Alternative Cinema | Buy at Amazon | Review by Sinferno
First of all let me say that I am not a fan of musicals. The thought of protagonists breaking out into song, dances and solos of personal soliloquy to reveal their most innermost thoughts to the viewer always seemed pretentious to my usual movie going tastes. Perhaps it is because I am a Caucasian, heterosexual, red blooded American male from the Midwest but I like movies with simple economy to their emotions. When a protagonist is angry I expect him to whip out a gun and popping heads, when he is in the mood for romance he simply takes off his clothes; stares hard and when he is in pain he screams; bleeds out until either help or death comes. You may think me an uncultured troglodyte who has seen too much violent resolution in his movies and way too much nudity in his movies, but even I see some purity in these simple dark tastes of mine.
This is why I was so surprised when I saw Splatter Disco, a movie that not only made me regret my lifelong bias against musicals it made me eat my jagged words as if it force fed me a broken disco ball but with none of the painful after-taste or wince in my grin. Though a slasher themed musical at first seemed like a strange juxtaposition of genres to be seen not only holding hands but dancing together onscreen, I fell in love with this one in the first ten minutes. Let me tell you why I actually recommend this film instead of offering my usual synopsis. After all, what is a summary to a musical anyway but a half measure indeed? Instead, I want to explore the various elements that composed it.
Humor: The film never took itself too seriously. And while the budget would limit a factual retelling of most suspense stories, in the surreal world of a musical it seemed most apropos. The characters were all lovable fringe lunatics with severe psychological problems and personality disorders but lots and lots of heart. The laughs came in the least expected moments, usually after a dramatic event and it completely took me off guard and hit me hard. For example, all the songs end on a terribly humorous but brutal note, and a sarcastic guy like myself just felt the rhythm as it rocked me.
Violence: The violence was unrealistic and sloppy, but fit the mood. The murders were usually depicted as heads crushed with blunt objects that would deform around the blow like rotten melons. But as long as it was infinitely more violent and bloody than Three Stooges melees (which they were) I found myself neither lusting for more nor squinting for less.
Sensuality: The women in this movie were so inexplicably hot that I couldn't believe it was a budget title. All of the featured actresses had a cultured, snotty sarcastic quality about them that I found delicious. And surprisingly, they could act too, with varying degrees of success. So much of the modern underground films I watch are populated by leading ladies I imagine are strippers trying to make their big break into film; the scary tattoos, the overdone piercing and the imaginative breast augmentations betray their true role on life's stage which doesn't involve acting so much as gyrating. And that's before they even read a line. The women in "disco" were so into their roles that I figured they were either really channeling the characters they depicted, or psycho insane and either way it worked for me. And while there was no nudity among the ones I coveted most, nor in the scenes it might have mattered most to me, I accepted it because the more naked a female character gets onscreen the more stupid her dialogue gets and I really liked the three brassy babes who were the movers in this film (even if they couldn't be the usual B-movie shakers).
The Music: I suppose you can't review a musical without some talk of the actual singing and dancing. This is where I was most surprised of all. The various numbers were each taken from a different decade and the eighties inspired tune "Ode to Shank Chub" looked and sounded so much like Martin Fry from ABC (brandishing hat and drink) that I was having flashbacks that even the sixties inspired Moon-beam! couldn't muster. One really aggravating thing was the fact that you couldn't pick individual songs after you saw the movie in its entirety and wanted a recap. This is unforgivable, stupid and actually will hurt repeat play.
One of the easiest downfalls of seeing so many movies as a reviewer is there is a tendency to become jaded, shut down, unreceptive to weird little cinematic escapades that dance to their own beat. This movie made me realize I could appreciate novelty again, which is no small feat for a hybrid horror hop which was in all actuality a medley of all my favorite tones and overtones whether of music or mayhem (all without missing a beat).
| Yucko/Neato Factor: Horror was tame and unrealistic. Coolness quotient saved by infectious songs. |
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| Production Values: Crummy background props, Ultimate background music. No chapter select. |
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| Realism: Even by musical standards the plot was discordant. |
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| Value for Price: $17.99 I would buy this if I could know what it was without having seen it before. You having read this review have no such excuses. Pick it up. |
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| Plot: It belongs on the shelf of every screw headed cult-movie fan, I just don't know which exact shelf. |
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