Director Mark Toma, who also stars as one of the two LA detectives investigating a double murder is inspired by Hollywood Neo-noirs that take its pulpy premise to the absolute extreme. For one, it consists of characters who feel they would star in one of those low-budget TV movies that run on cable on repeat and gain cult status. It also presents a premise and progression that is – for lack of a better word – offensive, and socially unaware. So, in that vein, “King Saud” has the inclination to become one of those trashy movies that we love to revisit. However, what we get is a haphazardly staged B-movie that doesn’t even qualify as ‘so bad that it’s good.’
The story opens with the aforementioned murders. A prostitute and a Saudi Prince are brutally murdered and decapitated. Detective Wolfe (played by Toma) is assigned to the case along with his new partner Detective Lynch (Kate Orsini). The first line of doubt goes toward the Prince’s servant, Al Mahir (Michael Saad) – a well-articulated butler who seems to have a sort of hard-on for both Wolfe and Lynch. Suspect number two is Madam Carlucci (Rachel Alig), the handler of the whorehouse that the victim belonged to, and whose horny meter goes up only when she looks at the cross that is placed on one of the walls of her office. The suspect list is also spread across the Prince’s brother Usef (Adoni Maropis) who is portrayed as this uber-desirable man who both men and women would crave. Now, there’s also this undercurrent of political intrigue thrown in for good measure where the 26th precinct that the detectives belong to, also carries with it some kind of shady workings.
Now, there’s more to what Mark Toma’s story wants to tell, and to some extent, it manages to be intriguing. However, the entire thing is so incompetently put together that I do not wish to accept it as a full-fledged movie. Using the fade-in, fade-out method used for television shows, this low-budget yarn is just amateurish and lazy to an extent where it just gets plain boring. There’s a lot of sex muxed into the narrative for good measure, but none of it is erotic in any conceivable manner. It just feels blank, uncomfortable, and laughable. The characters are stereotypes and whenever Toma tries to give them some pulpy dialogues that might sound weird providing some kind of relief to the disjointed progression, the actors deliver it with such a languid feeling that it passes you by like dust.
Everything about “King Saud” is just repulsive so if you are looking to smoke a blunt and put it on, you will not have a good time even then.
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