Chris Ward Responds to Violence Controversy Surrounding To The Last Man

See the Controversial Trailer

Dear Friends:

When I returned from my vacation I was surprised to see a number of emails complaining about the "extreme violence" in our upcoming movie To The Last Man. Although many customers, blog posters, and reviewers are excited about this film and its contents, many have voiced serious concern about a merging of sex and violence. Some have made outright nasty comments to me about this film, even though no one outside our studio staff has seen it. Evidently, To The Last Man is not a politically correct film.

It is true that To The Last Man is a very violent movie. It is a Western epic, as true to a Hollywood blockbuster as gay porn will ever be. Ben Leon, Tony Dimarco, and I decided that we wanted to make a real Western movie--not some cheesy porno rip-off as has been made in the past. We shot on location in Arizona, used real horses, real guns, hired some real cowboys to be in the cast--in short, we spent lots of time, money, and energy to be as authentic as possible. In this spirit we made the decision to stay true to the Western genre--which requires violence. The Old West was a very violent place--on the ranch where the movie was filmed, there was a graveyard with a memorial to everyone who had died on the property. The monument listed how each person was killed: one man was killed by Indians up at the river; another person had been shot in a drunken fight at a saloon; still another died of injuries from a fist fight; the best one was the guy who died in a "horse wreck." No one in the graveyard lived past about 40 years of age.

Today Hollywood films are rife with violence--it is part of modern entertainment. To The Last Man looks to the examples of the Coen Brothers and Tarantino. It's not a porn movie from the 1990s nor is it Little Miss Sunshine. It’s a film for the 21st century and it reflects the entertainment values of 2008.

Having said this, we agree that the connection between sex and violence is problematic. None of us condone killing. None of us get off on rape. Because of this we have provided on each and every disc a fully non-violent version of the movie. In this "all sex / no violence edit" we have removed all killings, all beatings, all rape scenes, and any other thing that might be offensive to some viewers. In short, To The Last Man can be enjoyed by viewers who like violence and by viewers who are repulsed by it.

Several images from the movie have been singled out for criticism. One of these is the rape scene that comes near the end of part two of the film. I asked Ben Leon to offer his thoughts on filming such a controversial scene: "When we wrote the script I didn't give the rape scene a second thought. Once we were on set my impressions changed a bit given the intensity of violence that a rape requires. I really questioned the validity of filming a rape in the context of a movie that is meant to turn people on. Chris, Tony and I sat down and talked about it quite a bit and I felt after further consideration that the rape scene fit well into the narrative structure and into the lives of the characters we created. I still think that it is appropriate to question this decision, but in the end the movie comes to a violent climax that fits perfectly into the story."

Tony Dimarco, who was head writer on the project, told me this about the violence controversy: "I felt it was important to include violence in this film. In the Western genre, violence is what usually drives and or punctuates the story. Have you ever seen a Western without a single gun or anyone getting shot? If you have rival factions you are bound to have major conflict and this starkly contrasts the romantic aspect of this film. And speaking of romance, even in the most famous romance story of all time--Romeo and Juliet--in the end the lovers die. Writing a story of this nature is very complicated. In many cases the opposing sides need to have sex. All the scenes couldn’t be romantic interludes between enemies. That would be ridiculous. Forced sex made sense for the plot. I have to say that the rape scene is more brutal than I had imagined it, but there’s nothing pretty about rape. I think that there will be people who are shocked and opposed to this scene, but I’m quite sure that there will be an audience for it as well. Although people will deny it publicly there are many people who do have a rape fantasy. This film and all porn films exploit the fantasies of the viewers."

It is our hope that people understand that To The Last Man is a porn movie like no other. Nothing like this has ever been made in our industry. It sets a new benchmark for production values, for scriptwriting, for acting, and for pure over-the-top sex. It is easy to go out there and make the same old suck and fuck movie over and over again, but to do something new and original takes time and effort. I hope that porn lovers enjoy this movie for what it is--a major film that goes where porn has never gone before.

Chris Ward

To The Last Man will be available November 30