Movie Talk: Lovers Lane (Wicked Pictures, 2005)

Not to be confused with the mainstream slasher of the same name, Brad Armstrong's Lovers Lane is a pretty straight forward take on an adults only slasher film. Starring Wicked star Devinn Lane, this often forgotten film is usually overshadowed by Wicked's other slasher, the comedy Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre. Unlike Cuddly Pines, this one plays it as serious as possible, which makes for an interesting struggle as the film tries to balance the adult material with the more serious and violent subject matter. 

Now, Brad Armstrong was Wicked's answer to Paul Thomas. He was their big name director, who handled their larger budgeted features. Lovers Lane actually feels oddly small for him, even though this film has insane production design and value. Outside of the adult scenes this film feels like a mainstream film. The scope of the film is just smaller than what you would expect from Armstrong. He did features like Space Nuts and Fallen. Still, he brings his skill as a director into this one, making this look polished. The script is okay, although it kind of loses the plot midway through, when it shifts from being a slasher and more into a procedural/drama for the middle, before going full tilt slasher for the finale. This almost feels like a romantic suspense novel with the steam turned up. It works pretty well, but the middle section drags, especially since it feels like Armstrong was struggling to find ways to include more sex scenes into the script naturally. He did co-write this with Stormy Daniels, who would go on to actually write some pretty enjoyable films. Her movie Redemption is one of the better ones I can think of that I've seen recently. 

Devinn Lane gets the cover on this one, and plays a cop with a chip on her shoulder. She's trying to solve her sister's murder, and now more bodies are turning up that mirror her sister's death. Lane has to carry the weight of this feature on her shoulders, and she does so really well. I was actually kind of surprised that her role was mostly acting, as she only has one sex scene in the whole feature. Devinn Lane was one of those contract performers who I felt never really got enough credit when she was with Wicked. Mostly that was because she only did girl/girl scenes for a good chunk of her contract. She was a solid performer, and a good actor. She would also go on to become a pretty well respected director in her own right after she left Wicked, focusing less on feature work, and more on gonzo material. She will for sure be showing up again on the blog when I cover About a Woman from the same studio. Might be saving that one for Pride month. 

The rest of the cast is pretty stacked as well. You also have Jessica Drake in a smaller role as one of the college kids who ends up in the killer's cross hairs. Feature regulars Evan Stone, Randy Spears and Ava Vincent fill out the cast in more developed roles. Armstrong himself even shows up in a mostly sex focused role. Randy Spears is solid as always, playing the more stoic FBI Agent/Love Interest. He doesn't get to play as much in this one, but you can't go wrong with Spears in a lead role. Everyone else does fine. The script doesn't really give them much to do, but everyone holds their own. Plenty of familiar faces fill out the body count as horny "college" students who end up on the wrong end of the killer's hook. In true slasher tradition, all of the college students are played by actors who are clearly in their late 20's/early 30's.

Lovers Lane is fine. I want to like this one more than I did, but it really seems to struggle to find ways to stand out. Partially I think this is because it doesn't fully know what movie it wants to be. Does it want to be a slasher? Does it want to be romantic suspense? It never really seems to find its footing, and because of that the tone and pacing suffer. I know I sound like I'm being harsh on this one for an element that most people would fast forward through, but this is more a movie than it is an adult film. You spend more time with the characters out of bed than you do in bed, and so I am going to judge it accordingly. 

I was able to find this one for cheap to stream online, and I would recommend it if anyone in the cast interests you, or if romantic suspense is something you are looking for. It isn't bad, and the adult scenes are fine. They feel very... well, porny, but they aren't bad. All of the performers are pros, and everyone seems knows how to make the scenes work. I'm going to be honest, I clicked through most of those scenes as I found them kind of repetitive, but this one isn't really made for me. This is for sure a middle of the road feature, but it is far from being bad. I just have higher standards for Wicked and Brad Armstrong.