Killer

There are only two things about this movie that are any good at all. One is a sex scene in a closet that lasts about 3 min. and the cover! The story is weak, it appears to have been made on a really old videocamera and the editing is terrible. If it wasn't for the sex I would think some highschool video class made it. TERRIBLE, don't waste your time or money.

Occasional attempts are made to create crossover porn movies: serious pictures that tell a B-movie story but with XXX sex scenes included (Buck Adams' 1995 feature "Uninhibited" is a good example). "Killer", starring Don Fernando in the title role, is a rather stark, gritty melodrama vaguely reminiscent of TV's "The Fugitive", but a micro-budget, poor direction and flat acting sink an otherwise intriguing project.

It resembles a 1970s theatrical porn feature: atmospheric locations in and around San Francisco; brief sex scenes, running from just 2 to 7 minutes long; a mixed cast of familiar porn talent and NonSex characters. Back in the day I imagine a softcore version could have played off on the drive-in circuit.

Story opens outside the gates of San Quentin, from which Don Fernando escapes in a barrel in the back of an exiting truck. He plays Vic Moro, in stir for murdering his wife, and who in the course of the movie encounters many characters who knew him, as well as those who are on the lookout for him thanks to newpaper reports of the escape and even a TV newscast reported by Jamie Gillis in a cameo role.

Tracey Adams rescues him and gives him a place to hide out -she's a kindred spirit named Dolly Tanner whose dad was railroaded into prison on a similar charge and who even wrote a letter to the editor during his trial defending Vic. Joe Elliot plays a truck driver who gave Vic a ride after the escape, but who Vic beat up when he got way too nosy, and subsequently pursued Vic in hopes of blackmailing one of his Good Samaritan helpers.

Other oddball supporting roles include a cab driver who instantly befriends him and arranges for plastic surgery from a shady doctor in Chinatown to hide Vic's identity. Drawing from an old Bogart noir, we don't see Vic's face for the first hour of the movie; when the bandages come off it's Don Fernando. Tracey suggests a new name: Raymond Campbell, but Vic prefers "Raymond Chandler" (duh!), but "you can call me Ray".

The uncredited screenplay very stupidly saves most of the backstory for the final reel, when old acquaintances Rob (played by Mike Mitchell) and Phyllis (played by '80s porn star Lee Carol, her Honey West beauty mark intact) visit Dolly and pour out endless details about Vic's murder case. There are new deaths, both accidental and murders, along the way, leading to a surprise happy ending.

Brownie points for attempting a serious approach to porn storytelling, but ultimately Zero for Conduct in muffing the opportunity.