PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Producer/director/actor Shane Ryan generated considerable buzz, and controversy, with 2006’s Amateur Porn Star Killer. A film that set the found footage/snuff sub-genre on it’s head with shocking realism and subject matter. The film, and it’s subsequent sequels, are finally enjoying a wide release DVD drop from Wild Eye Releasing.
Synopsis
“Someone is about to be murdered…and you will watch.”
Disclaimer: I appeared in the documentary Banned, Exploited & Blacklisted: The Underground Work of Controversial Filmmaker Shane Ryan after reviewing APSK 2 on a different platform. I have no commercial interest in any of Mr. Ryan’s work.
At what point does a film cease to be artistic expression and, instead, just becomes a malignant, masturbatory indulgence on the part of the filmmaker? This question, among others, was what I was asking myself upon my initial viewing of Amateur Porn Star Killer, a grimy, salacious exercise in found footage, that, at times, even makes Fred Vogel’s August Underground seem relatively tame.
Brandon (Ryan) lures a young girl (Michiko Jimenez; American Virgins) into his car, and then a motel room, where he rapes and murders her. Simple enough, right? However, Ryan goes for the moral jugular when it is revealed that the girl in question is just 13 and his video tape features some “accidental editing” that shows that this isn’t Brandon’s first rodeo. The viewer, knowing what’s in store, feels powerless to stop the inevitable, and while reprehensible as fuck, this is what makes APSK such an engaging film.
On to the sequel…
Synopsis
“When the camera rolls, the humiliation begins”
Much more explicit than the first, Amateur Porn Star Killer 2, while treading some familiar territory, changes the formula a bit. Ryan, returning as Brandon, this time poses as a porn director, conning an initially consensual victim (the exceptionally talented Kai Lanette; The Girl Who Wasn’t Missing) into his web of depravity. Dragged progressively deeper into a morass of rough sex and humiliation, the victim eventually comes to the grim realization that she isn’t getting out this alive. Ryan really ratchets up the authentic creepiness here, coming off as a genuine psychopath and adding a realism that elevates this entry slightly above the first film.
Third time’s the charm…
Synopsis
“The boy next door is back again”
For Amateur Porn Star Killer 3: The Final Chapter Ryan again changes up the formula, while keeping the original aesthetic intact. This time Brandon picks up a girl at a bus stop, using a “let’s see your tattoos” ruse, he soon finds out he’s picked up a bona-fide porn star (Regan Reece) and proceeds to humiliate, rape and murder her. Here, Ryan adds a large measure of sadistic glee to the proceedings that is either absent, or more subtle, in the previous entries. Taking place mostly in the killer’s SUV, the feeling of claustrophobia adds to the authenticity and dread.
A fitting conclusion to the series, Amateur Porn Star Killer 3 pulls out all of the stops with it’s repugnant climax.
All three DVDs from Wild Eye present the films in the best possible transfers—remember, these were made to look shitty. Inside artwork featuring stills from the films grace the inside of the clear snap cases. Not much in the way of extras (did you really think a lot of behind the scenes stuff existed?): trailers, and commentary by Doug Brunell of Film Threat are contained on each disc, with Part 2 featuring the alternate “snuff” version of the film.
However you feel about the controversial sub-genre of “snuff”, the impact of films like the Amateur Porn Star Killer series can’t be ignored. Ryan, a ridiculously prolific producer/writer/actor has gone on to work in almost very genre, and price point, you can think of in film, so he is undeniably talented. And he remains extremely proud of both these films, and his controversial film My Name Is ‘A’ By Anonymous, as well he should.
Ryan shrugged off the shackles of “safe cinema” with these films and made a thought provoking, challenging series of films that force the viewer, and the critic, to question what is art, and what is compelling viewing. Love them, or hate them, these films force you to think about what the intention of the filmmaker was, and how it affects you.
Current times, with the culture of Tik-Tok and casual hook-ups, make these movies all the poignant and cautionary as well, Were they intended to titillate? Or repulse?? To elicit fear?? A combination of both?? With this wide release, more people will be able to make up their own minds.
Wild Eye Releasing’s DVDs of Amateur Porn Star Killer, Amateur Porn Star Killer 2, and Amateur Porn Star Killer 3: The Final Chapter are available now from fine retailers.
