When I was regularly interviewing Dennis Hof, the owner of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, he hosted me at his brothel twice. He wanted me to experience what life was like inside the legal prostitution business. While spending time there, I had quite a few conversations with the ladies working the shifts. There were quite a few that were earning money to pay their college tuition. Others were looking to get deeper in the industry. There were women that had already earned AVNs for performing. Most were looking to get started. But they were a bit scared of breaking into the adult business. By the time we had talked things had changed in the industry. In the ’70s, adult movies were shot on 16mm film and required a camera crew along with a people working sound and lights. It was like making a real movie. By this time, the industry had gone extremely minimal. Thanks to the iPhone, one person could be the producer, director, cameraman and the on-screen male talent. They didn’t need an editor since the gonzo nature made it fine to just upload the raw video onto a website for streaming. The women were nervous since this meant showing up at a hotel room, meeting a guy and hoping he legitimately wants to shoot an encounter. There were plenty of tales of creeps who were using this as an excuse to assault women or worse. Amateur Porn Star Killer is their nightmare.
In the middle of the night, an unseen man (director Shane Ryan) is cruising around in his car when he spots a woman hanging out by a building. Stacy (Michiko Jimenez) is a teenager who swears she’s really 18. The cameraman makes her an offer to come back to his hotel room and shoot a little video. She seems game for it since she has nothing else to do. At the hotel room, the cameraman does his best into coaxing her into performing with him. But this fun video turns dark since it appears the cameraman isn’t interested in winning an AVN. Her career might not be taking her to the Valley.
This is a film that avoids having a narrative structure that usually happens in a modern horror film. The film does follow what people expect from a “first time amateur screen test” series. A woman curious about getting into the business, but a bit reluctant about hooking up with the stranger behind the camera. The stranger does his best to calm the woman down to the point where she fully loses her inhibitions. She forgets that she’s being filmed during an intimate moment. The brutal twist does show the jeopardy that can happen during this situation. Shane Ryan makes everything feel real enough that you almost sense you’re witnessing a crime that will soon be featured on Dateline. There is a slightly artsy angle at the opening involving the cameraman in a brighter scene hooking up with Loren (Jan Gould) in a less grubby room. It almost makes us think that things won’t be that fateful for Stacy. Maybe it’s just the hotel room that makes it so creepy and not the cameraman? Or maybe not.
Some people might view this as disgusting exploitation filmmaking. But the film serves a serious purpose. This is the kind of film warns a teenager bragging about a career on cam sites that things might go bad quick. It only takes one audition in a cheap hotel room to destroy a career and your life.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The movie has been messed up to make the video look like it’s been duplicated quite a few times. It’s as rough as the action on the screen. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The sound feels like it was only captured through the microphone in the camera.
Audio Commentary by James Ashton, a teacher at Hull University and author of Hardcore Horror Cinema in the 21st Century. The film is part of his movie. He gets into the real and the constructed element of the film. While the idea is the film is raw when originally made, he ponders who transferred the film and did the captions and overlapping with the earlier film with Loren (Jan Gould).
Commentary by Film Threat’s Doug Brunell. He used to get films from Shane Ryan on VHS. He enjoyed his films and has kept the VHS tapes even though his VCR is busted. He wasn’t sure if he liked the title, but gave this movie a chance. Doug had a strange side job when he received the film back in 2006. You’ll have to hear the commentary to get all the strange details.
Trailer Gallery includes the trailers for all three films in this series, My Name is By Anonymous and The Girl Who Wasn’t Missing.
Wild Eye Raw & Extreme presents Amateur Porn Star Killer. Directed by Shane Ryan. Screenplay by Shane Ryan & Michiko Jimenez. Starring Shane Ryan, Michiko Jimenez and Jan Gould. Running Time: 71 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 23, 2024.
