No doubt Schrader really loved researching this movie – all the effort seems to have gone into describing different porno films and theatres, sex shops, kinky motels rather than the story, which takes forever to get going. We never find out how the girl went from being a seemingly innocent teenager, maybe a bit naughty, at bible camp of wherever it was to winding up in a porn film in a couple of months. Instead there’s lots of investigation scenes, which Jack Van Dorn going about things the long way.
It really picks up once Van Dorn hooks up with the young hooker (Nicki) and they help each other - there are some good scenes. The ending does rip off Taxi Driver and Rolling Thunder (Van Dorn enterting the baddies’ den to save the day) but at least it’s a powerful finale. In this script Van Dorn says “turn it off” several times but doesn’t say “that’s my daughter up there”. Also he specifically kills the baddy – shoving him through a window, turning him over and pushing his throat on to the glass. (No ramifications from the cops).
There are several nods to The Searchers – the private eye keeps calling Van Dorn “pilgrim”, Van Dorn’s brother in law worries that Van Dorn wants to kill his daughter, Van Dorn goes to his daughter at the end “let’s go home”. And like that film it deals with a great primal fear - to wit, your teenage daughter might run away and wind up in a porno.
No comments:
Post a Comment