Aside from featuring Jack Wrangler, KILLING ME SOFTLY is a rather perfunctory MOS exercise about a gay killer on the loose in Manhattan. The best that can be said for it, is that it's better than the later Heather Graham thriller of this title (and that's not saying much).
Stanley Richards walks through the starring role as Charles Mandell, just off the ocean liner docking in New York from the Bahamas, picking up stud Philip Jordan (Wrangler) and going to his apartment for sex.
Daily News headlines blare: "Gay Murders Baffle Cops", so we know something's afoot, and sure enough Charles is humping a young blond guy in a cluttered lavatory, then strangles him to death.
A helpful narrator (this being a silent porn film) informs us that Charles digs killing his partners at the moment of climax, but he loves Philip -hence doesn't want to off him.
Next victim is a mustachioed gent, and fake groans of passion are dubbed on the soundtrack. "Fate in the guise of an acting job takes Philip away briefly" intones the narrator, probably true in that Wrangler was in peak demand when this film was made.
SPOILERS ALERT:
There follows the film's showpiece: Charles is picked up on the Brooklyn Bridge and has anal sex stand-up style right out on the bridge! Certainly a notable example of guerrilla filmmaking Ric & Ken Burns might want to have for a documentary. When Charles chokes the guy to death, there is a now-eerie shot of the Twin Towers to end the sequence.
Back in the apartment, Wrangler returns and reads the headlines, with details indicating to him that Charles is the killer. Dropping MOS for dialog, Wrangler says ominously to Charles: "I want you to make love to me for the last time", as suspenseful film noir library music plays.
This final, nihilistic scene is well-directed by the Amero Bros., a curious Gotham filmmaking team whose eclectic work ranged from experimental (BACCHANALE) to both straight (BLONDE AMBITION, EVERY INCH A LADY) and gay hits. For KILLING ME SOFTLY they ground the action in a very realistic NYC setting, including docu-style footage of a gay pride rally and signs reading "Anita Sucks" in reference to then-prominent Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade.
Stanley Richards walks through the starring role as Charles Mandell, just off the ocean liner docking in New York from the Bahamas, picking up stud Philip Jordan (Wrangler) and going to his apartment for sex.
Daily News headlines blare: "Gay Murders Baffle Cops", so we know something's afoot, and sure enough Charles is humping a young blond guy in a cluttered lavatory, then strangles him to death.
A helpful narrator (this being a silent porn film) informs us that Charles digs killing his partners at the moment of climax, but he loves Philip -hence doesn't want to off him.
Next victim is a mustachioed gent, and fake groans of passion are dubbed on the soundtrack. "Fate in the guise of an acting job takes Philip away briefly" intones the narrator, probably true in that Wrangler was in peak demand when this film was made.
SPOILERS ALERT:
There follows the film's showpiece: Charles is picked up on the Brooklyn Bridge and has anal sex stand-up style right out on the bridge! Certainly a notable example of guerrilla filmmaking Ric & Ken Burns might want to have for a documentary. When Charles chokes the guy to death, there is a now-eerie shot of the Twin Towers to end the sequence.
Back in the apartment, Wrangler returns and reads the headlines, with details indicating to him that Charles is the killer. Dropping MOS for dialog, Wrangler says ominously to Charles: "I want you to make love to me for the last time", as suspenseful film noir library music plays.
This final, nihilistic scene is well-directed by the Amero Bros., a curious Gotham filmmaking team whose eclectic work ranged from experimental (BACCHANALE) to both straight (BLONDE AMBITION, EVERY INCH A LADY) and gay hits. For KILLING ME SOFTLY they ground the action in a very realistic NYC setting, including docu-style footage of a gay pride rally and signs reading "Anita Sucks" in reference to then-prominent Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade.