Blue-movie houses across North America have been forced to close as their audiences find a different way to meet demand — whether it's taking the titillation home from the video store, or dialling it up on demand via cable or satellite. But as the days of projected-film pornography slowly wind down, a whole new generation is attempting to repossess the tradition for themselves. They're organizing special porn soirees, rescuing decaying film libraries, and inviting special guests from the golden age of skin flicks. [...] Otis says it's a myth that video killed the porn film industry. "In the beginning, video actually increased the popularity of porn," he says. "The budgets got bigger and there was a huge boom. But it did start killing the theatres. People started shooting on video and that was the beginning of the end." Most of the existing porn houses have switched over to digital video projection systems, leaving the Fox one of the last remaining 35-mm porn houses in North America. Otis believes it could be the very last but not even porn distributors know, since most theatres buy the reels to play over and over again. After all, it's not a clientele that demands first-run releases. The Fox probably hasn't purchased a new title in more than a decade, and it shows in the long green scratches that run through the cluster of thrusting body parts.
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