This dark and moody adult bio-pic opens with a dedication to “all the actors and actresses who died before their time.” The sobering list of names that follows includes John C. Holmes, recent casualties Joey Stefano and Cal Jammer, and of course, the subject of this film, Savannah. Rebecca Wild plays the title role and, with her hair coiffed in the distinctively flat style of the late star, she’s a dead ringer (no pun intended).

Wild and director Buck Adams do a good job of building sympathy for the human being behind the temperamental star without ignoring her prima donna tendencies. Adams was the director and co-star of Savannah’s last adult feature (Midnight’s The Hustler), and the film opens with a replay of their last sex scene, a reverse cowgirl/mish that ends with Adams cumming on her stomach. When Wild storms off in a hissy fit to her dressing room, Adams follows and finds her doing lines of coke. She’s tired of the business, but can’t seem to extricate herself from it.

For insight on the reasons why, we flashback to Savannah as a teenager. Adams’ narration tells us that she was always infatuated with fame, wanting to be a dancer or an actress when she grew up. Her first taste of this lifestyle came from the intoxicating world of rock music, whose stars she easily attracted – and fucked. Vince Vouyer plays one of these long-haired young gods. As he gets double sucked by Yvonne and Bridgette Monroe, Wild – at first a wallflower on the sofa – gradually gets seduced into the action. Yvonne and Monroe peel her clothes off and take turns eating her out, while Vouyer fades into the background (without a pop shot).

Her rock star connections eventually lead Wild to porno (via Ron Jeremy, of course). Her first sex scene is reenacted: a jailhouse daisy chain romp with Rachel Love and Amanda Morrison , with whom she becomes fast friends. Tony Martino plays Matt Conyers, the owner of the video company that quickly signs Wild to a contract. The process through which this is accomplished is implied in a scene in which Morrison puts out to Martino in his office/editing bay in order to get work. After a mish on Martino’s desk, Morrison drop to her knees and exhorts Martino to come in her mouth.

Wild is soon living the high life of a full-fledge porn star, which includes shopping excursions in Beverly Hills, the lucrative dance tour circuit… and an overindulgence in alcohol and drugs. We swiftly shift into the final act of Savannah’s career, dramatized by one of her trademark no-shows. An angry Martino wrests control of the scene in which she was to appear from director Adams, gruffly barking out positions to performers Dave Hardman, Melissa Hill and Jessica James: mish, doggie, and another open mouth cum shot ending. The following scene makes a sad commentary on the revolving-door fate of some actresses in the industry, as we watch eager newcomer April (playing herself) “audition” for Martino in his office with a doggie/mish fuck on his desk.

Cut back to Adams and Wild. He has driven her home, and they have sex in what is essentially a repeat of the first scene. Wild asks Buck to stay the night, but he declines. “Maybe I should have stayed,” Adams confesses. “But what could I really do for her? Besides,” he adds. “I had problems of my own.” Savannah quickly unravels in her final hours. Tired and full of booze, she gets in the fateful car wreck that smashes her cheekbones and nose. We see her raise the pistol to her head, and the screen goes white with the single, final shot.

The film effectively evokes a melancholy feeling of doom, as if Savannah’s slow decline were inevitable from the beginning. It’s a powerful film, although the gloomy tone puts a slight damper on the sex scenes. The music by N. Wilson and Morgan Murray is fabulous. In fact, the opening features an original rap song performed by Wilson and Devil’s Brew (“Little Girl Lost,” about the life of a porn starlet) that is good enough to make Billboard’s Top Ten Rap chart. Very impressive.