(Minor Spoilers)
The Item is on the same shelf than movies like Evil Dead. It has many elements that could easily make it a cult favorite: some funny characters (especially Alex), a weak and basic storyline, killer drag queens, a speaking creature, an extremely exaggerated amount of blood, and some sexual content involving a human girl and the creature.
The Item leaves a first impression, right after the first viewing...the impression that I've watched something very weird, and it left me with a curious doubt about my appreciation of the film. After watching it, I didn't know either if it was a "brilliant" movie or just a stupid piece of entertaining, bloody trash. And I still doubt.
First, I'll summarize the storyline. It's about a bunch of felons (four of them, and they can be pretty funny) who rob an item to some kind of weird man that really looks like the bad guy in a cheap Sci-Fi movie featuring Frank Zagarino, if you know what I mean. This mysterious item will supposedly make them rich...and I still don't know how the heck it could! So, they go to one of Alex's friends' house, in which they find her Drag Queen friends...so, these "guys" being witnesses, the four felons have to kill them, and then starts a bloody gun fight. After that (you know who won the fight), they go back to the house, and they have supper...but the "item" is about to get more involved in the story. So, curiosity can be a human flaw, and Alex and his pals open the box, to see what is inside. I won't tell you what it is, even though I'm not the first to review this film on IMDb, and many other people gave away the "punch" (even though we know pretty early in the movie what is inside the box). Not that the "item" is dangerous itself, it's not a powerful creature with fangs sharper than knives...but it is dangerous in a completely different way: it somehow reads someone's mind and turns it against other people. So, as you've probably seen before in kidnaping movies (Suicide Kings comes to my mind), where the victim has discussions with its kidnapers and turns them against each other, this movie is exactly like this, but instead of a normal person being kidnaped, it's a creature.
But if the creature was the only original point in the movie, that wouldn't be enough. So they put some humoristic touches, in the dialogue and in the visuals. The dialogue is often funny, and some other comical parts are the creature itself (you have to see it to understand), the costumes (especially the Drag Queens'), and of course, the gore. Now, I'll explain what the gore is about. This film is not gory like Evil Dead is gory. The Item is, I'd say, bloody. Pretty bloody. There is one scene with a brain, and some organs, but besides that, the only "gore" you see is red liquid. There is a lot of it, the amounts are very exaggerated, and that's very funny at times (Major Spoiler: when Alex gets shot, there is an incredible amount of blood that sprays on the wall, and, after he got the bullet in his chest, he begins choking a little bit, and you see some more blood spurting on the wall as he chokes, it's put in a pretty funny way). There are some funny violent scenes, which is a necessary point for a film of this kind (see Bad Taste, Braindead, Evil Dead, Story of Ricky, and others).
Now, in a more serious tone, I can say that The Item's directing is pretty average, I'd even say that it is below average at times, with a couple of weak camera effects that just remind you how amateurish this is. But amateurish doesn't mean bad, not at all! I'd even say it more than often is a pleasure to watch independent and low-budget movies like this...I loved Bad Taste, but the directing was not good at all...Not that the directing in a movie is not important, I would never say that, but for movies like this one, it won't stop me from loving them.
The acting is extended on many levels. There are very good actors in this film as much as there are weak ones. Mr.Clark is the best (and he's the director too!) actor in this movie, I think. His character is attaching, funny, and in the same leagues than Ash (from Evil Dead), Derek (from Bad Taste) or Lionel (from Braindead)...he surely has his own style, though. He is smart, fast-thinking, he has a conscience, he can be violent, he has fun lines, he's a great character.
The scenario is very simple, but what else could we expect? If this had De Palma's Mission:Impossible's scenario, the film would really suck. The Item doesn't take itself too seriously, but I have to admit that in the end it becomes a little too serious. I still believe that the ending is cool, but the scene before is pretty stupid (when the Chinese girl has sex with the creature).
Overall, it's hard to know if this was good or bad, this was certainly not a masterpiece, but as a future cult favorite, even though it won't be the best, I give it a 6/10, because it has flaws and even with some of the jokes and everything, this will never be as fun to watch as Braindead, never.
6/10
Note: If you liked this, watch the films I've mentioned above.
The Item is on the same shelf than movies like Evil Dead. It has many elements that could easily make it a cult favorite: some funny characters (especially Alex), a weak and basic storyline, killer drag queens, a speaking creature, an extremely exaggerated amount of blood, and some sexual content involving a human girl and the creature.
The Item leaves a first impression, right after the first viewing...the impression that I've watched something very weird, and it left me with a curious doubt about my appreciation of the film. After watching it, I didn't know either if it was a "brilliant" movie or just a stupid piece of entertaining, bloody trash. And I still doubt.
First, I'll summarize the storyline. It's about a bunch of felons (four of them, and they can be pretty funny) who rob an item to some kind of weird man that really looks like the bad guy in a cheap Sci-Fi movie featuring Frank Zagarino, if you know what I mean. This mysterious item will supposedly make them rich...and I still don't know how the heck it could! So, they go to one of Alex's friends' house, in which they find her Drag Queen friends...so, these "guys" being witnesses, the four felons have to kill them, and then starts a bloody gun fight. After that (you know who won the fight), they go back to the house, and they have supper...but the "item" is about to get more involved in the story. So, curiosity can be a human flaw, and Alex and his pals open the box, to see what is inside. I won't tell you what it is, even though I'm not the first to review this film on IMDb, and many other people gave away the "punch" (even though we know pretty early in the movie what is inside the box). Not that the "item" is dangerous itself, it's not a powerful creature with fangs sharper than knives...but it is dangerous in a completely different way: it somehow reads someone's mind and turns it against other people. So, as you've probably seen before in kidnaping movies (Suicide Kings comes to my mind), where the victim has discussions with its kidnapers and turns them against each other, this movie is exactly like this, but instead of a normal person being kidnaped, it's a creature.
But if the creature was the only original point in the movie, that wouldn't be enough. So they put some humoristic touches, in the dialogue and in the visuals. The dialogue is often funny, and some other comical parts are the creature itself (you have to see it to understand), the costumes (especially the Drag Queens'), and of course, the gore. Now, I'll explain what the gore is about. This film is not gory like Evil Dead is gory. The Item is, I'd say, bloody. Pretty bloody. There is one scene with a brain, and some organs, but besides that, the only "gore" you see is red liquid. There is a lot of it, the amounts are very exaggerated, and that's very funny at times (Major Spoiler: when Alex gets shot, there is an incredible amount of blood that sprays on the wall, and, after he got the bullet in his chest, he begins choking a little bit, and you see some more blood spurting on the wall as he chokes, it's put in a pretty funny way). There are some funny violent scenes, which is a necessary point for a film of this kind (see Bad Taste, Braindead, Evil Dead, Story of Ricky, and others).
Now, in a more serious tone, I can say that The Item's directing is pretty average, I'd even say that it is below average at times, with a couple of weak camera effects that just remind you how amateurish this is. But amateurish doesn't mean bad, not at all! I'd even say it more than often is a pleasure to watch independent and low-budget movies like this...I loved Bad Taste, but the directing was not good at all...Not that the directing in a movie is not important, I would never say that, but for movies like this one, it won't stop me from loving them.
The acting is extended on many levels. There are very good actors in this film as much as there are weak ones. Mr.Clark is the best (and he's the director too!) actor in this movie, I think. His character is attaching, funny, and in the same leagues than Ash (from Evil Dead), Derek (from Bad Taste) or Lionel (from Braindead)...he surely has his own style, though. He is smart, fast-thinking, he has a conscience, he can be violent, he has fun lines, he's a great character.
The scenario is very simple, but what else could we expect? If this had De Palma's Mission:Impossible's scenario, the film would really suck. The Item doesn't take itself too seriously, but I have to admit that in the end it becomes a little too serious. I still believe that the ending is cool, but the scene before is pretty stupid (when the Chinese girl has sex with the creature).
Overall, it's hard to know if this was good or bad, this was certainly not a masterpiece, but as a future cult favorite, even though it won't be the best, I give it a 6/10, because it has flaws and even with some of the jokes and everything, this will never be as fun to watch as Braindead, never.
6/10
Note: If you liked this, watch the films I've mentioned above.