I am a gay man, living in this `stereo-typical' gay world. I have seen the movie, and I can totally relate. I know people like Hector, the one who `doesn't like women, or ugly men.' They exist. I see them almost daily. I feel very sorry for them. At the same time, I feel sorry for me, that I cannot be one of their friends. To them, I am ugly. These types of people exist. I hate them. Moreover, love them at the same time. This is the essence of this movie Circuit.

Yes, the acting pretty much [is bad]. LOL. Nevertheless, think deeper. Do not be so superficial. (As the characters...) The message is there in your face.... I guess, as a movie, it could have been better with budget, and actors. Like one person said, a script doctor. I did like the movie, and I thought it hit the energy and confusion of a gay man's life, seduced into that world, on the nose. I have been there. Thank God, I knew enough to get out. Beautiful, seducing, and dangerous. All of these things make up this movie, and the Circuit. The people caught in this `scene' are just that... caught up in it. In its beauty, and in its addictions. Moreover, they are so duped, (or doped, pick your wording), they cannot see what's so wrong with it. I love thought provoking movies. This one made me think. I wish some of my acquaintances, and one particular person I love dearly, would see this movie, and snap out of the dream world they live in, where all there is is sex, drugs, the gym, and the party. `How beautiful am I', `I'm too skinny', `I'm too fat'...etc etc... Unfortunately, these people exist.

Filmed in digital video format over a six month period by director/co-writer (and former 'Playgirl' centerfold) Dirk Shafer, CIRCUIT casts an uncritical eye over the circuit party scene and simply allows the characters' experiences - good and bad - to speak for themselves. This non-judgmental approach is the key to the film's success, both as a chronicle of the social pressures which can elevate or destroy those caught up in this particular scene, and as a high-powered drama. Drahos toplines a relatively unknown cast as the wide-eyed innocent torn asunder by corrupting influences, though he's upstaged by former soap actor Andre Khabazzi ("The Young and the Restless", "Sunset Beach") as a pumped-up party boy who refuses to have sex with anyone unless they pay for it, and is obsessed with growing old and losing his beauty (there are moments in the film when Shafer's camera lingers on Khabbazi's sculpted body, culminating in a memorable sequence where Khabazzi indulges his characters' narcissism in front of a full-length mirror). Equally impressive is Daniel Kucan as an aspiring filmmaker who records a series of video interviews with his circuit party friends (including Drahos, in a beautifully acted sequence where he's so spaced-out he can barely speak). Further down the cast list, veterans William Katt and Nancy Allen are reunited on-screen for the first time since CARRIE (1976), and while they both appear to enjoy playing against type, their roles seem pretty superfluous. Kiersten Warren and Brian Lane Green are solid as the only true friends in Drahos' life, and 80's pop sensation Paul Lekakis makes his screen debut as an erotic performance artist whose acts of self-mutilation will horrify all but the most hardened masochists. You have been warned! Director Shafer revels in the beautiful gym-buffed bodies which form a crucial aspect of the circuit party scene, and he also includes a number of relatively chaste sexual encounters, mostly tender, sometimes dark and disturbing, always credible. The movie's production values are OK, and Shafer demonstrates a genuine cinematic awareness, helped by solid technical support all round. Look quickly for brief cameos by Craig Chester (SWOON), writer/comedian Bruce Vilanch (GET BRUCE) and director Randal Kleiser (THE BLUE LAGOON). By the way, sensitive viewers are advised that the climactic party sequence contains prolonged flashing-light effects.