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Sexless Porn

Youthful Discretions: Mike Ruiz plays hunky Carlos in 'Latin Boys Go to Hell.' 'Latin Boys Go to Hell' is a 19-year-old's folly By Richard von Busack THE NO-BUDGET independent feature Latin Boys Go to Hell is based on an unpublished novel by a 19-year-old writer named Andre Salas. The story follows a knot of gay and straight people linked by a disco called the Underground; the characters also all know an erotic photographer named Monica (Annie Lobst) who is putting together a photography show called Latin Boys Go to Hell. Her assistant, the wistful, soft little hero, Justin (Irwin Ossa, a stand-in, if not exactly a double, for Sal Mineo), watches the various couplings, as if from a distance. Justin has a crush on Angel (John Bryant Davila), his cousin, who is staying at his house, but Angel doesn't recognize it or pretends not to. The muscular poster boy Carlos (Mark Ruiz) takes a temporary liking to Justin, which starts violent trouble. Latin Boys Go to Hell is like porn without the sex. It has the barely coherent relationships characteristic of porn, poor sound and constant cuts to the disco whenever the plot needs a jogging. In typical 19-year-old fashion, hopeless longings end in revenge fantasies. One bright note: an orgasm juxtaposed with the bursting of a piñata. One welcome face: Guinevere (Go Fish) Turner, bidding to become the Parker Posey of gay cinema, has a cameo as the star of an influential soap-opera called Dos Vidas (Two Lives). In Latin Boys Go to Hell's best joke, she's one of a pair of sisters named Sombra and Luz--naturally, she's Sombra, the evil one. Latin Boys Go to Hell (Unrated; 86 min.), directed by Ela Troyano, written by Andre Salas and Troyano and starring Irwin Ossa and Mike Ruiz. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]