Warning

Warning!!! Pedophile Released (2009)

This is one movie from director Shane Ryan (of Amateur Porn Star Killer fame) that can make a gang rape scene boring. Which is what we’re treated to in the opening of the film. Then we get a flashback of the lead actress telling the cops that her 18 year old boyfriend (The girl is supposed to be 12 in this scene. Did you ever watch To Catch A Predator and they managed to make a 25-30 year old female appear to be anywhere from 12-15 with maybe a baseball cap and some Pippi Longstocking-ish pigtails? Shane Ryan obviously didn‘t.) never molested her and only kissed her. Boyfriend gets locked up. Girlfriend turns to a life of petty theft and prostitution. Boyfriend gets released six years later, and the two of them mope, sometimes together, sometimes separately, for the duration of the film’s two hour run time.

Don’t be fooled by the cover of this one. I took one look at it and thought “OH! EXPLOITATION FILM! Possibly a modern return to form of shock cinema that’s taken a nosedive with the end of the mom and pop video rental store!” Nope. Not at all. There is some nudity, and a naked porn star that does an entire scene while taking a dump, but nothing of any importance.

I think Ryan really wanted to tell me something with this one, maybe something along the lines of ‘love sees no age’ and that maybe society was wrong for locking up the 18 year old boyfriend of a 12 year old girl, because it royally messed the girl up, but what I took away from this one was that the girl was already messed up because she was 12 dating a 18 year old. There is no good that can come of this situation. Even if he didn’t do some statutory raping then, who’s to say he wouldn’t have two days later? And she’s 12. At that age, you can be talked into doing just about anything.

And what really sticks up my craw, is that 2/3 of this movie is someone just walking around. To a crappy indie music soundtrack. Maybe the girl will stop at a truck stop, remove her shirt, and take a quick bath in the sink (funny side note, I worked with a guy for a while that wouldn’t shower in his own home. He’d change his clothes into what he was going to wear the next day the night before, sleep in them, and come in two hours early to wash himself with a dirty rag in the dish sink of the common break area. It’s only funny now because I can look back and laugh. At the time I was horrified and disgusted.) only to go walk around some more. It’s almost like a terrible fan film version of Lord of the Rings, just lots of aimless walking.

This one is another one to skip totally. But I would be lying if I weren’t amused by the idea of the woman on the toilet. Even the not so subtle incest undertones of that scene made it a little better. So it gets half a point for that. And another half for at least having nudity in it from time to time.

1 out of 4

reviewed by Seth Moore