Pulpmovies Reviews

When I started watching Kids Get Dead, I was expecting a nostalgia-laced parody of the late night horror films from the VHS era, and the film certainly delivers. Although the late night horror host is very much a North American tradition, we did have late night films in the UK and I have many memories of setting the timer on the video-recorder to catch the film for later viewing. Kids Get Dead captures this era brilliantly, right down fast forwarding through the adverts and even, occasionally, the boring bits to get you right back into the action. The film even has a wonderfully snarky hostess in the form of Candy Adams (Carly Goodspeed) who not only provides some very entertaining links but also very effectively sets the tone of the film and manages to poke fun at much of the audience for this type of film.

This film is a parody and it’s a very good one. There are far too many films these days passing themselves off as parodies but which amount to little more than a collection of sketches – many of which have very little to say about their chosen genre. In the case of this film, however, we have a plot – and a rather good one at that.

Of course, the title tells you pretty much what to expect and it’s no surprise that the film is populated with the usual slasher archetypes. If you can’t immediately spot which is which then you really haven’t been spending enough time with this genre. That said, the cast do all acquit themselves commendably and remain surprisingly believable. Their believability is due not only to their acting but also the script that, refreshingly, remains remarkably consistent and avoids any idiot plotting.

On the face of it, the film is pretty straightforward. It’s Casey’s (Leah Rudick) birthday and, to celebrate, she and her friends are headed to a cabin in the woods for a wild weekend of sex, drugs and partying. Well, her friends are expecting a wild weekend, but Casey, being the sensible one, is not about to let herself get too carried away. Also tagging along is Casey’s nerdy younger brother Scott (Andrew Waffenschmidt) who would really rather be reading his horror novel. Coincidentally, Scott’s novel happens to be called Kids go to the Woods… Kids Get Dead.

There is, of course, a crazed killer on the loose as well. Although we do get some kills early on – and the film opens with one that skewers pretty much every slasher stereotype in a single scene – the gore doesn’t really get going until the final third of the film. Instead, writer/director, Michael Hall spends a lot of time with the characters, establishing their personalities and attitudes and ensuring that they are believable enough for the inevitable violence to carry a real sense of horror.

What really sets the film apart, though, is Scott’s book. Clearly there is a connection between the novel and the events in the film, but this connection is kept vague until the violence gets going. By keeping both the audience and the characters in the dark for so long about what is really going on, the film manages to maintain a real sense of tension, even when it’s poking fun.

Kids Get Dead is a real rarity. Not only is it a superbly well-observed parody, it is also a very well made and rather smart slasher film. All of the usual stereotypes are present, but they are very effectively subverted by a smart plot and some strong acting.

If only all slasher films were made like this.

London Betty is the story of three friends. Billy (Thomas Edward Seymour) and Volgo (Russ Russo) are not the most competent thieves in the world. Their best friend, Jess (Margaret Rose Champagne) is a prostitute. These three characters live small lives in the small all-American of Pharisee and, while none of them is particularly satisfied with their lot, they do at least have each other.

Into their lives come Betty (Nicole Lewis) who has moved from London to follow her ambition of becoming a top journalist. Unfortunately for Betty, the job she has landed is working for the Pharisee Gazette, the smallest of small town papers, under an agoraphobic editor (Daniel von Bargen) who refuses to meet her.

Inevitably enough, Betty becomes a victim of Billy’s petty thieving and, when he claims the reward for her stolen rabbit, Betty smells a story and starts to follow him. In doing so, she stumbles across a much bigger story of small-town corruption involving the oily Mayor Plumb (Dick Boland), and so begins an increasingly funny comedy of errors.

Writer/director, Thomas Edward Seymour is one half of the team behind Bikini Bloodbath Car Wash and, although London Betty has a similar sense of humour it is a very different film, and a much funnier one. Obviously there is a genre difference, but what really sets these two films apart is that the characters this time around are a lot more interesting, especially in the case of Betty. While the humour is often absurd, the characters and the plot are both interesting and engaging enough to keep you wanting to know how things will pan out.

It helps, of course, that the acting pretty solid throughout. Nicole Lewis, however, is outstanding. Not only is her performance both thoroughly engaging and utterly believable, but she also brings a real depth to her character that effectively anchors the film and prevents the stream of jokes from descending into random silliness.

Thomas Edward Seymour is an able scriptwriter and one that is rapidly improving from film to film, and London Betty is a huge step forward. There is still a fair bit of silliness going on, but everything hangs together a lot more nicely this time around. The characters are well-rounded, believable and genuinely interesting and the film manages a warm-hearted, and surprisingly moving, pay-off which effectively underlines its theme of friendship.

With London Betty, Seymour has managed to tighten up both his script and characterisation without sacrificing his frenetic joke-per-minute pacing. The fact that he’s also managed to find a cast – and a lead – that bring this all brilliantly to life makes this a film that really is worth tracking down.

Stocking Stuffers is a film of two chapters. In the first, subtitled Consuming the Commodities of the Heart, we have a man and a woman (played by Eric Scheiner and Christy Scott-Cashman) at the end of a successful date. Inevitably enough, the man would like the date to go that bit further and, while the woman is not against the idea, she certainly wants to see a little more effort on his part. This leads to some entertainingly innuendo-laden and superbly delivered dialogue revolving about food and having a bit of “dessert”.

The second chapter switches things around somewhat, starting with the subtitle: The Heartfelt Commodification of Consumption. This time around we have a series of three mock adverts for Sheek stockings or, more accurately, two adverts to set up a joke and then the punchline.

In the first advert, a woman (Christy Scott-Cashman again), wearing nothing but a pair of tights, extols the virtues of her preferred underwear. In the second it’s the turn of a man (Eric Scheiner again) to extol the same virtues but this time from a male perspective.

The third advert provides the punchline which turns things on their head, subverting not just the meanings of what is being said but also the values and preferences being expressed. This point, that by subverting meanings we also subvert values, forms the crux of the film and it’s a point well made.

Writer/director, Angel Connell has a real ear for dialogue and a playful approach to the words we use. His script, combined with the excellent performances put in by both Eric Scheiner and Christy Scott-Cashman, leaves us to enjoy some believable, natural and very witty banter between the two characters.

Stocking Stuffers packs quite a lot into its very short running time, being both a gentle parody of the advertising industry and an exploration of the way in which we use words and meanings. It’s a thoughtful and funny film and one that is well worth checking out.