Michael Raven's XXX output is highly variable, but he impressed me with this less pretentious than usual adult drama, ADRENALINE. The title's a bit misleading, because this variation on the NATURAL BORN KILLERS genre is more thoughtful than violent or high-pitched.
Director's interview on the DVD helpfully indicates he was inspired to write the script after visiting the location, a tiny California town used for shooting films, not unlike those simple Western sets that used to be in constant demand. It gives the feature (a video release shot on film) a nice timeless feel, as the director intended.
Simplicity is the key, with runaway thrill-seekers Evan Stone and Ava Vincent blowing into town in his red sports car, killing the local gas station/convenience store attendant for no reason after lifting a few bucks from his cash register,. Since it's a non-sex bit role, the gas jockey is played by the crew's electrician, Ric Rodney.
Though Vincent is more than a handful, Stone also dallies with local waitress Jessica Drake, who gets star billing and is the selling point for the video. (I was surprised that Vincent, who IMDb insists on calling by her more real name Jewel, has the larger role.) That's pretty much the entire plot of a concise feature that in the pre-porn days would have made a compelling 1-hour anthology drama on TV (I'm thinking of my fave, the Altman-driected "Bus Stop" episode memorably starring Fabian).
Dillion Day is well-cast as the local sheriff in this tiny cast, with Julie Meadows thrown into the mix in the final reels almost as an after-thought as an FBI agent so that another sex scene can bring the video up to porn quota. Even so, fans of the latter-day wall-to-wall sex persuasion will likely be disappointed by Raven's tilting of the balance to more acting, less sex in this opus. Speaking of acting, I could see why Stone won an industry acting award for his Brando-inspired (but more subtle) performance as the leather-jacketed killer.
I liked the ending which went completely against the clichés of various genres by having the thrill killers go out in an OFF-SCREEN "Butch & Sundance" blaze of glory -no blood, no guts, just inevitability. This set up the proper mood of helplessness for protagonist Drake, left behind seemingly sans exit in her 1-horse town.
Director's interview on the DVD helpfully indicates he was inspired to write the script after visiting the location, a tiny California town used for shooting films, not unlike those simple Western sets that used to be in constant demand. It gives the feature (a video release shot on film) a nice timeless feel, as the director intended.
Simplicity is the key, with runaway thrill-seekers Evan Stone and Ava Vincent blowing into town in his red sports car, killing the local gas station/convenience store attendant for no reason after lifting a few bucks from his cash register,. Since it's a non-sex bit role, the gas jockey is played by the crew's electrician, Ric Rodney.
Though Vincent is more than a handful, Stone also dallies with local waitress Jessica Drake, who gets star billing and is the selling point for the video. (I was surprised that Vincent, who IMDb insists on calling by her more real name Jewel, has the larger role.) That's pretty much the entire plot of a concise feature that in the pre-porn days would have made a compelling 1-hour anthology drama on TV (I'm thinking of my fave, the Altman-driected "Bus Stop" episode memorably starring Fabian).
Dillion Day is well-cast as the local sheriff in this tiny cast, with Julie Meadows thrown into the mix in the final reels almost as an after-thought as an FBI agent so that another sex scene can bring the video up to porn quota. Even so, fans of the latter-day wall-to-wall sex persuasion will likely be disappointed by Raven's tilting of the balance to more acting, less sex in this opus. Speaking of acting, I could see why Stone won an industry acting award for his Brando-inspired (but more subtle) performance as the leather-jacketed killer.
I liked the ending which went completely against the clichés of various genres by having the thrill killers go out in an OFF-SCREEN "Butch & Sundance" blaze of glory -no blood, no guts, just inevitability. This set up the proper mood of helplessness for protagonist Drake, left behind seemingly sans exit in her 1-horse town.