A wonderful film full of energy, verve, humour and great characters. Despite the constant mayhem and fun Mr Haaga also manages to include some strong feminist commentary – love all of the gender reversal stuff – and a sub text about what the dollar is really all about, in both the title and the theme that all money has blood on it.
This film mixes a heady concoction of the best bits of Tarantino, Rob Zombie( not a lot of "best bits" to choose from I'll admit ) John Walters and Stuart Gordon but produces an original film that represents another step forward for the genre craftsman Mr Haaga to add to his excellent work on "Deadgirl" and "Cheap Thrills".
Love the direction, cinematography, script and soundtrack and the film feels very much a cohesive and satisfying whole. The performances are very strong – with Matthew Gray Gubler becoming the indie comedy thriller leading man of choice - a post John Waters era James Stewart "everyman" who you automatically like and want to succeed. AnnaLyne McCord gives another remarkable performance, proving that women can be incredibly strong and sexy without being exploited or reverting to a femme fatale stereotype. It's great that Ms McCord has opted for much edgier material than her earlier CV would have automatically lead to ( maybe as the young foil to Cameron Diaz in some lousy rom-com or some such?) She has a feline, reptilian beauty that is perfectly matched to the role she plays here ( she was also stunning in "Excision".) Who knows what she is capable of if someone produces the roles for her? Sheila Vand ( after her performance in "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" ) is also becoming a very interesting screen presence and Alisha Boe is a heart meltingly sweet in her role who almost, but not quite, makes us forget Ms McCord when she is off screen. So brilliant casting Mr Haaga as well.
I enjoyed the entire movie from start to finish but I have to say that a couple of the set piece scenes deserve to become cult classics in their own right. The "Pop Music " scene ( particularly in the context of what just happened in the film ) is hilarious and deserves to join the pantheon of those in car music movie moments such as the "Wayne's World" Bohemian Rhapsody" episode and the "Trailer scene" is approaching the family meal time scene in the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre " for creepy fun.
Deserves to gain a cult following and I can't wait to see more from the director/writer and cast.
This film mixes a heady concoction of the best bits of Tarantino, Rob Zombie( not a lot of "best bits" to choose from I'll admit ) John Walters and Stuart Gordon but produces an original film that represents another step forward for the genre craftsman Mr Haaga to add to his excellent work on "Deadgirl" and "Cheap Thrills".
Love the direction, cinematography, script and soundtrack and the film feels very much a cohesive and satisfying whole. The performances are very strong – with Matthew Gray Gubler becoming the indie comedy thriller leading man of choice - a post John Waters era James Stewart "everyman" who you automatically like and want to succeed. AnnaLyne McCord gives another remarkable performance, proving that women can be incredibly strong and sexy without being exploited or reverting to a femme fatale stereotype. It's great that Ms McCord has opted for much edgier material than her earlier CV would have automatically lead to ( maybe as the young foil to Cameron Diaz in some lousy rom-com or some such?) She has a feline, reptilian beauty that is perfectly matched to the role she plays here ( she was also stunning in "Excision".) Who knows what she is capable of if someone produces the roles for her? Sheila Vand ( after her performance in "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" ) is also becoming a very interesting screen presence and Alisha Boe is a heart meltingly sweet in her role who almost, but not quite, makes us forget Ms McCord when she is off screen. So brilliant casting Mr Haaga as well.
I enjoyed the entire movie from start to finish but I have to say that a couple of the set piece scenes deserve to become cult classics in their own right. The "Pop Music " scene ( particularly in the context of what just happened in the film ) is hilarious and deserves to join the pantheon of those in car music movie moments such as the "Wayne's World" Bohemian Rhapsody" episode and the "Trailer scene" is approaching the family meal time scene in the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre " for creepy fun.
Deserves to gain a cult following and I can't wait to see more from the director/writer and cast.