SXSW 2020 - Porno
SXSWTime and time again, the Horror genre has trapped a group of teens in a spooky, isolated location, only for them to be terrorised and attacked by an unknown force. Keola Racela’s Porno follows suit here, too, but excels particularly as a piece of Genre cinema in its originality and subversion of familiar tropes.
Porno takes place almost entirely in a small movie theatre, where the team of young staff members have been left after hours to watch a film of their choice. This leads to the discovery of an old film reel in the hidden basement, which – in true Evil Dead-style – unleashes a deadly demon when played on the projector.
The Evil Dead is not all, and the intertextuality and movie references come thick and fast throughout. However, Porno proudly stands tall as an original film, in thanks primarily to Matt Black and Laurence Vannicelli’s well-developed, character-driven screenplay. While the cinema itself ticks the box of creepy isolated Horror movie location, the screenplay brings it into a different set of dynamics with the characters that inhabit it. Adorning the walls of the cinema are various pieces of Christian paraphernalia, and the film very quickly introduces the also devoutly Christian cinema manager, Mr Pike. Pike‘s cinema staff are an entirely religious team, too, and Porno dramatically benefits from this different approach to the regular teen horror set of lead characters.
The theme of Christianity is certainly no stranger to the Horror genre, but the approach of following five young adult protagonists who, for a myriad of varying reasons, practice the religion feels particularly fresh and inventive. To the film’s credit, too, Porno never necessarily condemns or praises the characters for their choices and beliefs, and as such, allows the audience to get to know the protagonists on a personal and developed level. That is not to say that some of their religious decisions are not held up to scrutiny and questioned; they are.
However, this treatment never feels mean-spirited or judgemental, and the film is cautious about letting the characters question one another’s religious beliefs to each other, as opposed to feeling derived from the filmmaker’s own, omnipotent point of view. The presence of a sexually-driven, demonic Succubus hunting the team down in the cinema is a great plot device. It allows the film to enjoy exploiting its trashier, gorier moments, while at the same time allowing the characters to discover and challenge a lot about their relationships with God and with each other.
It is true that Porno is subversive of a lot of the Horror genre’s common elements; it also plays up to them incredibly and, in doing so, is unashamedly entertaining, fun and trashy. There is perhaps not enough gory set pieces to satisfy the most die-hard of Genre fans, but what there is, is effectively gruesome. The film boasts a neatly thematic screenplay that ties together the overall piece nicely, and shines brightly for its well-written and a well-cast bunch of characters. Horror is always the most effective when the audience care for the people on screen, and the movie is very economical with its time when it comes to establishing characters at the same time as establishing its trashy tone.
It could be said that the film is ten minutes too long and lets its great character work down in places occasionally, with some muddled gender politics and crass humour. However, they are minor, and Racela’s vibrant direction allows the quieter character moments to always juxtapose with the more extravagant set-pieces for an overall fun ride. The Giallo-influenced soundtrack is incredible, too, and truly brings to life the movie’s fantastical and frantic finale, which with the lighting and score, looks and sounds like it is lifted straight from Argento’s Suspiria or Inferno. Porno is an all-round love letter to Horror and deserves its accolades for being as nuanced and dedicated to the audience’s journey as it is.