Well, that was a mindfuck and a half! Hot porn stars, a mythical snuff tape and urban legends collide in this creepy nightmarish thriller directed by David Kittredge. From the synopsis I expected weird horror, and at first that’s what it looked like I was getting. The first act, dealing with the life and disappearance of porn star Mark Anton, was really disturbing but had no overtly supernatural elements. The second act, following Mike’s research into porn stars of yesteryear, ramps up the horror with possession, mysterious photographs, disappearances, desperate phone calls, and our first glimpse at Anton’s snuff film.
The third act takes it up to 11 and twists off the knob, as past and present and reality and fiction collide, porn-star-turned-director Matt plans to recreate Mark Anton’s most famous video (though it came to him in a dream), but keeps getting glimpses of the past and various shadowy presents.
I expected Porn: A Thriller to be closer to The Ring, with the mysterious deaths, curses and deep dark secrets. But in fact it’s closer to House of Leaves in that it plays fast and loose with the fourth wall, and multiple layers of stories. That’s just fine by me, though not everybody thought so. From what I understand, this was an extremely polarising movie, with half the audience either confused or bored, and the other half enjoying the feel of their minds getting a good fucking. Me, I was in the second camp. I’ve read House of Leaves and love it, so I was ready to just sit back and go with the flow. I give this movie two (scared, shaky) thumbs up.