As physical media continues to mutate into more expensive presentations (4K, 8K, all future Ks) it seems to be less & less likely that the thousands (yeah, thousands) of Soft Erotic Films of the 1990s will break free from their VHS prisons - thus facing the possibility of being lost forever. Throughout the decade (and barely beyond) a lotta these low budget gems found their way onto late night premium cable channels (birthing the compound nickname Skinemax) which allowed me to see so many of them without having to acquire my own personal video store membership.
Some of them qualified as Action Movies, some were just straight Dramas, and there were even a few Comedies, but ultimately we look back on it as the Age of The Erotic Thriller. Though once in a while, one of these movies could actually just deal with sensuality as its central theme, and whenever that happened, it was pure peanut butter & jelly. One such movie was 1995's Lapdancing.
Lorissa McComas stars as Angie, who's moved to L.A. to become a legitimate actress. When she finds she's too shy to give a convincing audition she turns to erotic dancing to free herself of her inhibitions. This introduces her to a world of sexual awakening, friendship, betrayal, and a romance with a blind guy (because he loves her for her soul). That's a pretty superficial overview, but it gives you a sense of the cleverness in its whole art-imitating-life premise. This was one of the bigger movies of the subgenre - and by "bigger" I just mean it got a lotta airplay. I've known people my age who don't know much about these kindsa movies, but they know Lapdancing.
Over the years I've managed to amass a few physical copies of these films either though bootlegs or the rarely authorized release. Lapdancing has proven to be difficult (and expensive) in any format. As a result I began to spiral out in search of some of the other Lorissa movies I remember, like Ultimate Love Games, When Passions Collide, or even the '95 Piranha remake in which she basically plays the same part as the doomed woman from the opening of Jaws. I've even looked to reacquire The Bare Wench Project, which I don't even like, but I'm in the market for any piece of this woman's filmography.
And it was through this looking and longing that I stumbled upon the startling bio statistic...
Born: November 26, 1970, Columbus, OH
Died: November 3, 2009, Waverly, VA
No other information was given through the usual channels; she was younger than I am now, which is young enough to indicate an out-of-the-ordinary devastation. But it only takes an extra 60 seconds on the internet to slip & fall into the blogs and Youtube videos that answer all that is unanswered - regardless of credibility or intent. What I learned through sites like Lorissa McComas Truth and a Change.org petition started by "Justice For Lorissa" is that her death was ruled a suicide caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Apparently there are mounting forensic inconsistencies, a genuinely corrupt hillbilly police force, and an abusive husband who promptly skipped town.
I won't list all the details here but it's pretty compelling evidence and kinda irrefutable; I encourage you to seek it out if you're in the mood to get overwhelmingly frustrated and depressed. I've stated so many times before about how fascinated I get over the tortured souls of Tinseltown and how I'm immediately drawn to their sadness and how they cope. But there's really no way to romanticize Lorissa's bad luck; her story fits the mold: aspiring actress, successful centerfold, unhappy ending. The persona she put on the screen was commonly "sweet and naive" and from what I've read that wasn't too much of a stretch; unlike the cliché, she seemed to fall on hard times through no fault of her own, and it breaks my heart in a way that no administration of the law or judicial proceedings could fully heal me.
She had the look: big hair, trim build, augmented chest, meticulously groomed pubic hair -- forever stuck in the 1990s. And beyond this forceful sexuality, there was that timeless, sweet face that was entirely impossible to read; it was easy to assign some sorta distant sadness to that warm smile, but that's such an old chestnut and there's no documented account to indicate such a scenario. Once you're in the mindset that she did not take her own life but was, in fact, murdered, it's easier to intellectualize the idea that she took pride in her accomplishments and that she gave credence to the idea of at least reaching "cult status."
Maybe she was happy, which on the one hand I'd love to believe, but conversely makes this probable crime that much more sorrowful and savage. Not to spoil too much, but the resolution of Lapdancing is that Angie assertively eliminates the toxicity from her life and prevails in her ambitions, potentially getting a deal with CineTel Films (yes that actually happens). In the end, she's her own person with a secure identity and a well-deserved confidence that no one could possibly take from her. It's a truly happy ending.
- Paul
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