Hot Tamale (2006) User Reviews

Nice little movie

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 1 August 2010]

It's obvious from the start, that this movie does not have a big budget or anything near a decent set designer for that matter. But that shouldn't be too much of a problem (unless you expect otherwise, which you shouldn't). The sets are quite alright for a movie this size, the acting is spot on for the purpose of the movie and the story moves along quite nice.

While at times it seems to drift into complete idiocy, it still never loses too much of it's charm. And this has not only to do with the fact, that the lovely and sexy Diona Baird has a relatively big part in the movie. It's the ensemble and it works quite fine, if you allow yourself to enjoy it.

Decent Fun Movie, Diora Baird is the star of it.

[destroyerwod · 7/10 · 25 January 2013]

This movie was made in the mid 2000s, and back in those days VVS(VideoVille Showtime) the company that made it(or at least edited it in Quebec) where known to have Awful dubbing. Nowaways they corrected that and there movies usually end up being pretty good DTV release, but back then sadly there Stigmat of bad dubbing really gave them a bad reputation among french viewer. Not sure if you can relate but for us these dubbing where like the late nigh erotic movies on cable TV, pretty bad low quality with always the same voice "talents". I always watch dubbed movies until a couple years ago, and just to make sure you understand its all fine for me to watch a movie in french dub. But these VVS movies where pretty terrible in term of voice.

Now keeping that in mind, i got myself a french dubbed only copy from my local video store(part of the 5$ bargain bin for sale) and as soon as the movie started, i noticed the voices and look on the cover... VVS... old move, arg, but well i started it, so better keep going right? And honestly i was pleasantly surprised. The story is nice enough, could had use a bit more jokes and funny parts, as its even mentioned in big on the back "a story like the whole nine yard" , and it was nowhere near as funny, but nonetheless its interesting and i got to mention the performance by Diora Baird is what support this movie. OK she is extremely gorgeous, and just that is enough to captivate us and like her in the part of the love interest, but her acting and character really felt so charming and lovely. I mean, you got this gorgeous big breasted woman(and usually Diora play the stripper or such part), but she is a bubbly and fun without pretension charming girl.

Its hard to explain but this i what drove me in the most in the movie. You got a couple big names of B stuff in Jason Prestley and Carmen Electra but lets just say they are mostly in it to catch the eye with there names and faces on the cover. The real star is Diora by a mile away.

So i think i will probably try to find myself an English DVD of this, if i want to watch it again. Trust me these dubbing are just so awful, sadly good movies suffers of them and i wish they would be dubbed again... But well if your an English viewer watching the original version, your all fine. I recommend it for a fun time without any pretension. Its low budget tough, don't expect big explosions and super mega action scenes

Curse of Tarantino lives on

[moviestar26 · 6/10 · 15 October 2011]

Just recently I was browsing through a couple of titles of crime and noir thrillers and I stumbled upon 'Hot Tamale'. With a witty title I decided to give it a watch. I also happened to discover that Diora Baird was credited in the movie. When when watches on one can't avoid noticing the Tarantino elements that are present at every stage of the movie. 'Hot Tamale' is one of those movies that still attempted to carry on the Tarantino craze of the 90s and was suffering from heavy hangover too. Independent cinema continues to survive with the constant influx of new directors and writers who have innovative scripts and different visions of movie making. The director Michael Damien who was well known for the daytime television series 'The young and the restless' makes a movie directorial debut. He also happens to be the co writer for the movie too. His television style directing is very evident in the feature. His effort in movie directing is impressive however I wish I could say the same for the script. Firstly this is a movie which is to be appreciated more for it's art form as opposed to the story. And the reason as why it received funding was purely due to the comedy and humour elements. I wished there was more to offer in terms of narrating a story, but I guess a larger budget would have been required. It did not receive a theatrical release however won best picture at the Boston film festival. It succeeds as a independent movie. Much portion of the movie is shot indoors which actually corresponds with the budget.

'Hot Tamale' is a updating of the wrong guy in the wrong situation theme. This was very popular in the 40s and 50s era. Many may remember Alfred Hitchcocks' 'North by northwest and even the recent 'Luck number sleven'. Even Quentin Tarantino's 'True Romance' will appear vaguely similar. The noir elements are very limited but the presence of hit men and devious women character would make this appealing to anyone who searches for those aspects. The entire movie focuses on the the retrieval of some priceless diamonds. Not exciting initially. But the Diora Baird and Randy Spelling's screen time together makes it pleasurable to watch. This is the part where 'Snatch' immediately came to mind. But the main similarities end there. In terms of content, the movie falls by a few points. But the style factor is balanced throughout at all times.

SPOILERS Randy Spelling is an unlucky living in the peaceful town of Wyoming. Bored with his boring existence he decides to move to LA to become a salsa band drummer. Along the way he stops by a roadside diner. A anonymous guy played by Jason Priestly speaks to him for a while before disappearing to the restroom in a hurry. A couple of minutes later two men enter and ask Randy about the other guy. Meanwhile Jason hides a batch of diamonds in Randy's vehicle. Randy drives away. As Jason attempts to leave he is wounded and placed in the trunk of the men's car. Randy arrives at LA and a Puerto Rican friend gives him a apartment to stay while he is out of the city for a while. Waking up the next morning he discovers a women in the apartment (Tuesday) played by Diora Baird. She looks after the place and Randy and her become close friends. Meanwhile the two hit men are curious to where their possession is by torturing the diner guy. The two men head for LA after knowing his license plates number. Randy and Diora become emotionally comfortable with each other as time progresses. As Randy is away practising is drummer skills the hit men arrive at the apartment and kidnap Diora. They make a call to Randy to turn up with the diamonds or her life will be at risk. END OF SPOILERS

The Tarantino style is clearly a influence in the movie right from the two hit men which resembled Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta to the drug attack Randy Spelling has. But the entire premise is more on the comedy crime drama side. Many segments have a Indy atmosphere and a made for TV feel. 'Hot Tamale' is a movie that one wishes had more to offer in terms of content. During the middle portion one can't help getting a feeling that the writer may have edited out parts of the script to achieve the minimum funding for the movie. This is pretty much acceptable, however the comic interactions between characters is the plus point. A movie which can be more desired more for it's style rather than it's substance, can sometimes backfire. However the comedy is the saving grace and the director has integrated some funny moments and dialogues in certain scenes.

On the scale of a re watch the movie becomes more appealing the high expectations become less meaningful. Randy Spelling is a competent actor. I'm surprised why his film career did not take off. But his performances appeared a little too reserved. Diora Baird was a revelation In fact she became popular after this movie and went on to doing more feature films. Her presence in the movie is a high point. Her expressions and performance makes the movie worth watching. But her portions were a speed breaker in the middle. The two hit men played by Mike Star and Steven Blackmore give a humorous tone to somewhat serious characters. However as hit men they were not convincing. For instance why did it take so long for them to reach LA and what was the purpose of kidnapping Tuesday when all they had to do was wait for Randy at the apartment.

The acting makes it very watchable.

[dems0408 · 4 January 2007]

First off let me say that Diora Baird made this movie!

Beginning Spoilers.

The movie does have its flaws with the writing. Things seemed a little contrived for the sake of expediting the story line and developing the plot. For instance, how did the protagonists (Spelling and Baird) escape any police investigation for killing the bad guys at the end? Did the authorities automatically deem it was self defense (which it was) and just let them go? Or did they escape the scene undetected in spite of their injuries and no car to make a get away? We just have to accept that because they are the good guys and that this is a comedy that all is well and there are no loose ends.

But again, I really loved this movie. The scenes with Baird and Spelling are so natural,(especially from the extremely sexy Diora Baird. Her brief topless scene is also enough to make one want to use the rewind button over and over again. LOL

A Comedy Lacking Humor

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 19 August 2022]

This film essentially begins with a high school teenager by the name of "Harlan Woodriff" (Randy Spelling) coming to terms with the death of his father. Just prior to that, however, his family welcomes a foreign exchange student named "Caesar Lopez" (Matt Cedeno) who introduces him to salsa music. Being musically inclined and a drummer in his high school band, Harlan immediately takes an intense interest in it. That said, after his father's death and having graduated from high school, Harlan decides to leave his home in Wyoming and drive to Los Angeles to join a salsa band. Naturally, with Caesar having recently moved to Los Angeles, Harlan gladly accepts the invitation to stay with him until he finds a place of his own. What Harlan doesn't count on, however, is a shady crook stashing a backpack in his vehicle on the drive to Los Angeles which is highly desired by two murderous thugs named "Al" (Mike Starr) and "Dewayne Longfellow" (Sean Blakemore)--and they will do anything to get their hands on it. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was one of those comedies which had good potential but was missing the most important ingredient of them all--humor. Sure, it had a couple of attractive actresses in Diora Baird (as "Tuesday Blackwell") and Carmen Electra ("Riley") along with the two credible hitmen mentioned previously. But it just wasn't that funny. At least, I didn't think so. That being said, while certainly not a terrible bad movie, I have difficulty rating it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

Great addition to your DVD collection

[finkchef · 8/10 · 5 September 2006]

Got a chance to buy this DVD after hearing about it from a friend, and I would highly recommend it.

This is not your typical, big budget Hollywood movie, and in this case that's a good thing.

I'm a big fan of movies like Pulp Fiction, Sin City, Snatch, and Reservoir Dogs, and while this movie leans a bit more to the comedy side than the movies above, I would put it in a similar category.

Mike Starr and the extremely hot Diora Baird deliver great performances and really made this movie worth picking up for me. While the star is Randy Spelling, these two actors shine and are a joy to watch in every scene and really made the movie worthwhile.

If you are looking for a crime movie a bit on the indie side to pick up, or are just tired of the same old movies, this is worth your time.

Hot, fun, and entertaining

[glfordman · 10/10 · 15 May 2006]

Saw the movie in Newport Beach at the film festival. The crowd was high energy, the movie was fast paced and fun, the sex scene was hot, and the music was great. Randy Spelling did a great job. Diora Baird was hot and sexy. The interplay between characters was fun to watch. The ending was somewhat predictable, but clever. This was a fun, entertaining film that will appeal to many audiences. Excellent cinematography, nice special effects. The after party was incredible, including the band from the film performing live. See this film, it was definitely worthwhile. Congratulations to cast, crew, writers and directors for a job well done.

High Marks For This Hot Indie

[erictyler123 · 10/10 · 26 May 2006]

This is a superb example of film-making by a really talented writer/director, Michael Damian. Great story line with super casting. This film comes off way beyond it's limited budget. Jason Priestly's cameo performance is great. Mike Starr is his usual bad self. The music in the film is really exceptional. There is a very hot love scene with Diora Baird whose star is just about to take off. Randy Spelling does a superb job in the lead role - very well cast and believable. The supporting cast is awesome right down to Sandy Martin's cameo (the Grandma from Napoleon Dynamite). I saw it at the Newport Beach Film Festival and the house was packed and the energy was high - lots of laughs. This is a great film that sadly not enough people will see - so check it out!

Conducive To Repeat Watching

[sprynx · 8/10 · 27 March 2015]

The reason why it's so watchable falls almost entirely on Diora Baird. Every scene she is in will captivate you because she is so sexy and her facial expressions are just so authentic. You can tell that she had theatrical training. She upstaged Carmen Electra in the sex appeal department which worked out since Carmen was only a supporting player. Diora's scenes with Spelling are believable even though if you saw these two as individuals you would never guess that they would be an item, and they range from heartwarming to fuel injected ribaldry. The jokes in this movie often fall short , especially with the supporting characters, although you can see they are doing their best with what was given them. There is also a subplot involving a cop with motives for staking out another character which is mildly amusing and a couple of the jokes revolving around the drug heist plan were pretty good. The banter between the hit men which was supposed to be funny left a little to be desired but I credit it somewhat for originality. Anyway- enjoy repeat viewing .

This movie has it all

[BigJohnPilgrim · 8/10 · 26 June 2009]

There are so many elements to this movie that add a delightful sense of the absurdly normal. The corn relish (what?). The hot tamales. The white dude wowing the salsa band. The hot chick. The killer weed (and that reaction was so over the top believable). Really everything that happened in this movie belonged.

It's so corny and uplifting with its quirks and turns that it keeps you glued to your seat waiting for the next surprise. Excellent script, totally incredible acting, I am not sure why I didn't rate it a 10 except that it's not family fare (but is certainly good for a sit-down evening with the girlfriend!).