The Escort Reviews

THE ESCORT rates as nothing more than a standard direct-to-video erotic thriller with the oft-used FATAL ATTRACTION/revenge-style plot line and subpar erotic moments. Suzanne Lane (Shauna O'Brien), an escort with sinister motives, moves in with Debra (Landon Hall) and Shane Gray (Scott Coppola), a couple in search of a housemate. At Debra's literary agency, her partner Griffin (Gregory S. O'Rourke) insists on a background check of Suzanne; he decides that he should use a private detective for this task, employing Rick (Sean O'Bannon), the ex-boyfriend of his secretary Lianne (Shayna Ryan). Meanwhile, the increasingly demented Suzanne kills her boyfriend Allen (Tom Case) after they have sex in the shower. Back at the house, Suzanne and Debra's dinner for two leads to a brief kiss and Debra's revelation that she once had a lesbian tryst. Rick later reveals to Lianne that Suzanne was committed after her sister's suicide. Before Lianne can tell Debra, Suzanne strangles her. Debra finds the body and is framed for the murder. Suzanne then blindfolds Shane and makes love to him as part of her elaborate scheme. Police Lieutenant West (Robert Ruth) gets a call from Griffin revealing Suzanne's true identity. Raising bail, Shane and Debra return and are attacked by Suzanne, who knocks Shane unconscious. In her battle with Debra, she reveals that she is really the sister of the girl that Debra had a fling with in high school. Her reputation shot, the sister had killed herself. As Suzanne prepares to deliver the death blow, West arrives and shoots her dead. Below average soft-core adult fare from Gary Graver, whose SEXUAL ROULETTE (1997) was a far more successful production than this unoriginal and unarousing "thriller." Acting performances are generally awful, but most surprising is the lack of any heat during the numerous sex scenes. Since those scenes comprise the film's only possible level of appeal, it should be noted that Shauna O'Brien, the all-natural beauty who lit up FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, aka ELKE'S EROTIC NIGHTS (1995), is seen here in four surprisingly flat, repetitive, and unimaginative sequences. Landon Hall and the buxom Shayna Ryan are more exciting in their individual couplings, but Ryan's effort is hindered by her incessant giggling. Even more ludicrous is the dinner scene between Debra and Suzanne; the filmmakers commit the sexploitation faux pas of setting up this alluring lesbian-sex possibility, and then delivering no payoff. While the film makes little sense plotwise, scribe Sean O'Bannon, who appears briefly as Rick, does pen some comical dialogue for Suzanne. Despite O'Brien's most well-rounded efforts at sleaziness, perhaps only a true straight-to-video queen like Shannon Whirry or Gabriella Hall could have brightened up a sorry showcase like THE ESCORT. (Sexual situations, violence, extreme profanity.)