Monday, March 22, 2010

Dead Hooker in a Trunk (Review)

Dead Hooker in a Trunk

Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009)

Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska

Sometimes I put a trailer up and hype up an indie film and then what happens is I actually never get to see the film. But when I put up the trailer for Dead Hooker in a Trunk I actually got a comment from the filmmakers themselves. It was a first and totally threw me in a loop.

They even blogged about my initial thoughts which was super duper cool. Because of this little bit of acknowledgment from indie filmmaker to indie blog I kept the Soska Sisters on my personal radar. When they released a little short called Bad Girls, I posted it immediately.

So when the movie was making the rounds in festivals I contacted them immediately for a screener so I could expand my thoughts. Which leads us to this review. I sometimes hype up a movie in my head and it gets the best of me. Would Dead Hooker in a Trunk live up to its awesome title?

Oh most fuckin definitely.

DHIAT is a modern day black comedy exploitation film of pulpy goodness. As the title suggests, shit hits the fan when our troupe of twin sisters, a Jesus freak and a junkie find a dead hooker in a trunk. It starts off a chain reaction of ass kicking, appendages being ripped apart, some sexual molesting and a bloody bloodbath.

The Soska Sisters first feature film is raw in that grindhouse way and has that Tarantino feel with a extra dose of indie grittiness. You'll laugh, you'll wince, you'll metal head bob your head due to the awesome soundtrack. It's a fun time when you find a dead hooker in a trunk. I wish that happened everyday!

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Set in beautiful Vancouver, four friends set out on an everyday errand and end up in a fight for their lives when they discover the body of a dead hooker left in their trunk. Lead by a sexy, impulsive Badass, her distant Geek twin sister, their bible thumping, Jesus loving Goody Two Shoes friend, and a chaotic, rock star Junkie pal, the group has to put aside their differences to dispose of the body before they're next.

Thrown into their own personal purgatory, they face off against persistent police, a sleazy motel manager, chainsaw wielding triads, and a brutal serial killer. All the while they are followed by a mysterious Cowboy Pimp who wants to claim the corpse for his own. Will they uncover the truth behind the body and be able to stand up to their demons?

Buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life filled with gun fights, extreme violence, blood, guts, gore, and goats. Dead Hooker In A Trunk is the unexpected first feature film written, directed, and produced by identical twin sisters, Jen and Sylvia Soska. The two newcomers created an impossible film that is an underground sensation, destined to become a cult classic and will make you fall in love with films again!

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Badass (Sylvia Soska) and Geek (Jen Soska) are twin sisters who work the opposite twin thing to a tee. Badass is exactly that, a bad fuckin ass. Geek is at the end of the rainbow, clean and nerdy. After Badass parties up with Junkie (Rikki Gagne), they pick up Goody Two Shoes (CJ Walls) Geek's Jesus lovin friend. The only place this movie could go is to the title.

And at about 16 minutes that's when it comes. Dead hooker in a trunk. Soon our foursome are tasked with disposing of said dead hooker. In a way it reminded me of when Jules and Vincent had the task of cleaning up their mess in Pulp Fiction. It's not easy to get rid of a body.

The relationships between the sisters is comic-ly timed. Jen and Sylvia are comfortable playing off each other and though its been done before, they do it in a new horror and suicide girls sort of way. Mixing in their hotness with some ridiculousness the movie plays out their relationship nicely.

Goody is pure comedy and CJ Walls is hilarious as the vomit prone God freak. Gagne as Junkie plays crackhead trauma nicely (and at one point loses her arm).

Avoiding getting caught by the police, they travel from motel to junkie den and end up in a penultimate shootout where Badass annihilates a drug infiltrating Triad gang. For an indie film, the effects were top notch. Oozing intestines, top notch gunshots to the head and blood spraying trauma are in full effect. I was pleasantly surprised by the insanity of it all. Our misfits though are not immune by the violence and are too violated with chainsawed arms and ocular trauma. The gore and splatter levels were off the chart.

It's absurdly insane, logic thrown out the window but that's the fun of it all.

Later, the killer of our dead hooker seeks revenge and trauma is inflicted by the four on a few baddies which leads to the twisty twizzler ending. A few gripes I'll admit I had about the film were a few flat jokes, some misplaced scenes and a flashback explaining the motives of the killer that ended up towards the end of the movie.

Other than that, DHIAT is five by five.

The Soska Sisters made a film they wanted to make and they ventured out and did it. It's a testament to them and their crew and is the true spirit of indie filmmaking. You have to love the tenacity of these two to make a film this ambitious. Nothing feels amateurish or low budget. It feels like a film made for me and my brethren who love grindhouse black comedies.

DHIAT is a mad mad bizzaro movie that has everything you would want. Hot kick ass girls, some ha ha's and LOLs and one killer soundtrack. I've got the Soska Sisters on my radar, it's time the rest of the world has them on theirs.

Gore-ipedia

Gunshots to the head
Arm trauma
Ocular trauma
Intestine oozing
Pyrocide
Snapped necks

Nude-ipedia

We get one twin almost...I said almost!

WTF moment

That ocular trauma came out of nowhere

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

I'm not sure of a DVD release but the Soska Sisters just finished screening the film at some festivals. If your a movie/horror blogger, hit them up for a possible screener on Twitter @twisted_twins.

Also check out their blog and the official site.

When I saw the trailer, I wrote:

"What's not to love about junkies, bad asses, hot women and a dead hooker in a trunk?"

It's still dead on true. What's not to love? If you want to sit back, smoke some weed and see a fun fun fun fun film, Dead Hooker in a Trunk is the film for you. It's a cult classic in waiting and a hidden gem in indie filmmaking.

Rating:


The Trailer


2 comments:

  1. Can you say seen-it-all-before-boring-as-hell???????????

    I sure can and know what - I'm right!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Boring? Really? What was boring? It had tons of black humor and over the top violence. Don't see the boredom at all in DHIAT.

    ReplyDelete