David Kittredge’s Pornography: A Thriller

Imagine being sucked unwittingly into a nightmarish vortex while masturbating. Sex and horror and porn-stars commingle in that ever-changing world where dreams are real, lusty boyish angels are strangled, and every moment, real and imagined, is filmed and archived for the next traveler into this psycho-sexual circular Wonderland, where Alice is oiled and buff and the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar is behind the camera. That’s the feeling you get from Pornography: A Thriller. David Kittredge — who many know from his short film “Fairy Tale” from the acclaimed DVD anthology Boys Briefs, or from his second short Target Audience which was nominated for a Teddy award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival — delivers a thriller like no other with this feature directorial debut which premiered in April at Cinema Village in NYC. Set in the gritty and unseemly world of gay porn production, the story focuses on the disappearance of a disaffected and disillusioned “boy-next-door” porn star named Mark Anton. Rumors abound about what happened to Mark, mostly involving his alleged last film requisitioned by a mysterious client. No one has ever seen that film, because, well, Mark is supposedly murdered in it. The following two acts of this three part thriller finds a writer researching Mark Anton’s disappearance who stumbles onto a snippet of what appears to be the alleged snuff film (who most in the biz consider to be an urban legend), and another porn-star turned film-maker who channels Mark, feverishly pecks out a script, and proceeds on a ill-fated and haunted production of a porn-bio pic called The Mark Anton Story. The mention alone of snuff films should lead one to believe this Kittredge movie is somewhat disturbing, but it’s not. Although in keeping with its looping narrative, a second viewing may be immediately desired; like getting off a rollercoaster and immediately giving it another go. David Kittredge is a film-maker who will be in my cross-hairs from this day forward. You will either love or hate Pornography: A Thriller, for there is no in between. Come what may, dust off the Hookah and enter this intense and mind-bending Wonderland for a viewing experience that you will almost certainly never forget. ~