Lucky Bastard

Lucky Bastard is a "found footage" thriller about a porn website run by Mike (Don McManus) that invites fans to have sex with porn stars. Dave (Jay Paulson) is an eager young fan given a chance to have sex with the fabulous Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue). But everyone gets more than they bargained for in the seemingly mild-mannered Dave... with gruesome results.

I am not a fan of the found footage subgenre in horror (if this can be called horror). Since its modern birth with "Blair Witch Project", few of those entries in this category have been better than average. This, I must say, might be the exception. Not only were the cameras not overly irritating, but it actually made sense for the plot of the film to have so many filming at once.

The film starts with a rather graphic sex scene by non-porn standards (perhaps not surprising for a film of this subject matter) involving actress Catherine Annette. Now, this scene notwithstanding, Annette is an actress to watch -- she has excellent screen presence and steals scenes, even eclipsing star Betsy Rue (with all due respect to Rue, who more than holds her own). The nudity is a bit extreme, earning the film an NC-17. But, again, this is about porn so that may be expected.

Don McManus is awesome, very funny and I love the beard. He is a veteran actor, though perhaps not well known. He is not going to become much more well known from this film, but he should -- he has a great personality, a great look about him, and he is the one character in this movie I really found myself identifying with (whatever that might say about me).

In the background is producer Jim Wynorski, whose involvement is not entirely clear to me. I can frankly say this is the best thing with Wynorski's name on it that I have seen in over a decade, probably longer. Also worth notice is editor Tony Randel, a "Hellraiser" veteran. People rarely notice editors, but Randel is worth every penny.

Although the plot of this film is rather simple, it was brilliantly scripted. Every camera is accounted for, scenes are made to flesh out characters without dragging on too much. Everyone came to the set ready to act, and this was expertly executed. Well worth a watch.

Not hard-core, not soft core porn. I could not believe I cared about the characters in the movie. The fans of Scream understand that virgins are the only ones to survive horror movies. I would not classify as a horror movie. There are plenty of murders, nothing blood curdling or head turning. I did find myself getting caught up in the storyline of the lead actress, Betsy Rue. I felt empathy for her. Getting back to Scream, there are no virgins, except possibly the antagonist. It is interesting how he is dealt with in the final scene. The movie held my interest. I was caught up in the producer/director task to complete the porno and the obstacles he overcame. Think Blair Witch Project of the adult industry. Can you tolerate nudity and lazy sexual content? Give it a watch.

From the perspective of a life-long die-hard movie enthusiast, I really enjoyed Lucky Bastard and find myself surprisingly haunted by some of the imagery and the darkness of the story's main antagonist. It would be easy to dismiss Lucky Bastard as something trite and low-brow and seemingly not worth the time to pop some corn. Any movie in which the backdrop is the adult film industry suffers an immediate stigma and a lot of closed minds unwilling to consider it as a legitimate movie-going experience. That is unfortunate because there is much to treasure here, from the frequently hilarious dialogue to the spot-on performance of Don McManus to the shocking moments of violence that seem totally plausible in today's world.

Lucky Bastard is a highly entertaining exercise in the found-footage genre, lending the impression that we are watching real people in a real situation. Unlike other found-footage movies that focus on the supernatural and therefore become questionable in their realism, Lucky Bastard unfolds with specific and tangible reality. Some may question the acting ability of the cast, but don't be fooled by knee jerk critical reactions. These actors know what they're doing to sell the concept of the movie, as do the artists behind the camera. The very premise, that of a young man who wins a date with his favorite adult film star and visits the set of an adult website to perform in a scene, is 200% believable in the p*rn-saturated cyber reality we live in today. And if you're paying attention, the movie addresses something far beyond the on-screen dalliances of a hopeful everyman and his dream woman. It's ultimately about the dangers of exploitation and the risk of gleefully humiliating so-called geeks, people we label without really knowing them or what they are capable of unleashing. When you consider the facts of today's world in which troubled young people walk into shopping malls and schools and IHOPs to open fire with automatic weapons, Lucky Bastard presents a disturbingly potential reality of what can and does happen when you don't know what you're really dealing with.

To give away Lucky Bastard's plot turns would do a disservice to the prospective viewer. I would simply say give the movie a shot if you want to be entertained, amused, titillated, and ultimately shocked. The movie will gently carry you along for a while, making you laugh, misleading you into a lazy state of casual observation until the first shock comes. The latter half of the film is far from humorous, and there are moments that will resonate, especially when you think about the internet-obsessed guy next door who seems harmless yet a little creepy.

Lucky Bastard puts a fresh spin on the found-footage genre and is effective in delivering laughs, surprises, and an ick factor that you'll think about after it's over. It's also worth mentioning that it's one of the few thrillers I can think of that delivers gruesome events in bright daylight, and that stylistic choice really stood out to me and helps distinguish Lucky Bastard as a unique and believable tale. I think this movie has a very strong appeal to a young, hip audience, and I'm really hoping it can get the attention it deserves and rise above those who would carelessly dismiss it. Check it out!

"Lucky B word (imdb warned me that I had used an offensive word!) is a found-footage style horror/thriller/soft adult movie about a website with the same name that has a competition in which the winner gets to have sex - on film - with an adult movie star. The lucky guy in question is Dave (Jay Paulson), a seemingly quiet and shy fella who is a touch odd. The delightful Betsy Rue plays Ashley, his prize. I remember seeing her very naked in a bit part in the "My Bloody Valentine" remake but thankfully she plays one of the leads here. She does spend a lot of time nude, which is very nice, though she does also demonstrate her acting skills which are pretty good. In fact I found most of the acting to be OK. I watched the trailer first and was not impressed, thankfully the movie itself proved to be not too bad. Found footage had been done to death but this at least makes a change to the countless ghost and zombie ones. A lot of the footage was filmed from static CCTV cameras as opposed to somebody doing shaky cam with a handheld one, thankfully. I was quite glad to see the end credits as my interest had started to wane and I certainly wouldn't watch it again but like I said it wasn't the piece of crap that I was expecting.

Hold on, don't go away! Don't let the theme of this found footage scare you away. Its actually good fun watch. Head and shoulders above most of your usually painfully boring and shaky found footage stories. This has actual story, drama, crime characters that you want to follow. Yes, its obviously nothing oscar worthy but within the FF messy genre, this movie is solid. If you don't mid little "hot action" on a side give it a shot.