Erotic Aftershock

Cast: Roxy Jezel, Jesse Capelli, Brea Bennett, Celeste Star, Riley Shy, more.

This movie starts with a bang, literally, as Nick Manning takes a gun and blows a couple of holes into Evan Stone. Roxy Jezel runs up and kisses him as he dies — and then the credits start.

Stone is a crusading reporter, trying to get reluctant ex-cop Eric Masterson to help him take down Manning, a shady strip-club owner. Masterson has his own reasons to help Stone, involving a dead female partner and a shady police chief (Steven St. Croix) in cahoots with Manning.

The sex — and there is some good stuff here — serves the plot, like when Masterson rescues Brea Bennett from a kidnapping. She shows her appreciation in classic porn fashion before we find out she's a hooker and he's a john.

Also in porn-video fashion, two strippers pleasure St. Croix before Stone and Masterson come in and confront Manning as he pays off St. Croix. In cash. In the middle of the strip club.

Writer/director DCypher masterfully weaves shots and sequences to build a unified whole, mixing different lighting and color choices to keep the eye intrigued as well as the brain. Clever dialogue keeps the ear busy too. Kudos to Ralph Parfait and Dic Tracy for razor-sharp lensing.

Downbeat, but a good addition to the couples shelf.