For thriller fans who can take some tough fare - especially those with deep suspicions about "reality" programming -- Lucky Bastard is a real find.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 26, 2019

Two contrived things, found-footage and porn, combine to create a flick that is distasteful and downright disgusting in so many ways.

| Jun 5, 2014

The NC-17-rated Lucky Bastard uses the found footage gimmick to surprisingly strong effect, and it give a refreshingly frank view of the porn industry, but eventually steeps into moralizing and tut-tutting that left a very sour taste in my mouth.

| Original Score: 1/5 | May 23, 2014

makes a point to tell a real horror story without getting overly exploitative or gimmicky

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 16, 2014

Occasionally toys with a smarter critique of the culture, though the film is not as clever as it thinks.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 21, 2014

[Nathan], who co-wrote the clever, resourceful and at times darkly wry script with Lukas Kendall, effectively combines the eclectic footage (kudos to editor Tony Randel) to form a kicky, highly involving narrative.

| Mar 6, 2014

It's a surprisingly effective little thriller that entertains with laughs, nudity, and a third act bloodletting that feels a bit like Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 21, 2014

The found footage offers a rawness to the film, and the actors do a great job of melting into that false reality.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 21, 2014

None of the murders is particularly well staged (the sound effects feel distinctly off), yielding little in the way of suspense.

| Feb 21, 2014

Less exploitative and a bit smarter than its seedy adult-film setting would suggest.

| Feb 21, 2014

An especially underwhelming found-footage thriller...

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Feb 21, 2014

Lucky Bastard mostly combines the worst of all worlds [...] This is amateur-hour all around.

| Original Score: 0.5/5 | Feb 20, 2014

Creepy, gradually suspenseful and well-acted, but not as provocative or profound as it could have been.

| Original Score: 8.15/10 | Feb 14, 2014

Had it tried a bit harder, Lucky Bastard would have been a classic, instead of a clever if sometimes contrived creepshow.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 14, 2014

A sorry-looking found-footage thriller as unconvincing as its characters' thrashing orgasms.

| Feb 13, 2014

For all its teasingly provocative set-up, it ultimately reveals itself to be pretty vanilla.

| Feb 13, 2014

If nothing else (and that is pretty accurate), this found-footage horror film comprises the perfect storm of keywords to ensure moderate online success: porn, guns, boobs, simulated rape, antisocial psychopath.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Feb 13, 2014

In the end, considering the numerous ways the film goes limp, it seems credibility still eludes the found-footage genre.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Feb 12, 2014

The film is most successful when humanizing the people behind the objectification, with lives beyond the smut.

| Feb 11, 2014

Nathan and cowriter Lukas Kendall bobble the intro with some tension-ruining footage shot by police, but once the movie skips back in time to a sunny Van Nuys mansion decked out with hidden cameras, the concept takes on absorbing life.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 11, 2014