The $20 APSK 2

What looks to be a record breaker of all kinds, Koch Entertainment and Cinema Epoch are putting out a feature film, budgeted at just $20, on DVD May 13, 2008 (with a limited theatrical run in April, TBA). The film is already available for pre-order at venues such as Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc. The retail price is none other than, get this, $19.98, two cents below the film’s budget. The film has no names attached of any sorts (the lead has never even acted before), no awards, no festival appearances, and even more surprising, this $20 movie isn’t even completed!

Now, how does this happen, one asks, when independent films with hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, spend a year or two on the festival circuit, win all kinds of awards, feature well-known actors, and still have trouble getting a deal? Well, the only explanation is, is that Shane Ryan’s “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2”, had a hit with the original. Yes, that’s right, another fake snuff film is hitting the streets. But what’s so special about this one that a major company is willing to pick it up before it’s even completed, let alone the record-breaking $20 budget?

Jump back to 3½ years ago when Ryan, out of sheer desperation, made a film with just $45, a girl, and a camera, shot it in one night, and decided to make it known. He spent over 2 years pitching it to every distributor in town, either getting no response, or companies admitting they just wouldn’t know how to market a sexually explicit violent film about a 13 year old girl character. But Ryan wouldn’t give up, telling everyone, “the title alone will sell it”. It didn’t play at any festivals, but the film started ranking in astonishing reviews from critics like Film Threat, Horror Year Book, Creature-Corner, Evil Dread, and even MTV claims “Ryan triumphs by presenting a gritty, horrific and inescapable scenario…Amateur Porn Star Killer is sobering, believable and more timely than ever.”

Cinema Epoch’s President Gregory Hatanaka (and director of the cult hit “Mad Cowgirl”) saw the potential in the film (after Ryan’s exhausting 2½ year battle to get it distributed) and took a chance with it. To make a long story short, the film sold very well (despite being rejected by half of their normal venues, such as Netflix and Blockbuster, due to graphic content). “Nobody could even get a copy at Christmas”, says Ryan. The film came out November 6, 2007, and instantly started selling out. “Everybody ran out.” Amazon sold out multiple times, and every venue from Best Buy to Tower to Suncoast to Border’s were all out at Christmas. The film remained the number 1 seller at MrSkinShop.com for over 3 months straight.

That’s all great to hear, but why make a sequel and what can we expect from it? “Think of it like Law & Order or CSI, or something like that”, says Ryan. “Each episode follows the same detectives solving a new crime. These films follow the same killer but with a new victim. I think it’s fascinating, while incredibly disturbing, to study how each person might react to the same killer, because everybody is different, though we make a lot of the same bad choices and/or mistakes. And what we do with the APSK films is follow these victims from beginning to end. There is no time in between, we see everything, which you rarely get in a movie. It may not be pleasant, but it’s very interesting, important, and worth challenging myself as a filmmaker, to see if I can pull it off. The style of Part 2 is completely different than that of the first, and there’s also two completely different versions of Part 2 on the DVD.”

The DVD is being released as a 2-disc set, one disc featuring the “movie” version of the film, which is said to be very artsy, stylistic and music-oriented, while your other option on disc 2 will be the “snuff” version, “The Way The Killer Intended”, as if you’re watching real evidence. The snuff version is completed and already pulling in better reviews than the original APSK. Look out for “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2” on May 13, while Ryan plans to make more by the end of the year (though don’t forget his passionate “Romance Road Killers” and upcoming “I Fell In Love With The Devil’s Daughter”).

You can also check out the original “Amateur Porn Star Killer” in its first big festival appearance on March 29th at The X Fest in Cape Town, South Africa (other films include, “Death Proof”, “Planet Terror”, “Pervert” and “Reefer Madness” – www.xfest.org).

APSK1
https://alteregocinema.com/Features/AMATUER.html
APSK2
https://alteregocinema.com/Features/AMATEUR2.html