Looker Review

Running Time: 83 min.

Production Date: 10 / 10 / 1997

Director: Nic Cramer (who also wrote the story)

Cast: Lauren Montgomery, Shanna McCullough, Silvia Saint, Erika Bella, Jacklyn Lick, Vince Voyeur, Ian Daniels, Mickey G., Hakan Serbes, and Steve Hatcher

Initial Expectations: I’ve heard very good things about the movie, so I have fairly high expectations.

Initial Reaction: It’s very good. It’s almost as good as many of Wicked and VCA’s titles.

Audio /Video Quality: Looker was shot on film, which, as far as I know, is typical of most of Nic Cramer’s movies. Since it’s shot on film there is some grain but it’s not too bad. There’s just enough grain that you notice it. For being shot on film it’s about as little grain as I’ve seen in an adult movie. The audio is well balanced, although there are a couple flaws in the movie. They’re not that noticeable and the audio synchs very well throughout the movie.

Music: The music varies some in style to match the scene. It’s normally very well balanced and well done.

Review: Looker follows Pike (Vince Voyeur), a detective haunted by his father’s last case. As Pike puts it, it’s a case of the sins of the father stolen by the son as he has to break into the records to find any information on the case which has long since been closed. The case is the Femme Fatale murders and Pike believes his father was murdered by the killer herself.

We catch a peek at the killer in a back alley as she takes Steve Hatcher and Ian Daniels. The killer is a very good looking woman who, as the rumors about the Femme Fatale killer goes, could have her pick of almost any man. Although you get several looks at her, you never see her completely as she has a black wig on. After Steve and Ian finish with a double facial, the killer gets dressed and slices them both with a razor off screen. We only see the razor pulled before the scene cuts to Pike and his partner in a diner.

Pike’s partner Sandra (Shanna McCullough) is worried about him and thinks he might be going over the dep end. She knows he’s drinking a lot and he’s also seeing the woman he thinks is behind everything at every crime scene they go to. She doesn’t know, however, that the killer also visits Pike in his dreams almost every night. The killer isn’t always the main character in the dreams. In one case, Pike dreams of a threesome with Sandra and a girl he saw in a diner that day (Erika Bella). The killer sits with a veil over her face playing solitaire in the background.

This is all just a dream, as Sandra doesn’t really care for men and is involved with the police psychologist (Jacklyn Lick). Jacklyn knows about some of what happened with Pike’s father and tells Sandra about how at that time, there was an agreement between the cops and the brothels and Pike’s father spent his nights playing bodyguard to some of the girls. Luckily, most of this is done in a flashback with Pike’s father (Mickey G.) watching Silvia Saint give Hakan Serbes a thank you at the station house. It’s a very well done scene and most of the flashback is in black and white. It switches to color as the sex starts and returns to black and white after Hakan pops. Jacklyn tells Sandra that it was always assumed that one of the hookers killed Pike’s father, but nobody ever knew for sure. All they did know was that the Femme Fatale murders stopped shortly after Pike’s father’s death.

Pike and Sandra both have their theories to the murderer. Pike still believes that the original killer is still around somehow. Sandra is a little more realistic, as the killer would have to be a member of AARP in very good standing by now. The killer, however, has her eyes set on Vince. He was almost ran over on his way out of his house, and now she visits Pike as he comes home from work. It’s a nice way to end the movie, and it does keep you guessing a little.

Finishing things off right, Pleasure has real credits at the end of the movie. If this wasn’t enough, there’s a few jokes inserted in them also. Make sure you watch the entire credits because some of them are really funny parodies of things in normal credits.

For being shot on film, the picture is very good. As I said earlier, there’s just enough grain to notice it. Most of the scenes in Looker are dark locations which never helps any feature shot on film. The picture stays much the same quality throughout the darkly lit scenes. The shadow usage really adds to the feel of the movie. It builds the tension very well but still feels realistic. The opening scene with the killer, Ian and Steve just wouldn’t be the same if it was brightly lit. It’s rare that any tension of this sort builds in a sex scene, but both the opening scene as well as Pike’s dream with the killer in the background manage to do it slightly. Not a lot, mind you, but it’s a sex scene!

Perhaps the biggest problem with Looker is that it’s a little too short. Another ten minutes of plot could have done wonders to it. As it is, it feels slightly hollow. Yes, the tension builds very well for the length of non-sex scenes in the movie, but a couple minutes more in between each sex scene could have done a lot more. By the time I finished watching Looker , I was amazed at the tension that built throughout the movie. A couple hours later I kept feeling like the movie was missing something. It certainly wasn’t sex, as the sex scenes were very well done. Which leaves the story. I’m still happy with Looker , it’s just that it could have been much better. Pleasure has recently released a sequel, and hopefully it fills in some of the holes.

Extras: Looker has the standard extras. Bios, a photo gallery, and trailers. The bios do a pretty good job of covering the main characters, namely Lauren, Shanna, Silvia, and Erika. It’s only a one screen write up for each star, but it at least includes a picture so you know who they are. The photo gallery is manual and contains about twenty pictures. It’s a mix of both full screen shots and smaller photo shots, but all are of at least average clarity. There are trailers for Looker, Smoke & Mirrors, Penetrator 2, Intimate Strangers, and Clockwork Orgy.

Themes: Straight, group, anal, lesbian, toys, rimming (male > female) and spanking

Raincoat Factor: Fairly high.

Overall: Currently, Looker can be found online for between $18 and $22 with many stores offering it for under $20. If you’re looking for a good adult thriller, pick it up. Looker does the best job of building tension in an adult film that I can think of. The extras are pretty average, but the transfer is very good, especially for being shot on film.

Note to Pleasure: Very good job on this DVD. The movie is very good and the extras weren’t too bad either. If you keep putting out DVDs like this people will take a lot of notice of you.

If you have any questions or comments, please e- mail me .