There is a certain undertone of sadness present in “Best Worst Movie,” as its mainly a testament to the dangers of filmmaking and the potential for either making a masterpiece or what is considered the worst movie of all time. “Best Worst Movie” is a charming and enthusiastic portrait of the lives of an array of actors, all of whom took part in the 1990 abomination entitled “Troll 2.” What we learn is that these people have been affected by it and its cult status whether they know it or not and we follow star Michael Stephens around as he re-connects with his co-stars and attempts to comprehend why this film has suddenly caught on. Perhaps it was ahead of its time, perhaps cynical horror fans just need some absurdity and innocence and are just bonded with its sense of innocence and incoherency. Regardless Stephens, who refused to touch the movie again after starring as protagonist Joshua, grabs the legacy of this film and discovers an underground of followers who treat “Troll 2” as an almost religious experience.
Tag Archives: B
Blood Dolls (1999)
It burns us! It burns us! Ow… just ow! I am a humongous fan of “Puppet Master” and as someone who grew up with early nineties cable where they did nothing but play crappy C grade horror, I basically was spoon fed a diet of Troma, Full Moon, Monstervision, and anything with the title “Marilyn Chambers” as my midnight naughty entertainment and I just flat out enjoyed almost anything I could get my hands on that was bargain basement including “Puppet Master” which is admittedly silly and surreal, but still a lot of fun. Hell, I sat through “Prehysteria” three times!
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Watching “The Boondock Saints” is something of an experience, and one that I’m actively working on forgetting as soon as humanly possible. Director Troy Duffy’s action trashapalooza is much too mind-numblingly moronic to be taken as an earnest effort for indie action cinema, and much too stern to be considered camp garbage. You can clearly sense director and writer Troy Duffy working actively to portray every single character in this film as something to be taken with a straight face and a shiver, but in the end none of it works out for the better.
Black Dynamite (2009)
Pointless exposition, redundant dialogue, hammy acting, racial paranoia, cartoonish action scenes, continuity problems, absurd sub-plots that go absolutely nowhere, if you’ve ever seen blaxploitation films before, you’ll realize that Scott Sanders “Black Dynamite” is a pretty brilliant satire of the grindhouse sub-genre that managed to influence dozens of filmmakers and actors across the board. While the Wayans brothers paid tribute to the genre in “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” director Scott Sanders manages to rise above their level providing a both a spoof, satire, and loving tribute to the sub-genre that takes every single device from the sub-genre that we love and hate and throws it in to a story that’s about as ridiculous as most of the blaxploitation films from the seventies. As most comedy should be, Sanders and Jai White don’t play this spoof with a wacky atmosphere.
Bikini Bloodbath Carwash (2008)
Mrs. Johnson: Nice erection, Todd.
Todd: Thanks. You too!
Sitting down to watch “Bikini Bloodbath Carwash” made me grin from ear to ear in only the first five minutes as it was clear the directing team of Jonathan Gorman and Thomas Edward Seymour knew what they were doing. There’s no backstory, no complexity, no undertones, it’s just all out ridiculous horror fun, and I loved it. I always say that I don’t mind stupidity as long as there’s some substance behind it, and the sequel to “Bikini Bloodbath” starts out on all the right notes. Two girls we’ve never met get up from bed, dance around in their underwear, one of whom takes a while to put on her top, they dance and jiggle, the directors put up the title in a very creative manner and we see “Written and Directed by Who the Fuck Cares.” I mean… that’s great. It just is. That’s stupid, but it’s stupid as a fox.
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
You really do have to give Warner Brothers credit for putting together rather fantastic all star casts for Direct to DVD feature films that will never get the same treatment as their theatrical properties. For films that are obviously just there to keep the cash flowing, the Batman titles have been consistently top notch; especially “Under the Red Hood,” a movie that’s slightly flawed, but still very entertaining. I’ve never actually read the mini-series from the comic books, but word of mouth indicates it was all one big build up leading to a massive cop out, so “Under the Red Hood” compiles all of the best moments and brings it together for a ninety minute action flick that involves a brand new quasi-crime boss in the city named the Red Hood. I had about one reason to see this: Jensen Ackles, the star of the best show on television at the moment “Supernatural.”
Breaking Her Will (2009)
Director Bill Zebub’s exploitation horror film “Breaking her Will” is an exercise in torture. On the audience. It’s tedious, boring, repetitive, redundant, and has no purpose other than to be as shocking as humanly possible with torture methods that are tame compared to what I’ve seen in films like “Hostel” and “Hard Candy.” Bill Zebub doesn’t even want to try to present a premise, he just wants to get to the torture. The movie opens with a young girl hitchhiking. Where is she headed? Why is she hitchhiking? Who knows? She has no bags and barely any clothing. She’s picked up a man on the road who drives through the woods (the girl doesn’t even seem disturbed by this) and he stops at a parking lot and gets out (as she sits in the car confused!), he pulls out a knife on her and in spite of the fact the door is wide open, she submits to being taken hostage instead of doing what normal people would do like fight, or run, or scream. And that’s only the first four minutes.