“AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER 2” (2008)*

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

Polly Staffle Rating: ***

(The following is an All Points Bulletin issued by the PollyStaffle.com Bureau of Investigation.)

Brandon is back and he wants to make you a star. He’s a film producer of sorts. Okay, so he’s actually an amateur adult filmmaker. He also isn’t looking to make you - personally - a star. He’s only interested in females. So he wants to make your mom, your wife, your girlfriend, your sister or your daughter a star. Mostly, he just wants your daughters as his victims tend to be teenage females.

Victims? Yes, he doesn’t really want to make them stars at all, unless, they are aspiring to be quasi-celebrities postmortem like the nude internet model Zoey Zane, who came up missing and was later found dead. Brandon isn’t just a filmmaker, you see. He is also a voyeur... Before you bring up Larry Clark, let me finish what I’m trying to say. He’s also a rapist... Shhh. No, Roman Polanski this or Victor Salva that… Will you let me finish? Because, mostly, Brandon is a killer. Yes, a voyeur, a rapist and a killer with a video camera. He’s a psychotic film producer that makes and stars in twisted “little” movies of humiliation, degradation, assault and murder. He’s a snuffographer, if you will.

We were introduced to Brandon when a video tape first emerged in 2005. A mother had rented a copy of an old VHS of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartoon television series from her local library in Lompoc, California…. I’m sorry, I’m not sure what episode it was of the “Ninja Turtles” … That doesn’t matter anyway. My point is, the mom put the tape on for her child to watch, came back a little while later and discovered halfway through the program what appeared to be a sexual assault and homicide. She turned the tape over to the authorities. The tape went on to become known as “Amateur Porn Star Killer.” We all assumed it was from the late eighties and thought it was a hoax. It looked and felt real, but we just knew it was a phony.

After letting Cinema Epoch distribute the DVD, our forensic specialists have since verified the footage as being legit. The date of the alleged “white heat” is still unknown. Though “Amateur Porn Star Killer” hinted at other victims, we figured we’d let bygones be bygones and did no other investigating. Besides, this Brandon character looked like a nice guy.

Just this week, a second tape has been found. While the first only implied there may have been other possible victims, we now know there are others. We just don’t know how many. The second tape, like the first, mostly centers around one teenage victim. We see quick flashes of other violent and sexual encounters, but it’s hard to really make out what is going on and to whom it is happening. So for this A.P. bulletin we are concentrating on the unknown female “star” of this tape and what happens to her.

First off, Brandon changes things up a bit this time. He first meets the female and becomes acquainted with her as opposed to picking a random girl up off the street. Perhaps the kill itself is no longer enough for him to get his kicks. Brandon may use planning the kill and stalking his victim as a means of foreplay. Knowing more details about who he is going to murder and giving them a false sense of security that they know him may excite him even more. On this tape, Brandon tells his victim that his name is Christian and that he is 19-years-old. We do not believe he is that young. Brandon aka Christian aka the Amateur Porn Star Killer or APSK Killer or The Killer has boyish good looks, but it has been estimated that he is in his mid to late twenties.

The Killer uses humor and horseplay this time to lighten up his victim and get her to lower her defenses. He also shows full penetration and makes sure to give his face and penis plenty of screen time on the tape. He may really enjoy watching himself on tape, but we also speculate that he gets off knowing that we will later be watching his antics. It excites him that he is shoving our faces in what he’s doing. That scumbag is probably sitting at home laughing at us all. I can hear him now, going on and on like baby Stewie from “Family Guy” harassing Brian the dog about his novel. “How you uh, how you comin’ on that investigation you’re working on? Huh? Gotta a big, uh, big lead you’re working on? Gotta, gotta nice little suspect you’re checking out there? Your big case you’ve been working on for three years? Huh?”

The Killer’s victim this time is a bit into kinky sex. She likes to get spanked. She likes it a little rough. The victim appears to be a full participant at first. It is for this reason, we believe much of this tape plays like erotica. But as the interaction goes on, things become increasingly violent. The Killer spits on his victim and threatens to shove her head in the commode. It’s at this point she decides he has gone too far and attempts to leave. The Killer turns on his charm to make sure she stays, so he can finish. They go back at it. Eventually, he takes the victim’s life with his bare hands. Here is where the tape gets really creepy. After the young woman’s death, The Killer continues to have sex with her corpse until he ejaculates.

So what do we know about this guy? From the footage we have seen, this one thing is clear, the guy is a smart little bastard. He’s a sick freak, but he’s a sick freak with intelligence. He always takes his victims to secluded locations. This time it is a practically abandoned apartment with concrete walls. He also uses a condom as to not leave DNA. Physically, our guy a 5-foot-6 white male with a small build. His hair is short, dark and spiky. The Killer probably idolizes the real life serial rapist and killer Ted Bundy or the fictitious murderer Patrick Bateman of “American Psycho.” He may also fancy himself as a filmmaker. It is unclear if he is somehow selling his underground videos, but it is a possibility.

Brandon appears to be a good, clean cut all-American boy. Judging the book by its cover, he’s the kind of guy you’d be happy your daughter was dating. But it’s all a façade. The pages of this book are filled with nothing but horror. That’s what makes him so damn scary. Lock up your daughters. Tell them to not talk to strangers and to be weary of acquaintances. Hollywood torture porn villains have nothing on this guy. In the age of “Girls Gone Wild” and Myspace hookups, Brandon is the ultimate nightmare.

- CCF, Februray 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 “Snuff Version.”