Thriller, A Buzzkill
3 Out Of 5 Stars
An interesting, well acted art film that trips over itself too often. "Pornography, A Thriller" is basically three short films that overlap each other in bizarre and David Lynch-ian fashion. You start with the mysterious demise of one Mark Anton, an 80's porn star who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The rumor is that he got tricked into a snuff movie. That sets up the next two acts.
Journalist Michael (Matthew Montgomery) is researching a book about the cultural significance of Gay adult movies and soon discovers he is being sucked into the odd story of Mark Anton. His lover, William (Walter Delmar), is soon acting weird when the Anton story begins consuming Michael. And they discover their neat new apartment may have been a porn studio. Even THE porn studio where Anton met his fate. After all these years, those involved with Anton aren't happy to find out someone is digging into this old urban legend, and soon Michael finds he has a bigger story on his hands than he thought.
That story also jarringly transitions to Los Angeles, where aging pornstar Matt Stevens (Pete Scherer) decides he will document Anton's dissapearance in his directorial debut., Again, dark forces begin to swirl around. And HIS boyfriend, also played by Delmar, soon tries to warn him away. Since this is allegedly a thriller, nobody listens to any warnings. Bad things are supposed to happen. And they will...or are they?
That is "Pornography's" major flaw. After awhile, the juxtapositions just become to circumstantial and awkward, and the thrills just aren't there. Suspense, yes, but not much by way of shockers. What could have been a compelling story flops around into artiness without resolving anything, and if you're going to put the word "Thriller" in your title, you need more than what is in the screen here to make your bones.
No comments:
Post a Comment