Despite being based on an incident in the life of Seventies porn superstar John Holmes, there's little sex here - but a lot of awful violence. Past his glory years, Holmes (played here by Val Kilmer) sank into the lowest levels of sleaze and petty drug dealing. When four members of a drugs gang were brutally slaughtered in 1981, Holmes was implicated by a gang-member who survived the massacre. The film looks at the events of that gore-spattered day from Holmes' view and that of the survivor (Dylan McDermott - almost unrecognisable as a Hells Angel). New director James Cox is prepared to throw in every screen effect he can lay his hands on (grainy documentary footage, multi-split screen, shaky hand-held video camerawork) to beef up the energy and pace of the movie, but the real impact is provided by the cast who don't produce a dud note between them. Although Kilmer is too good-looking, intelligent and charming as Holmes (who was indubitably seedy), this is one of his best ever performances, and although this is a story of male violence, it's the women - Kate Bosworth, Carrie Fisher and, most notably, Lisa Kudrow - who give the film its moral centre. Watchable stuff, but you may feel the need to wash the filth off afterwards.