All Man Magazine Interview: The King of Sleaze

We encountered Christopher Rage in his spacious loft in the heart of Manhattan. At first glance, the Kingdom of Rage resembles any other exceptionally roomy New York dwelling; look closer, and you see the tools of high-tech video, and enough strictly-for-grownups paraphernalia to intrigue the most jaded sophisticate. Somehow, though, the toys and gadgets don't seem out of place. After all, Christopher Rage is the Master of Sleaze, the man whose videos constitute a veritable catalogue of kink. Let other film-makers opt for glamour boys and pastel photography--Rage has never shied away from the gritty, the grimy, the nasty, or the weird.

He dominates his space, which is filled with his energy-- like a night sky charged with heat lightning. He's wiry and intense, a controlled dynamo with eyes like live coals.

Article (.pdf) from Winter 1987 All Man Magazine available here.

 

Q

Let's start at the beginning. Why did you go into pornography?

A

I think it was delayed rebellion. I'd been consumed with sex from childhood, but was always careful to retain a "good boy" image. I led a double life from my early adolescence, having as much sex as I could get and still maintaining a high profile as the "most likely to succeed" type of student. I finally started to break free after college. I'd done what my parents wanted--got my degree--and then I thought the rest was for me. I was a natural at pornography. I've devoted my life to sexuality--or perhaps been a slave to it. Whatever the analysis, the combination of sex drive and exhibitionism led quite naturally into smut.

Q

Exhibitionism?

A

Well, maybe theatricality. I love performing. Second only to sex. Why not combine the two?

Q

Why the "dark side" of porn? Why not blond surfers?

A

I'm not sure what you mean by the dark side. If there's a single type of thing that I try to capture in my videos, it's passion. I love to see people let go and become animal-like, without regard to how they look or what others will think. We all have that inside us. I love to let go. I love to see people let go. I don't think there's anything in any of my videos that anybody wouldn't be capable of doing with the right person at the right time.

Q

Has art imitated life?

A

My videos are a real and accurate reflection of people and sex acts that I've been interested in. Especially people.

Q

Has life imitated art? Have you changed as a result of your work?

A

Unquestionably. I've worked in videos, in still photography, in live sex shows. I've been exposed to more people's sexuality than most people. I've gotten hundreds of letters from people describing their desires and fantasies, and even casual acquaintances are apt to describe intimate details of their sex lives. One can't see and hear all that without being changed by it.

Q

Does porn still turn you on, or do you have fantasies about people with clothes on?

A

Pornography does not turn me on. Making pornography turns me on. I have fantasies about everybody. Or perhaps I should call it curiosity. I wonder what people look like naked. I wonder what it would take to turn them on. I wonder what is the most outrageous thing they've ever done-? ever will do.

Q

Which celebrities have you fucked with?

A

It depends on what you mean by celebrities. Of course, I've fucked with lots of porno people, but most of that was for videos or live shows, and not just for fun (although it was often fun). Yes, I've had sex with Scorpio, Casey Donovan, Kip Noll, Eric Ryan, J.D. Slater, Denton Crane, Bosch Wagner, Joe Simmons, Jason Daniels, and dozens of others. I heard a rumor that I fucked with Tony Perkins. That's not true. I saw him in his underwear (God, he has a great body!), but it was his lover at the time that I fucked with. The Famous American Playwright--yes. He was my idol at the time. Jean-Pierre Aumont--yes. He picked me up in Central Park on a miserable winter evening and took me back to his hotel. I didn't know who he was at the time. He was a gentle, considerate lover for a night. But for every well-known guy I've had sex with, there have been a hundred who were more important to me for one reason or another.

Q

You've been making videos for a number of years now. How has your work evolved?

A

I appeared in an Arch Brown movie in 1971, and in several after that. I started making my own videos in 1981. I've seen the work of most of my peers and I'd like to think I've stolen only the best ideas. I hope I've gotten better at getting people to be themselves on-camera. Secondarily, I hope the technical quality of my work has improved.

Q

You've had some incredible successes. Let me throw out a few titles--any reactions to these videos, memories about making them? Let's start with Sleaze.

A

The only 16 mm. movie I ever shot. It was the real beginning of my style, although much of what happened was pure accident. I think it holds up remarkably well, and continue to thank PM Productions for the opportunity to make it.

Q

Raunch.

A

It was the video that launched me, really. It was the first small, independent thing I did. It was shot on a shoe-string. It was also the first time I came close to capturing a performer really letting it all go (Dick Mack). It's grainy and crude, but it's still got an appeal.

Q

Manholes.

A

Remarkable for the exceptional performance of Bosch Wagner. What a beauty! What an ass!

Q

My Masters.

A

My best.

Q

Fucked Up.

A

I'll never get a wilder performance on-camera than Casey Donovan turned in there.

Q

Frank Vickers Vol. 1 - Solo

A

The only sleazy body-builder I've ever met. He is a very sexual animal. A real hunk. Watch him in Worship to see him really let go.

Q

What's the video you haven't made?

A

I hope there are lots left. I love getting guys to take off their clothes. I love shocking people. I love sex.

Q

Are you ever afraid a video isn't going to turn out?

A

Every one I make. There are certainly some that are better than others (especially with hindsight). I'm usually most excited about the next one...the one I'm thinking about making.

Q

How does a project take shape for you? Where do you get your ideas?

A

I don't have any ideas. I have people. My entire effort is to find hot guys and get them to be relaxed and excited enough to show the rest of it. When I see a hot man, I
want him to show me what it's like when he gets turned on. I'm a genuine voyeur with a camera.

Q

What do you look for in your actors--and where do you find them?

A

I look for what I think will turn people on. They all have nice enough bodies and faces, but what really excites me is the devil in their eyes. I find them everywhere. I'm
always looking.

Q

While we're on the subject of actors--in your video Wildside, among your co-stars were a rat, a snake, and a spider. Why?

A

The original title of Wildside was "Animals." The distributor convinced me that the ASPCA would think it had donkeys and dogs in it and bust it. The tape was about humans being animals. Not humans having sex with animals. The rat, snake, and spider were only symbols. No one has sex with them.

Q

Your videos are not of the safe-sex variety. Any comments on the safe-sex films that have appeared on the market?

A

I applaud every effort to educate the public. I do it my way, the safe-sex people do it theirs.

Q

How serious a threat is the new conservatism (Meese Commission, etc.) to the industry in general...and to you?

A

Historically, the more repression, the greater the success of pornography. People always want what they're told they can't have. If it weren't for the uptight assholes re?
pressing other peoples' sexuality, most of this wouldn't be exciting to anyone. People have become blase about porno movies in the time I've been involved. I worked on The Devil in Miss Jones when it first opened, and it was a sensation. Now, everyone has seen them, and most people don't care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home. I emphasize the words "consenting" and "adults."

Q

You began as a writer. Do you see yourself ever abandoning video and going back to writing?

A

I published 26 (mostly heterosexual) books in my early twenties. I learned a tremendous amount about writing and about burn-out in those two years. I've written several hundred songs and a number of articles since then. I will always write, I assume. I'll make videos as long as I enjoy making them.

Q

You mention songs. I know you've been deeply involved with music, including writing texts for hymns and anthems. How do you reconcile hymns and anthems with porn?

A

What's to reconcile? Music is music. Words are words. Different sounds affect people differently. I write different things (and take different pictures) because that's the way I feel at the moment. I had a short opera premiered in Manhattan this year (I wrote the libretto). I don't see any conflict.

Q

You've just finished a new record, "THE SINGING RAGE." Anything you want to tell us about it?

A

Buy it. It's terrific.

Q

Any other forthcoming projects?

A

I hope so. Gotta pay the rent.

Q

If you retired tomorrow, what work would you like to be remembered for?

A

I hope I never retire. "Retire" makes it sound like I've been working. I haven't been working. I've been being. I'm as lucky as anyone to get paid for being who I am,
for saying what I want to say, for seeing what I want to see. At any rate, as Jackie Gleason said, "I'd just like to be remembered."

Q

Since you're not going to retire tomorrow...how does it feel to be the Master of Sleaze? How does it feel when you're recognized on the street, or in a bar?

A

I fucking love it.

Q

Would you do it all over again?

A

I still am.

Q

If you could sum it up in a couple of sentences: what makes you tick?

A

People. Sex. (Are those sentences?)