Death by sex
A 2013 found-footage horror movie about a "Bang Bus"-style porn website called "Lucky Bastard", where a random subscriber gets to have on-camera sex with a porn star. A seemingly innocuous fan named "Dave" (Jay Paulson) gets the call, but at his initial meeting with the film crew, he thoroughly creeps out his reluctant co-star Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue). Mike, the producer (Don McManus), manages to smooth things over, and the cast and crew set up in a rented Van Nuys mansion loaded with security cameras to shoot Dave's big scene.
The film had a minimal theatrical release in early 2014 before debuting on Video On Demand services.
This film provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Mike. He is sarcastic, demanding, and impatient with everyone around him. Even when Dave's behavior is setting off numerous red flags from the get-go, he does everything in his power to not cancel the shoot.
- Batter Up!: How location wrangler Suzanne meets her demise.
- Berserk Button:
- Ashley has an entire control panel of Berserk Buttons: Don't ask her out after the shoot's done. Don't address her by her real name. Don't mention her kids by their real names. And whatever you do, do NOT bring up her past as a Las Vegas hooker.
- Dave does not like to be ridiculed, especially on camera.
- Bondage Is Bad: Ashley convinces Dave to untie her before she'll have sex with him ("If you keep me tied up, it's rape").
- Camera Abuse: When Dave brains Nico with a rock, the SUV's dashboard camera is spattered with blood.
- Chekhov's Gun: Mike's pistol. This trope actually occurs twice with the same gun. First, when Mike tries unsuccessfully to get the drop on Dave with it, then when Dave places it on the nightstand before allowing himself to be seduced by Ashley.
- Credits Gag:
- "Ashley Saint" is listed in the film credits as an executive producer. Doubles as a Mythology Gag.
- "No person associated with this motion picture will be running for president one day." It's also a Call-Back to Dave's first meeting with Ashley, who tosses off the quip after seeing that he's visibly aroused.
- Deadpan Snarker: Kris the cameraman.
- Ethical Slut: Ashley, like most porn starlets, has a non-negotiable list of on-set "do's" and "don'ts." Unfortunately, Mike convinces her to waive her "no amateurs" rule just this one time...
- Expy: In her "Ashley Saint" persona, Betsy Rue is a dead ringer for The '80s porn queen Ginger Lynn.
- Fanservice: Naked women on the set of a porn video? What a surprise.
- Heroic Seductress: Ashley. She ultimately survives by offering to fuck Dave, only to disable him with a Groin Attack, then kill him with a Boom, Headshot! from Chekhov's Gun.
- Hollywood Hacking: Kris trys to convince Dave not to take all the hard drives containing the video footage, on account of everything they've shot has already been backed up to the office servers via Wi-Fi. An incredulous Dave doesn't buy it.
- How We Got Here: The film begins with police video footage of the crime scene, then rewinds several days.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Ashley's response to Dave as to why she got into porn ("I like sex, and I like money").
- The Immodest Orgasm: The movie's about porn. What did you expect? Subverted when Josh is called in as Ashley's "Plan B" partner after Dave is sent packing. Ashley - already spooked by the day's events - makes no attempt to hide her lack of enthusiasm when she and Josh get to it.
- Instant Death Bullet: Everyone who gets shot dies instantly. Except, strangely, Dave who, despite being shot multiple times in the head is visibly alive for at least a few moments afterwards.
- The Internet Is for Porn
- I Shall Taunt You: Dave, as part of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Large Ham:
- Mike, whenever he plays directly to the camera.
- Lampshaded with Josh.
- Leave the Camera Running: In-Universe example. Mike insists that EVERYTHING be taped, even when a number of people repeatedly demand that he turn the camera off.
- Magical Security Cam: A mansion full of them, to Mike's delight. He explains to the camera that it was previously the site of a Big Brother-type reality show.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Briefly, from Josh. (However his genitals are digitally blurred.)
- Manipulative Bastard: Mike. Justified (in his mind, arguably) in that he will literally do anything not to lose money on the shoot and have no usable footage, to boot.
- Pixelation: Used in a handful of sex scenes. Justified in that the entire film is a police assembly of the footage. See also Avoid the Dreaded G Rating.
- (It should be noted that the pixelation of the sex scenes does not mean the scenes were unsimulated.)
- Also, when Dave first shows up, he's wearing a T-shirt with a (blurred out) Dodgers logo - after getting explicit instructions NOT to wear anything with a copyrighted design.
- No Social Skills: Dave.
- Porn Names: Seriously, even the most casual of porn connoisseurs can name at least one performer with "Ashley" and/or "Saint" as part of their nom du smut.
- Rape as Drama: The film begins with Ashley walking in on Mike and crew filming Josh and Casey in a rough bondage sex scene. When she intervenes and tries to get both Casey and herself to safety, she in turn is attacked. It's only revealed to be All Part of the Show after Josh accidentally tries to go "in through the out door" and Ashley cracks up laughing.
- Dave punishes/humiliates Mike on-camera by sodomizing him with a dildo he found on the set, then shoots him dead.
- Ashley finally turns the tables on Dave when she offers to fuck him. When he insist he's not a rapist, she coos "It's not rape if I let you."
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: The female maitre d' who refuses to let the crew film some introductory scenes at her restaurant. Mike even attempts to bribe her, to no avail.
- Ashley as well; see Ethical Slut. Subverted in that, unlike the maitre d', she eventually yields to Mike's offer of a bigger payday.
- Shout-Out: At one point, Nico teases the agitated Dave by joking "Settle down, Beavis."
- Shower Scene: Ashley. Lampshaded In-Universe by Nico, who stages a Psycho-style prank on her - using a dildo instead of a knife. After her initial shock, Ashley grudgingly admits it was Actually Pretty Funny.
- Shown Their Work: The filmmakers labored long and hard to accurately depict what happens on a porn shoot, both in front of and behind the camera: production snafus, rampant piracy, and the blasé attitudes of all involved.
- Single Mom Stripper: Ashley.
- Slut-Shaming: Dave attempts this on Ashley, asking what her kids will think when they find out about her porn past. Ashley bravely retorts that they'll think they had a mother who loved them.
- Smug Snake: Mike essentially bribes/browbeats Ashley into appearing in the Lucky Bastard scene with Dave; when it starts to look like she'll change her mind for the right payday, he turns to the camera and purrs "There's my little stripper that I turned into a porn star!"
- Stalker with a Crush: Dave insists he's not one after triggering Ashley's multiple Berserk Buttons. He's lying.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The poster admits "This Will Not End Well".
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Kris notices this in Casey as she reviews one of her scenes.
- Ashley at the very end of the film just before she turns off the camera.
- Trailers Always Spoil: DVD cases, too. No surprises about Dave if you look at the box.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Dave.
- Would Hit a Girl: Dave angrily shoves Ashley to the ground after her attempts at foreplay make him ejaculate too soon. A furious Ashley - who already has one Domestic Abuser (her ex) in her past - storms off the set, triggering Dave's murderous rampage.
- Suzanne's Batter Up! death.
