AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER 2006 (Unrated)- Written/ Directed by Shane Ryan
With a title like this, you would assume the film is a cheesy Troma sex romp. It is anything but. The homemade video follows a girl getting coerced into a hotel room and slowly being mentally dominated by an 18 year old man who likes to video tape women. Soon, the girl is physically overtaken and the film ends on a sad note.
I won’t go into gory detail as this film already guilted me. I will say it is graphic with full frontal male and female nudity. I thought there was real penetration too, but director Shane Ryan assured me it wasn’t. The blowjob was real though. Penetration with the lead was planned, but later pulled since she is playing a 13 year old. Some of the acts are performed with the girl we are led to believe is 13 while the guy smiles smugly into the camera. Obviously, this film isn’t for everyone.
Shot on video with a budget of $45 with terrible lighting, hairs in the frame, and shaky movements; it looks like a real murder. There were very few cuts with the first shot in the hotel appearing to go on for a solid half hour. The actors never break character.
There is also a small frame added in of Ryan having sex with a blonde who seems to enjoy it. This is usually floating across the screen as we watch the young girl getting molested. I am not sure why this was added. It could be to show that while some enjoy porn, it is the product of another person being harmed. Or it could be that Ryan just really likes sex and naked women.
I would describe the film as “confrontational.” You know when you are asked a hypothetical question like “What would you do in this type of scenario?” but when it comes down to being confronted with the actual scenario, the pure shock of it all confuses you and you don’t know what to think or how to feel. That is this film.
In terms of sickness and human depravity, it ranks up there with CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. The big difference is cannibalism is illegal and pornography is not. I can say this was an extremely effective film in that it may scare the shit out of you. I cannot honestly say it was entertaining and I would not in good faith recommend it to anyone.
But before I could write off the film, the ending wonderfully summed up the point. I won’t give it away, but it is commentary on the porn industry, on what consumers want to see, and how poorly regulated some companies are.
But here is where things get fuzzy. The audience is looking through the camera at the potential victim as though we are the predators. You would think this is commentary on a person’s love of porn with the audience assisting in the murder, as they are the ones watching it.
I would like to point out that Ryan stars in this, does full frontal, and has oral sex performed for real. I don’t know how I feel about that. He exposes the porn industry, yet makes his own porn while doing so. Is he a hypocrite?
I talked to Shane a few times and he is really nice. Actually I sound like the 13 year old girl that said of her future murderer, “He seemed like a nice enough guy.” But I cannot criticize a director that accomplished exactly what he set out to do.
This almost leads me to believe he tricked us. Like pretending to push the envelope and expose the porn industry, but he is really engaging in it and distributing porn as a way of showing the exact opposite- that normal, healthy people make porn and enjoy watching it.
One interesting thing I wanted to point out was that the word “No” was never uttered by the girl in the film. Some guys think it’s not rape unless the girl says “No.” In this case, she doesn’t say much and barely struggles, but it was still clearly rape.
Another curious item to note is that this film is categorized as “Crime” on IMDB. Not Horror, not Porn, not Thriller, but “Crime,” as though this was factual and we were watching a murder mystery being solved.
Extras: An Interview with the “murdered” actress was included, so the director can prove she is alive before even being questioned. I saw the Alter Ego Cinema VHS copy (with printed DVD notes by Film Threat). Cinema Epoch is releasing the DVD on Nov. 6th.
Weird Fact #1: Inspired by the film 8MM and their website http://alteregocinema.com/Features/AMATUER.html links to info on Ted Bundy, snuff, and porn.
Weird Fact #2: Director Shane Ryan, who plays a child rapist/ murderer in the film, used to be a childcare worker in real life.
Favorite Quote: On why a girl, despite being scared, decided to enter his car, “There’s nothing better to do.”
Bottom Line: Effective film that raises many questions, but not as many answers.
Rating: 8/10
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