This movie (of which the title of my copy on DVD read: "Mayhem") started out so well: for the first half hour it's exciting, original and entertaining. The two cannibalistic sisters are a treat to watch, especially the one by Sage Ellen, they're played with a sardonic kind of humour and panache. Unfortunately, after the main character Tom Kempton (Alex McArthur) is saved, the movie sort of collapses, all the tension and pace evaporates in a sullen and overlong mid-section, where nothing much happens.
Apparently the director (Hancock) tried to give it a David Lynch-like brooding and mysterious atmosphere, but this failed thanks to the boring and very improbable goings-on. The only good thing is the excellent musical score by Angelo Badalamenti, who (not?) coincidentally also did the score of Mulholland Drive. The last part of the movie gets it again into a sort of thriller-mode, with wild attacks by psychopathic killers, It's definitely way over the top, as if the makers had three alternative endings in their mind and decided to use them all one after another.
All in all it's rather an unbalanced movie, with a very promising start but a disappointing last 2/3. McArthur doesn't really help, he walks around like he didn't much believe in the whole project himself, and the husky voice he uses in virtually every scene gradually annoyed the hell out of me! I did like Maria Cina though, and Fred Meyers had exactly the creepy looks and attitude that fitted the character of a psychopathic teenager. It's all the more sorry that both of them had to work on such a weak script. My final verdict: 4 out of 10 (but Sage Ellen gets a 10 plus!!!)
Apparently the director (Hancock) tried to give it a David Lynch-like brooding and mysterious atmosphere, but this failed thanks to the boring and very improbable goings-on. The only good thing is the excellent musical score by Angelo Badalamenti, who (not?) coincidentally also did the score of Mulholland Drive. The last part of the movie gets it again into a sort of thriller-mode, with wild attacks by psychopathic killers, It's definitely way over the top, as if the makers had three alternative endings in their mind and decided to use them all one after another.
All in all it's rather an unbalanced movie, with a very promising start but a disappointing last 2/3. McArthur doesn't really help, he walks around like he didn't much believe in the whole project himself, and the husky voice he uses in virtually every scene gradually annoyed the hell out of me! I did like Maria Cina though, and Fred Meyers had exactly the creepy looks and attitude that fitted the character of a psychopathic teenager. It's all the more sorry that both of them had to work on such a weak script. My final verdict: 4 out of 10 (but Sage Ellen gets a 10 plus!!!)