From its mainstream roots in the '80s up until its influence on some of the most popular pornographic films today, incest pornography has remained a touchy subject even among the most experienced adult film connoisseurs. What is its allure? And why hasn't this subgenre caught on in recent years as experienced auteurs continue to push the boundaries of whatever is fresh and original in the hope that it will become the next big thing?

Though the niche is widely credited as having started in 1979 with Kirdy Steven's "Taboo," for me, this burgeoning category began in 1985 with the release of "Taboo American Style," a series that would spawn three sequels that same year. The film starred Gloria Leonard as the mother, Emily, actor-turned-director Paul "P.T." Thomas as the father, Harding, and Raven, who stars as the incomparable Nina, a teenager whose first sexual experiences eventually lead her on a path of self-deprecation. Now, it wasn't so much the incest that drew audiences into this film, but rather the transformation of Nina from an innocent young woman to a ruthless domineering seductress who not only seduces her own father, but manages to control her entire family by the film's end.

While "real" incest pornography is illegal in many jurisdictions, prowl the Internet forums long enough, and you'll find entire communities of individuals swapping stories about their sexual experiences with family members, trading pics and videos from mainstream films involving incest, and, if you're lucky, a clip or two of an actual father/daughter, mother/son or some other hereditary coupling in the form of a downloadable mpeg.

However, this activity is devoted to only a handful of sites. Four in particular that comprise this cabal include Let's Talk Dirty (www.letstalkdirty.org), Actual Incest (www.actualinceset.com), Incest Quest (www.incestquest.com) and until recently, Incest Taboo (www.incesttaboo.com); and this doesn't include what you can find on the dozens of BitTorrent sites on the Internet already.

So with this increased Internet presence and past cinematic history of films that make up the incest subgenre, it still begs the question, "Is incest pornography making a comeback?" Well, yes and no.

Some studios have capitalized greatly from this niche: Girlfriend Films' "Mother/Daughter Exchange Club" is already on its sixth volume, Evasive Angels' "Horny Black Mothers and Daughters" has five films so far in its series, and the "Desperate Mothers and Wives" series (also released by Evasive Angels) is already on its ninth volume, although it is technically not incest. The genre has even branched into the so-called "reality porn" market with "Mother Daughter Fuck" (www.motherdaughterfuck.com).

However, in recent years no film has benefited more from incest than "Not the Bradys XXX." The film was produced by Larry Flynt Productions and proved to be a top seller for the studio. Not only did the film contain an all-star cast (including such notables as Ron Jeremy, Paulina James, Leah Luv, James Deen, Veronique Vega, Aurora Snow and Hillary Scott), but the film also gained notable attention in the New York Post and the television program, The Insider.

Can we expect to see more incest-themed films in the near future? Honestly, I don't expect to. Why? Without letting this article turn into a rant I'll just say this. As bad as vintage pornography from the '70s and '80s was from a technical standpoint, there was something to be said for its inventive plots and amazing storytelling – something that a lot of today's pornography lacks. Thanks to the Internet revolution, what was once an industry of quality (in terms of the scripts produced) is now an industry based on quantity – in other words which studio can produce the fastest turnaround in the shortest amount of time. Quite simply, there's something inauthentic about the pornography produced today that the movies of the past so rightly captured. While the Internet has led to this new proliferation of pornography something authentic has been taken that I can't just put my finger on – something honest, something real.

David Halpert is a freelance writer currently working in Toronto, Ont. He has been published in several trade magazines and holds an Honours B.A. in English from York University, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Book and Magazine Publishing from Centennial College.