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A Boy, a Girl and a Camera
USA 2014
starring Glenn Cochrane, Thomas Gleba, Necro Stein, Rini Gates, Chad Clinton Freeman, James Cullen Bressack, Ryan Nicholson, Anthony Spadaccini, Tracy Crockett, Sean Caine, William Margold, Tommie Vegas, Shane Ryan, Michiko Jimenez (archive footage), Kai Lanette (archive footage), Regan Reese (archive footage), Kevin Gage (archive footage), Alex Damiano (archive footage)
documentary Amateur Porn Star Killer
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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About 10 years ago, director Shane Ryan (who fortunately is certainly
no stranger to this site) has left his mark on film history with his Amateur
Porn Star Killer (officially released only in 2007). Now this film
gained notoriety because it was just that, a guy persuading a girl to make
a porn movie with him, then he kills her on camera - a very shocking film,
because everything looked so real, felt so authentic. Unexpectedly, Ryan
managed to top this with Amateur
Porn Star Killer 2, probably thanks to a stronger chemistry
between the protagonists (Ryan and co-star Kai Lanette actually became a
couple several months after filming) and actual on-camera sex. Amateur
Porn Star Killer 3 on the other hand was maybe the most
accomplished as its main story is told in one continuous circa 60 minute
take and is still brilliantly paced. Now films like this
trilogy cause all sorts of reactions, from utter disdain over their sleazy
subject matter (a feeling even shared by veteran porn star William
Margold) to utter praise for how far they managed to push the envelope
regarding found footage films in general, and how far ahead of time they
still are. And while some interviewees in this documentary just revel in
the sickness of the Amateur
Porn Star Killer movies , others do recognize the fine satire
hidden behind the surface, having to do with out society's addiction to
reality TV and everybody's 15 minutes of fame and everything. Oddly enough
though, nobody sees the films as the perfect, almost Hitchcockian suspense
pieces they are, stripped of all their nudity. Interesting
points are made though when the series is linked to Ryan's later, much
more atmosphere driven movies Warning!!!
Pedophile Released, its iteration The
Girl Who Wasn't Missing, the hauntingly beautiful My
Name is 'A' by anonymous, and The Owl in Echo Park, giving
a comprehensive frame to the work of Shane Ryan as such, as well as his
co-star in Albert Pyun's The Interrogation of Cheryl Cooper, Tommie
Vegas, giving an account of what it's like working with Ryan in front of
the camera (in another one-take film). Really a rather comprehensive and
fascinating film for fans of the filmmaker, but also for people just
wanting to have a different perspective on "controversial"
films.
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