this is one of her finest offerings no doubt. But unfortunately the two male leads who play the sons are hopeless. Jerry Butler has never looked like he enjoyed being in porn, and Blake Palmer (?) is lame at best as Honey Wilder's son. And there is absolutely no flow on in story from Taboo 2 which makes the title somewhat superfluous. However the pure heat of KP and HW make up for the obvious shortcomings of this film. Both give ripping performances with plenty to like for fans of them. Again, like Taboo 2, could have been so much better, but easily hotter than it's immediate predecessor.
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8/10
Worth watching for the final scene
ctlandman9 April 2020
As other have said, this is a better film than Taboo II, but not as good as the first one. But Kay Parker always delivers, and no exception here; she just knows how to do sex for the camera. As with the original Taboo, the scene with her son Jimmy (Jerry Butler) is the best in the movie. They are both fully engaged, going for it, and the cinematography is just excellent, all light and shadows and angles of their bodies, especially hers. No, this isn't a great movie, but then what porn movie is? But it is better than most porn, certainly most modern porn, and at least watch it for the final scene, and enjoy Kay Parker at the peak of her sexual powers.
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Better Than the Second Film At Least
Michael_Elliott29 January 2017
Taboo III (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Barbara Scott (Kay Parker) is back and she's taking care of her younger son Jimmy (Jerry Butler) who we didn't hear about in the previous two movies. Before long mommy starts to have a burning desire about her youngest son but she keeps fighting off the heat for as long as she can.

TABOO III is certainly better than the second film but once again it too fails to match the original movie. In my opinion the first film was a dramatic picture that tried to deal with a taboo subject in a serious manor. The sequel was a pretty weak attempt to try and push the boundaries of good taste but I found the film to be rather bland and boring. This film here is pretty much a straight sex film but it benefits from having Parker back in the lead role and the main focus of the story.

The continuation story line is obviously rather corny and especially since this son wasn't mentioned in the previous two films but that's easy to overlook. The film, to me, is rather corny at times and there are many unintentional laughs that come from some of the performances and this actually helps the film be slightly more entertaining than the previous ones. I'd argue that songs being played over the sex scenes really don't help matters either since they are just as corny as the acting.

The main reason to watch TABOO III is because Kay Parker. Once again she's extremely beautiful here and while here performance isn't "Oscar-worthy" it's at least good enough to hold your attention and she at least makes you feel as if you're watching a real character and not just some bimbo in a sex movie.
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An Absolute Piece Of Crap!!!
justrich27 August 2008
Shame on Kay Parker for reprising her role. This film is absolutely nothing. With the exception of "Innocent Taboo" (not related to this film...Read my review on it at IMDb) no film/ video with "taboo" in the title after "Taboo II" is worth watching. Taboo American Style in a good porn mini-series, though. I can't explain how disappointed I was that Jerry Butler was in this film. He is just not appropriate for that role! As another reviewer said, "the film is much too dark"...It's difficult to watch, and for me it's even harder for me to accept it as a taboo movie. It is the equivalent of the karate kid part III. Don't get mad at me, I'm just trying to save you about 85 minutes of time!
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