a.k.a. Alexander Hippolyte, The Dark Brothers, Gregg Brown

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One of the few accomplished filmmakers to regularly work in hardcore, Gregory Dark is probably the most talented sex shooter in the industry. Which isn't to say that his stuff is for everyone -- it's most assuredly not. Dark brings porn to the screen that's unlike anyone else's, raw, filth-edged porn that tries to drag the viewer down into the gutter with it. Surrealistic, strange, sweaty piles of human flesh populate Gregory Dark videos, and that's just the way he likes it.

Dark was born in 1952, the son of an occult-obsessed Beverly Hills anthropologist father and a Las Vegas stripper mother. The couple split up when Greg was four years old, his father leaving to pursue his interest in all things occult. Dark heard that his father disappeared in Haiti when he was ten. Meanwhile, his mother embarked on a string of eight more marriages and found little time for Greg. Greg grew up without much supervision or guidance and found himself drawn to sexually-themed literature.

Reading stuff like Henry Miller and the Marquis de Sade at an early age obviously had quite an effect on Dark, as did his early sexual experiments with his mother's 18 year old housekeeper. He sampled oral sex as early as age 11, and lost his virginity at 17 while in the midst of an opium-induced haze.

Dark's fascination with filmmaking began about the same time. He started shooting 8mm shorts while still in his teens. After high school he attended school at Mount St. Mary's but was tossed out after one semester for drug dealing and general delinquent behavior. Eventually Dark moved to Northern California and ended up graduating from Stanford University with a Master of Fine Arts degree. From there, he went on to NYU's prestigious film school. Upon graduation Dark started work in mainstream video and film work, shooting documentaries for the likes of NBC News and the United Nations.

In 1983 Dark was hired to shoot a documentary about the porn industry. The result, 'Fallen Angels,' focused on the dark side of porn and its effects on the performers. Dark's lifelong obsession with sex and strangeness soon got him interested in making his own porno flicks. He hooked up with distributor Walter Gernert and the two dubbed themselves the Dark Brothers. They then released a series of hardcore videos that were destined to turn the porno industry on its collective ear.

Dark found the business to be run by surprisingly conservative folks, people more attuned to the desires of an older crowd. He threw aside all porno conventions of the time and crafted some of the most unique and uncompromising hardcore of the 80's. Dark's 1984 'Let Me Tell Ya About White Chicks' gave the world its first hints of his off-beat style and rare talent at capturing down and dirty dalliances. It was 1985's 'New Wave Hookers 1' that made Dark a star, though.

Dark shot 'NWH' with the idea of bringing to the screen the kind of sassy rocker girls he saw on a daily basis in Hollywood. He wanted to depict young women who were more over the top about their sexuality, gals who took charge of scenes rather than lying back as compliant partners. 'NWH' broke new ground in hardcore with its nasty edged hi jinx, and Ginger Lynn's dazzling double penetration segment almost single-handedly brought the industry into a new realm of out-there sexual hysterics.

Dark has been in and out of the porno scene ever since. While his flicks have a dedicated audience, he considers his hardcore work to be his weakest and the easiest to film. Dark continues to work in mainstream video, and has released such well-received b-movies as the original 'Dead Man Walking' and 'Street Asylum.' He also works in music video quite often, with Sublime's 'Wrong Way' clip being among his most well-known.

Dark served eight months in county jail in 1990 as a result of his conviction for conspiracy to run an escort service. It seems that he and Jim South has started a stripper company to which Dark had added an escort service without South's knowledge. The bust led to their falling out, and they have barely spoken since. Dark says that porn is really his fall-back occupation, a job that he tries not to spend more than 20 days a year on. He claims that porn provides him with his smallest paychecks and his biggest headaches.

Still, the checks must be large enough to keep him coming back. Gregory Dark has carved quite a niche for himself with his surrealistic, utterly crazy sexvids. Love him or hate him, all he asks is that you respect him as being among the most talented and iconoclastic porn producers around.

Blog Gregory Dark: Gregory Dark wants to read your comments... Which is your favorite movie and why? What are some of your other favorite Gregory Dark movies? What would you like to see him do? Or any other comments you might want Gregory Dark to know and read.