At the beginning of Shane Ryan's feature directorial debut, AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER, we are given a quote by director/screenwriter Paul Schrader and introductory onscreen text discussing the "snuff film" and its role in urban legend. We then watch as a story, "inspired by true events" no less (isn't every movie these days), unfolds where amateur director Brandon (played by real director Ryan) picks up a girl on the street and kills her on film.

Of course, there's more to it than that, but not much. When Brandon first finds Stacy, she's sitting against the wall of a building, waiting for her ride. When Brandon offers to show her a fun time that's out of the ordinary, she willingly climbs into his car and goes to his motel room.

The rest of the movie features Brandon filming Stacy and slowly trying to seduce her into taking off her clothes and become the "amateur porn star" of the title. It takes a lot of coaxing and doesn't happen very quickly, as things would probably go in real life. And, true to the title, the seduction gives way to eventual brutality, but the film is more of a character study than anything else.

Stacy (Michiko Jimenez) is cute and shy and while she wants to indulge her wild side, it's not easy for her. Since the camera is mostly focused on her (although Brandon does have some onscreen time), she pretty much carries the film, and she does a good job of making us sympathize with her. She seems real, and we want to protect her and get her out of this place.

Brandon seems likable enough and it's believable that he would be able to disarm his unsuspecting prey with his "charms" alone.

This kind of thing has been done many times before and with more skin-crawling results. FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD (from the Japanese GUINEA PIG series) and the infamous AUGUST UNDERGROUND come to mind as much more brutal, disturbing films that follow a similar premise, but offer a much stronger punch to the gut. In comparison, APSK is rather tame. The violence isn't particularly gory and mostly occurs out of camera shot. But AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER is effective in its own atmospheric way.

Some of the scenes feature footage of Brandon's previous victim, Loren (Jan Gould), superimposed over the footage of Stacy, and this reminded me a bit of the work of underground filmmaker Richard Kern. There does seem to be a touch of the New York "Cinema of Transgression" (which Kern was a part of) to the proceedings.

There's also some effective music from Daniel A. Scott and the group Boneshin (who have collaborated with Ryan on several of his short films) that actually adds to the melancholy mood of the film.

I don't know where he got his camera, but the film quality is pretty grainy and it's not even in color for most of the film. You can buy a cheap camcorder at any department store that looks better than this! And for someone who does this a lot and is supposed to be a decent cameraman, Brandon's camerawork in AMATEUR PORN STAR KILLER is pretty bad. The lighting is awful. And there are scenes which are either too dark or blurry for you to know exactly what is happening. I know that filmmakers think this is what amateur footage looks like, but the truth is that most people with camcorders these days know how to use them well enough to have a decent picture, and there's no need for cinematography to be sloppy in order to look like "found" footage.

Also on the disk are some short films by director Shane Ryan. These are a mixed bag, and are mostly art house fare (image-heavy and wanting to seem more profound than they really are). Although I do think "So, We Killed Our Parents," about siblings who murder their abusive parents and "The Cold Heat" about lovers in a motel room with a disturbing secret, are especially good.

The DVD, put out by Cinema Epoch, also features the usual movie trailers, and some interesting short pieces where Jimenez and Ryan are interviewed and discuss the filming of APSK.

As far as the press release boasting that this was one of the cheapest films made in 2007, I believe it. There's not much onscreen that looks like it would have cost much. The locations are everyday places and the only expenditure would have been for the camera and the actors. So the low budget aspect doesn't seem all that impressive in retrospect.

All in all, this is more of an art film than a gore movie, despite the title and the hype. So if this sounds interesting to you, you might want to check it out. The acting is good, and despite the annoying camerawork, the movie is effective. But if you're looking for something with a bit more teeth, there are plenty of more intense alternatives.