FRIGHT FLICK (2010)
Release Date: January 25th 2011
LABEL: Vicious Circle Films
RATED: Unrated
GENRE: Horror-Comedy
DURATION: 93 Min.
DIRECTOR: Israel Luna
CAST: Chad Allen, Richard D. Curtain, Todd Jenkins, Daphne Khoury, Adam Kitchen,
PLOT: Director Israel Luna shows audiences just how cut-throat show business can be in this bloody outrageous horror-comedy that satirizes the filmmaking industry. When the air-headed leading lady of a B-grade fright flick turns up brutally murdered during the film shoot, the motley members of the cast and crew find themselves at the heart of a real-life whodunit -- and with so many competing egos on set, everyone's a suspect.
FILM: Israel Luna's TICKED-OFF TRANNIES WITH KNIVES (2009) was a fun revenge-thriller exploitation film featuring kick-ass trannies in full-on revenge mode. Luna showed himself to be a young filmmaker with a great understanding of the genre and having a blast with it. This time out Luna is sending-up the world of indie horror filmmaking in the farcical and light-hearted slasher Fright Flick. The movie opens with a slutty bimbo (Jennifer Garner) taking a shower. Good start. She's being stalked by a killer. She emerges from the shower and discovers her boyfriend's mutilated body. Obviously she's a bit thick and doesn't quite get that the blood-soaked sheets would seem to indicate his brutal demise. She asks the corpse "Have you been eating jelly?". What!?! She catches on and lets out a full fledged scream queen wail while simultaneously pushing her ample breasts together, nice. Turns out she's shooting a scene in a horror film called Fright Flick. We're watching a film within a film, a concept I enjoy ala Lamberto Bava's DEMONS (1985) and PET SEMATARY (1992). The crew roll their eyes at the horrendous performance they've just witnesses as director Laurent (Richard D. Curtin) comes to the starlets aid to fondle her massive breasts and heap false praise. The starlet retires to her room and is killed as the leg of a camera tripod is rammed through the back of her skull and emerges from her mouth in a shot that recalls both PEEEPING TOM (1960) and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980). Flash forward 2 years later and we're on the set of a second sequel to that film also helmed by director Laurent. This time out there's a new trashy starlet and once again a murderer stalks the set.
Everyone seems to be at odds with one another on this set. The screenwriters are hiding a new script from the director who may have stolen a script previously, there's scheming producer, conniving assistants, eccentric and bitchy crew members - everyone just sorta hates or distrusts each other. While the acting is fairly uneven across the board the film is populated by some fun characters including Charles Baker's amped-up gay make-up artist and Dick Curtin as the sleazy director is a lot of fun. Good cheesy performances that are hammed-up to 10 on the overacting scale but fun. Meanwhile the film's cast and crew begin one-by-one falling victim to the killer. There are some decent killings including a great throat slash, hedge clippers to the face and the aforementioned camera tripod to the head, not too shabby. The comedy is so-so but the whodunit and slasher elements weren't half bad. In a bit of genre fan service there are homages to HALLOWEEN II (1981) and FRIDAY THE 13th (1980) that were nice additions. Overal, not too shabby but a bit underwhelming.
DVD: The film is presented in 16x9 enhanced widescreen with 5.1 surround sound. The image looked fine but this is a shot-on-the-cheap digital production and lacks the visual flair and style of Israel Luna's previous entry Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives. My screener didn't have any special features but the final DVD will include the following.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Blooper Reel
- Severed Scenes
- The Guts of FRIGHT FLICK: A Behind-the-scenes Documentary
VERDICT: FRIGHT FLICK (2010) is a trashy bit of fun with pretty low aspirations that lacks the wit and spark of Luna's TICKED-OFF TRANNIES WITH KNIVES but as horror comedy send-ups go this is loads more fun than say SCARY MOVIE. Not a classic but maybe a weekend rental. **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)
