One of the most influential movies upon me as a film fan was
Boogie Nights. When I first saw it during high school,
something changed in me. It made me see
movies as more than entertainment (I say this a lot). There was an artistry to them, something that
moved people. They could have depth,
spectacle, story, and character work that all came together to run a gamut of
emotions. Movies could be an artistic
venture rather than a way to spend an hour and a half or more.
Boogie Nights told
the story of Dirk Diggler. His rise and
fall in the porn industry played out over two and a half hours. The story was loosely based on the career of
John Holmes and included a scene similar to a notorious real-life event. The Wonderland murders happened in 1981 and
involved a drug gang being killed following a robbery. It was changed to a drug deal gone bad for Boogie Nights, but anyone in the know
knew what the scene was in reference to.
The reason I say all this is that this week’s movie was
another notorious porn industry story involving murder. This time, though, it was in the gay porn
industry. Bryan Kocis, founder of Cobra
Video, was murdered in a power play move when a rival filmmaker wanted to
feature Brent Corrigan, a Cobra Video star, in some of their videos. It wasn’t about drugs. It wasn’t about a robbery. The murder was committed to get the rights to
a star, and it didn’t take long to catch the killers.
This real-life murder happened in 2007. Bryan Kocis was always in some sort of legal
trouble, so perhaps it wasn’t entirely unexpected. He had been on trial for having sex with a
minor earlier in the decade. Then he
directed some movies starring Sean Paul Lockhart, under the name Brent
Corrigan. When Lockhart tried to leave Cobra
Video, Kocis secured the rights to the stage name Brent Corrigan and wouldn’t
allow Lockhart to use the name any longer.
Lockhart retaliated by revealing that he had been underage and using a
fake ID when he first began making films with Kocis. This put Kocis in the spotlight once again
for having sexual interactions with a minor.
Lockhart went to some rival producers using the stage name Fox
Ryder. Everyone involved wanted Brent
Corrigan. Through litigation, Lockhart
got the name back from Kocis. It was too
late, though. The producers didn’t know
about the litigation and killed Kocis to get the name. At least, that’s what I’ve found through
research. I could be wrong.
Andrew E. Stoner and Peter A. Conway wrote about the murder in
the book Cobra Killer: Gay Porn, Murder,
and the Manhunt to Bring the Killers to Justice. That book became the basis for the 2016
film. Garrett Clayton played Sean Paul
Lockhart, the center of the murder story, the star of the gay porn world. Christian Slater was cast as Bryan Kocis, the
director and founder of Cobra Video whose death would change the lives of
everyone involved. Keegan Allen and
James Franco played Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes, the rival producers who
would sink to deadly lows to have a successful film. Molly Ringwald and Alicia Silverstone would also
play supporting roles in King Cobra.
Though the murder was what inspired the movie to be made, it
wasn’t the focus of the story. King Cobra was about the relationship
between Sean Paul Lockhart and Brian Kocis.
It began with the meeting of the two gay porn figures. The first half was all about the relationship
that blossomed out of their meeting. Movies
were made, but the story was written around the interactions that the two men
had with each other as Brent Corrigan rose to fame in the gay porn industry. Of course, at the same time, Harlow Cuadra
and Joseph Kerekes were trying to get their own porn studio off the ground.
The tone of these two storylines before they linked up in
the second half of the movie were completely different. The story of Sean and Bryan was about an
older man falling in love with his young star.
Christian Slater put in a sympathetic performance as Bryan Kocis, making
you feel for the guy. Until he crossed
the line, that is. Then Slater took a
left turn into insanity that took away the sympathy for the character but remained
interesting. If anything, Christian
Slater was the best part of King Cobra
and deserved a better movie around him.
Garrett Clayton was alright as Sean.
Having no knowledge of what Sean Paul Lockhart is like in reality, it
seemed as though Clayton was playing up the eccentricities to a point where it bordered
on parody. That said, this was the
better storyline of the two.
Harlow and Joseph had a darker storyline that felt ripped
from a different movie. Throughout King Cobra, they were trying to get their
own gay porn studio going. There was
dark comedy in the storyline thanks to the performances of Keegan Allen and
James Franco. The actions of the
characters mixed well with the over-the-top performances of the actors. It didn’t mix well with the more subdued
story of Sean and Bryan though.
Every time King Cobra
shifted from one pair of characters to the other, it felt like it was jumping
to a different movie. I was reminded of
being a kid and jumping between two different movies on two different
television channels because I didn’t want to watch commercials. It was disorienting to go from a serious drama
with hints of romance and betrayal to the Pain
& Gain light feel of the other storyline. Had the movie stuck to a tone and not flip-flopped
the whole time, it could have been something more interesting.
King Cobra was not
a good movie. Most of that came down to
the shifting of tones throughout. The
performances were fine with Christian Slater putting in a solid turn as Bryan
Kocis. In the end, it didn’t do justice
to the events. Though everything led up
to the murder of Kocis, what followed the murder was rushed and the movie was
over soon after. It would have been nice
for the murder to be a central point and for what happened before and after to
be equally as fleshed out. It would have
been nice to have a consistent tone.
Whether it played like a straight drama or a heightened farce would have
depended on the characters that became the focus. Either one would have worked well enough to
make an entertaining, hard hitting movie.
It should be noted that Sean Paul Lockhart has spoken
against King Cobra, saying it
bastardized his life. He didn’t find it
accurate to how the events played out. Now,
there’s a bigger discussion to be had about how accurate movies should have to
be to real events. I’m not going to get
into that right now. I do think that
bastardization was somewhat from Garrett Clayton’s portrayal of Lockhart. As I said earlier, it seemed like it bordered
on parody of the real person. Though we
should have been sympathizing with Lockhart and what he was going through, the
movie played as though Kocis was the good guy for much of the first half. After that, everyone was the bad guy. So, yeah, it makes sense that Lockhart didn’t
like how it portrayed the events.
King Cobra and Boogie Nights depicted important moments
in a side of the film industry that few people mention. Other movies have done that as well. Wonderland
covered the murders that Boogie Nights
alluded to in a more accurate way, depicting the actual people and actual
event. These events are as important to
film history as the Manson murders, the Natalie Wood drowning, or the Twilight
Zone helicopter crash. They don’t get
spoken about as often, though, simply because they were part of the porn
industry. Wonderland, Boogie Nights,
and King Cobra are important because
they shine a little bit of light on the things happening within that corner of
the industry. They get the
behind-the-scenes stories out there, stories that might stay buried otherwise.
I started this post by saying that Boogie Nights changed the way that I saw movies. I can see the importance of movies outside of
their entertainment value. I still want
to be entertained by a movie, but I also want to see important stories
told. They might not be the most
captivating stories. But they could
inspire people to make better versions of the same story. Or, in the case of movies based on real
events, get people to learn about what goes on in the world around them. Movies are art. Art comes in many forms. All of them are important.
Not as important are these notes:
- Garrett Clayton, who played Sean Paul Lockhart, made his third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance this week. He was also in The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (week 39) and Holiday Spin (week 317).
- Rosemary Howard and Rock Ryan were in King Cobra after appearing in New Year’s Eve (week 57).
- King Cobra was the second appearance of Joe James, who had previously shown up in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110).
- Alicia Silverstone was quickly mentioned in this post as being a part of King Cobra. She was in Batman and Robin (week 138).
- Christian Slater was a big part of King Cobra. He was also the star of Alone in the Dark (week 152).
- Finally, we got to see Molly Ringwald for a bit this week. We also saw her in Jem and the Holograms (week 238).
- Have you seen King Cobra? Did you know about the real story that inspired this movie? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.
- Those are two places where you can also let me know about movies I should be checking out for this blog. This one was suggested by a friend from school. One of the upcoming films could be from a reader like you. Hit me up with what to watch.
- There’s an Instagram account for the Sunday “Bad” Movies. Check that out. It should be kicking back into high gear again soon.
- I have a Snapchat where I share clips of bad movies that I watch. It’s not for the blog, but you can add me (jurassicgriffin) if you want.
- There’s one last note that needs to be made before heading out. What’s the next movie? The movie of choice is one that has had a resurgence over the past few years, becoming a cult classic once again. Sean Connery starred in the movie in 1974, once he was done with his James Bond days. Zardoz will be next week’s topic. Come back then to see what I write about it.
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