Hyperkink

I've seen dozens of Joe Sarno's 1980s XXX cheapies, with only two or three passing muster. They're generally silly comedies, but "Hyperkink" tries to be a nearly "real movie" and fails miserably.

It falls into the apocalyptic sort-of sci-fi genre, with five people holing themselves up in a basement after radio broadcasts warn the population of the Eastern Seaboard to stay inside, seal windows and doors and head for the basement, awaiting news of what's happening.

It turns out to be an epidemic compared to the Bubonic Plague, affecting the lymph nodes, with a 3 to 5 day incubation period. But the cast speculates whether instead we're experiencing nuclear war, alien invasion or other catastrophes. A later broadcast blames terrorists rather than the Soviet Union for biological warfare.

The five stars, led by Sharon Kane and teeny little Tammy Monroe make love in various combinations, while a tinny transistor radio mainly plays music in the background plus the periodic newscasts and some radio evangelists proclaiming gloom and doom.

When the radio's battery is spent, Sarno has some spooky sci-fi music play on the soundtrack, leading to a downbeat, unresolved ending.

The one-set feature is a large room filled with stored hardware and cans of paint, plus, of course, several mattresses for the sex scenes. Sarno offers comic relief by having a deejay who talks shtick in the manner of comedian Jackie Mason and plays lousy music. Ultra-cheap video technique relies mainly on a remote camera giving the show a documentary feel, mostly using master shots plus an occasional closer shot for the f*cking, and a condom is worn when Tammy takes it in the rear. It's comforting to know that Scott Irish, perhaps unprepared for the end of the world, is always ready with a rubber when anal sex is concerned.