If I say the name Chuck Palahniuk, many people will give me a blank stare. If I say the name Fight Club, I’ll probably get a better reaction. Mr. Palahniuk is the man behind Fight Club, after all, the film was based on his novel of the same name. Chuck had another one of his novels turned into a film a few years back, Choke, starring Sam Rockwell. While not as good as Fight Club, it was still a film worth seeing. Now we have another film coming to us that will be based on a novel by Palahniuk. The film is called Snuff, based on the novel of the same name and will star Daryl Hannah and Tom Sizemore.
According to Amazon, the plot summary is as follows:
Palahniuk’s audacious ninth novel tells the story of Cassie Wright, an aging porn queen who intends to put an exclamation point on her career by having sex with 600 men in one day on film. The story begins with Mr. 600—the pornosaur who introduced Cassie to the business—as he describes the other 599 actors awaiting their moment on screen. The perspective then shifts to Mr. 72, an adopted Midwestern 20-something who is one of the many young men claiming to be Cassie’s long-lost son. Mr. 137, a has-been television star hoping to revive his career, wants to ask Cassie’s hand in marriage so that the two can star in a reality TV show. But for a novel centered around a gargantuan gangbang, there’s surprisingly little action; the small amount of narrative movement takes place backstage, where the characters attempt to get a sense of one another while waiting for their number to be called. There are sharp moments when Palahniuk compassionately and candidly examines the flesh-on-film industry, but mostly this reads like a cross between the Spice Channel and Days of Our Lives.
Choke may not have been that great but it was still a decent watch and Fight Club, well, we all know how that turned out. I like Palahniuk’s novels and I’m looking forward to this one. I don’t think anything will ever reach the level of Fight Club but I’m still willing to give this one a chance.