“AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER 2” (2008)*

Starring & Written by Kai Lanette & Shane Ryan
Directed by Shane Ryan
Alter Ego Cinema

Polly Staffle Rating: ****

“For anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end both at the first and now was, and is, to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature,
to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image,
and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”
- Hamlet, in William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.”

Near the end of Shane Ryan’s “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2,” his sadistic filmmaking character Brandon is standing in a bathroom, looking into the mirror. Brandon, played by Ryan, has just finished videotaping himself having sex with and murdering his latest victim.

The cold-blooded murderer casually sets his camera on the counter and looks himself over. He fixes his hair, adjusts his eyebrows and wipes sweat off his shirtless body. Brandon, who is on the top 10 most wanted lists in seven states for the murder of at least 22 girls, then picks the camera up, smiles and backs away.

It’s a calm and chilling moment. It’s also the perfect ending to “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2,” which can be summed up as a riveting kaleidoscope of in-your-face sex and violence. Metaphorically, art can be seen as a mirror, reflecting society. Though on the surface “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2” may not appear to represent our culture, it does as Ryan’s film is an unflinching exercise in the ugliness and cruelty we are bombarded with almost everyday via the media, the internet, television and film.

This is a completely different movie from Ryan’s directorial debut. Yes, like this one, “Amateur Porn Star Killer” was a deep and thought provoking film, but it also was a very dreary piece of cinema. Though extremely effective and moving, it was a painful and uncomfortable watch. No, part two is not a happy Hollywood film or anything, but it is still very much different.

Prior to “Amateur Porn Star Killer,” Ryan cut his teeth with experimental music videos and film shorts that won him a number of awards. Most of these early works can be seen in his feature-length compilation “Big Boobs, Blonde Babes, Bad Blood.” His second “APSK” release feels more like a close cousin to that Alter Ego Cinema production and a distant relative to his shaky-cam Dogme95-esque “Amateur Porn Star Killer.” Ryan seems to have taken lessons from both features and meshed them together for a trippy work of art. Somehow it completely works and this brilliant young filmmaker delivers a horrifying mix of grindhouse sleaze, torture porn and voyeurism that is just as intoxicating as it is creepy.

The film is broken into segments. Though a single victim, played damn well by former stripper Kai Lanette, is the main focus again this time, the killer’s interaction with her is broken up with background, F.B.I. information and clips of other violent and sexual endeavors Brandon has videotaped or had others record for him. Unlike the first film that sometimes showed images from a previous encounter with a picture-in-a-picture effect, part two fades to black and we get a complete separate almost short film depicting Brandon with a different victim, visiting a crime scene, etc. With each separate segment, the visual and musical styles change. Even when the film cuts back to Lanette’s character, who we know only as Victim #12, the styles and tones change. They sometimes even switch within segments and as the movie plays on, it seems to get more and more experimental.

Ryan, as editor and cinematographer, plays with all sorts of filters, effects and cuts. Some parts of the film are black and white and others are color. There are short segments featuring polarization that give almost a negative appearance, very effective moments with a purple hue tinge to them, while other scenes appear to have been shot with night vision. There are also layered images, a tad bit of the old scratchy film look and who the hell, aside from Ryan, knows what all. The results are absolutely spellbinding. You’ll want to look away, but you just can’t stop watching.

CHANNEL SURFING

With the different segments and the various styles on display, “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2” gives almost a channel surfing effect. The pieces all fit together and work as a whole, but they work individually as well. At times it’s as though you have your television on MTV or some type of music channel. Flip the channel and you are watching truTV or a movie such as “Zodiac.” It seems this Brandon guy began raping and taping at age 15. Brandon isn’t his real name either and he also goes by Christian and John Lee.

Keep flipping and now there’s a Larry Clark film on with close-up voyeuristic shots of girls and women’s legs, rears and breasts as they walk down the street or on the beach in their skirts, booty shorts, halter tops and bikinis. The beautiful, yet haunting Daniel Hawks’ song “Less to Say” plays over the images. Ryan’s soundtrack features great music from Silent Dreams Records and Boneshin, but nothing is nearly as effective as this song.

Flip. Now, “Girls Gone Wild” is on. Instead of Joe Francis, Brandon is our late night tour guide on “How to Exploit a Girl.” There’s some boozing, posing, teasing, dancing, changing into various outfits... and, yes, the clothes are coming off. Full female nudity. Flip. More reality shockumentary fun. Looks like “Bumfights.” Before killing, Brandon took part in street brawls. He’ d pick people at random and have a friend tape it as he jumped the strangers.

Flip. Okay, now here we have some type of love story. It’s a beautiful scene. Two lovers in the shower. The curtain is just barely open. We hear “Pure Moods” type music on the soundtrack. Ah, screw it. I’ll flip over to this Vincent Gallo film for some driving in the rain. What the hell is he doing? Who cares, now it’s time for some full blown “Brown Bunny” action. Full male nudity. Must be some bad ass uncenscored cable.

Flip. Really bad ass. Now a retro porno is on. Full penetration. Flip, flip, filp. Wait, the “Paris Hilton Sex Tape” is showing. Flip. S&M. Flip. Gonzo porn. Flip. Bondage. Flip. Spankings. Flip. This is getting darker. Flip. An Eli Roth or Darren Lynn Bousman film? Flip. An errie car sex scene with a past victim. Flip. Flip. Brandon spits on his latest victim’s face. Flip. He kills her. Flip. Now he’s having sex with her corpse.

Flip. Flip. There’s that image of Brandon looking in the mirror with his camera mentioned earlier. He doesn’t look like that bad of a guy. Like Ted Bundy, he’s quite good looking. He’s also charming. He’s the kind of boy you wish you had living next door to you. Flip. It’s over. Flip. Now we are treated to a sort of Something Weird Video burlesque compilation as the credits role. Poof. The End.

APSK TRILOGY

When I first heard a sequel was being planned to “Amateur Porn Star Killer,” I had my doubts. Most sequels suck. But Shane pulled it off. I was extremely surprised how good part two ended up being. It can completely stand on its own and at the same time it’s a brilliant sequel. Shane retools his original concept and adds to his killer’s mythology without undermining his first film. That’s something you rarely see with movies that have second and third installments. After seeing this, I can’t wait for part three.

Shane Ryan and his “Amateur Porn Star Killer” series are sure to make waves and spark plenty of debates. Sadly, many viewers will misunderstand and misinterpret his films as being vile, degrading and the complete opposite of what I think they are about. Ryan uses exploitive, pornographic and horror elements to suck his audience into cinema that makes you completely question why you would watch such a thing. The first one placed us right in the action as if we ourselves were a participant in the rape and murder of a young girl named Stacy (Michiko Jimenez).

The juxtaposition of the Stacy footage with that of a seemingly willing participant of Brandon’s made me question how willing a participant the other girl really was, which led me to wonder about all nudity and sex on film and in print. We only see what the filmmakers, photographers, editors, etc. want us and let us see. What came before and after is between those involved. Ryan ended the film with his character bashing in Stacy’s face with his fist. No matter how many times I see his film, that scene horrifies me like no movie I’ve seen before. We as viewers don’t see Brandon’s punches connect and there isn’t a drop of blood, but it feels so real. Instead of the usual adrenaline rush that violence often gives me while watching movies, I get a horrible feeling inside as though I’ve just done something extremely evil. Once over, I’m left wondering what the hell is wrong with me that I could every enjoy something as repulsive as a horror movie.

While he thrusted his audience into the crime scene in “Amateur Porn Star Killer,” Ryan forces us to be bystanders in the second film. Editing his movie the way he did, Ryan is constantly reminding us that what we are seeing is a movie. It’s entertainment. Breaking it up into short segments, he serves up his film into bite-sized McPieces. And like most fastfood, this is no healthy snack; Ryan shoves our faces into a buffet of filth, hatred and anger. We’re forced to take the plunge head first as a viewer. It’s scary and ugly, but is it really that far removed from what we are used to seeing on a daily basis when we turn on our televisions, open the newspaper, sign online or go out to see a movie? An exaggeration, sure, but for the most part Ryan isn’t unleashing any new demons here. He’s simply trying to open our eyes to them, holding up a mirror with his camera.

- CCF, April 2008

*“Amateur Porn Star Killer 2 ” is being released as a two-disc DVD set with two very different versions of the film. This review refers to the “Movie Version.”