Porno

Porn is the devil! Well…that’s the concept of the film, Porno.

Five teens employed at the local movie theater of a small religious town try to decide on which film to watch. The teens discover an old film hidden in the basement of the theater. Once played, it unleashes all hell.

Porno takes place in the early ’90s, it’s easily realized when the teens are trying to decide on which film to watch. The options are between Encino Man and League of Their Own – Both great movie to reference. When the five teens decide that they want to watch something different, they just so happen to come across an old hidden film. It’s a sort of porno film, which goes against everything they are told due to their religious upbringing. But of course, that doesn’t stop the teens from wanting to watch it. It just makes them want to watch the film even more. What the kids are expecting is a bit of raunchy sex education but what they get is a hell of a lot more.

“…a bit of raunchy sex education but what they get is a hell of a lot more.“

The film they watch starts out as an “artsy” porno, but then it quickly turns south. When the film gets a bit too much for the teens to handle, they start debating on whether to keep watching or not. The more the teens watch, the more disturbing the film gets, the more the teens notice that the film begins to affect the theater. Strange things begin to happen, and this is when Porno turns from a comedy to a comedic horror film.

There’s a lot of elements to enjoy in this film. I liked the concept of porno being the devil to a bunch of religious people. It makes for great tension among its characters, a lot of comedic moments, and makes the film interesting overall. The horror aspect of the film comes in through jump scares with the help of the film score, and very disturbing images that make you want to look away, but keep watching…just like the teens in the film…keep watching. To just put it in perspective, in a scene one of the character’s penis explodes. As grotesque and painful as it sounds, the scene is still very laughable when one of the other characters tries to reattach his penis.

“…still very laughable when one of the other characters tries to reattach his penis.“

So much credit goes to everyone a part of this film. The writers, the director, and the actors really made the film easily watchable regarding the subject matter. I love that it was a film with a small cast and each member did their job well. Whether it was providing horror or comedy, every actor knew how to get the reaction shown. You can’t ask much more from a cast.

I would like to describe Porno as a disturbing yet, hilarious version of Scooby-Doo. It’s not for the easily offended or for the squeamish. Porno finds a way to make the disgusting laughable, and I feel that it’s meant to be a fun and slightly cheesy film which it all works in the long run.

Porno (2019) Directed by Keola Racela. Written by Matt Black and Laurence Vannicelli. Starring Katelyn Pearce, Larry Saperstein, Robbie Tann, Evan Daves, Jillian Mueller, Peter Reznikoff, Bill Phillips. Porno screened at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival.

8 out of 10

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