Mediatrix (Review)

Mediatrix

Mediatrix (2011)

Directed by Cory Udler

I'm pretty positive Cory Udler is not a big fan of organized religion. Udler, the mastermind behind the infamous Incest Death Squad 1 and 2, seems to wage his war on it behind the camera by satirizing the sheep and the wolves who prey on said sheep. With Mediatrix, it's front and center and mocks the mockery of all that is Christianity and it's inherit beliefs.

Mediatrix is an exploitation jab at the right wing neo-conservative religious right by inserting boobs, sex and rape to get its point across. Focusing on the devious Mary Ann who is a master manipulator on all things spiritual, she seduces the minds of the ultra stupid while challenging the status quo of a priest hell bent on exposing her.

What you end up with in Mediatrix is an odd black humor exploitation comedy that has screwball characters and a pure relentless wicked streak, similar to seeing a car crash during a funeral procession. Clearly it's messed up but oddly funny in a fucked up sort of way.

But that's not to say my fun-o-meter didn't pop up. I had a few gripes on the story, characters and overall lack of cohesiveness. There seemed to be a bit of dead air scenes and a few jokes fell flat. I wanted to see a standoff between the supposed good vs the supposed evil but you got the feeling it was going to be a one sided affair.

But as atheists would say, you play with fire you're gonna get burned. (Hmmm I'm not sure atheists would actually say that)


Boring Plot-O-Matic

It is the story of Mary Ann Van Hook-false spiritualist who parlays her manipulation skills into wealth, power and even her own cult of followers.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

We meet Mary Ann (Paula Duerksen) who raised by a stereotypical spiritual mom rebels by being the town bicycle. Clearly mom and daughter are scam artists de jour but Mary Ann it seems to ACTUALLY have a phone connection to the Virgin Mary (Shannon Lark). When she meets Carrie (Kaylee Williams from 3 Slices of Life) and her husband Will Brackett, they become an easy mark for our spiritual medium. Soon she's using her "assets" to seduce up Mr. Brackett and his associates all while stealing the pastor's congregation. All this leads to a showdown with said pastor.

Mediatrix feels like an extension of IDS with some usual actors back and some new ones in the mix. It has a sense of wacky and can't really be called a horror movie but more of an exploitation attack on how the gullible become gulled. Udler has always hovered his movies in a weird in between place of realistic wickedness and black humor oddity. This has the same feel. It has an indie quirkiness but also falls victim to not knowing what it should be.

It has elements of a black comedy but also seems to be hell bent on being a mish mash of other genres as well. Mary Ann, a tatted up, foul moth, druggie seems to hard to believe. She's a wolf in wolf's clothing yet the sheep are all convinced her spirituality is from the divine. I really didn't buy it. So many religions, especially evangelical Christianity could have been easily mocked and satirized but somehow it doesn't come out very well in Mediatrix. I was hoping to see a punk rock/death metal version of Book of Mormon.

The actors all seem to play heightened crazies. Duerksen gives a glimpse of her goods as the head crazy and does a good job in the role. It'd be nice to see Lark in a lead role as she has a scream queen persona to carry a movie. Udler regulars Matt Ukena, Scott Rawson and Tom Lodewyck also make appearances. Having remembered Williams from Slices of Life, she plays a very convincing sheep.

Mediatrix has fire of wrath vibes to it and has a feel of raw energy that most movies would be afraid to cover. But it also isn't as polished and straightforwardly wicked as Udler's previous Incest Death Squad 2. It's however fueled with an indie DIY spirit that oozes of Americana fuckedupness. For that I'm giving it 2 Hallelujahs.

Gore-ipedia

Head butting

Nude-ipedia

Main character boobies

WTF moment

So the Virgin Mary is a hot coked up punk rock girl?

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

Mediatrix is now out on DVD. The DVD has a Behind the Scenes and a trailer on it as well. Head over to the official site, Facebook group and follow on Twitter.

Rating:


Check out the trailer!

Categories: exploitation, exploitation film, incest death squad, incest death squad 2, indie film, indie horror, mediatrix, religious cult

Cory Udler's Mediatrix (Teaser Trailer)

Cory Udler, the mastermind behind the sick and depraved Incest Death Squad movies just released the teaser trailer for his latest flick, Mediatrix.

So what's this about?

It is the story of Mary Ann Van Hook-false spiritualist who parlays her manipulation skills into wealth, power and even her own cult of followers.

Kinda vague but one can only look at the IMDB keywords to know what we are in for.

Brainwashing? Yup. Pedophilia? Yah. Self Mutilation? Fuck yeah! And of course Rape.

The film also stars Viscera Film Festival/Chainsaw Mafia founder and Fangoria Magazine's 2009 Spooksmodel, SHANNON LARK as "The Virgin Mary". Kaylee Williams (Slices of Life) stars as "Carrie". The movie also features Tom Lodewyck, Greg Johnson, Melissa Murphy and Michael Katzenberger (all stars of the Incest Death Squad Series).

Udler says: "This is a true indie exploitation movie that pulls no punches, makes no excuses and holds nothing back".

Check out the teaser trailer below.



For more info about the flick.....

• ShaLenn Productions
• IMDB Page
• Facebook Page
  

Categories: 2011 horror movies, incest death squad, incest death squad 2, independent cinema, indie film, indie horror, inhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifdepentent horror, mediatrix

Incest Death Squad 2 (Review)

Incest Death Squad 2

Incest Death Squad 2 (2010)

Directed by Cory Udler

I received my first credit in a movie. Nope, its not the massive credit sequence from the Paranormal Activity DVD, but from Cory Udler who gave jadedviewer.com a "Special Thanks".

After I posted my review, Cory and I talked a little more about the original movie. I gave him an honest critique hoping to bridge the gap between filmmaker and blogger/fan. He was very responsive to what I had to say and to actually have a director listening to a fan of the genre I promote and love, was to say the least very cool.

Suffice it to say, what I wanted from Incest Death Squad 2 was simple. I wanted it go over the edge plain and simple. More incest, more death and more squad. After watching IDS2, it does just that. Where its predecessor seemed to be a Troma clone, IDS2 stands on its own and glorifies all that is wonderful when you get extreemy in the exploitation genre.

Gone is the funny, visual ha ha's. We've slowly transitioned into hardcore shit here. IDS2 slaps you harder than a dominatrix on LSD. Your going to get your fill of God, gratuitous nudity, whore encounters and blood and guts. It's a movie the entire family will love!

My original quote after watching the trailer of IDS1 was this: "Are you going to hell if you see this movie? Probably so."

Udler's sequel finally makes that seem 100% true.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Jeb and Amber Wayne embark on a murderous road trip as they hunt for the man that witnessed their gruesome ministry.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Incest Death Squad 2 is a true sequel. You really need to have watched Part 1 in order to understand what's the what. What I've come to realize is though IDS2 continues the story of Jeb and Amber and Aaron and Andrea, both the original and sequel really need to be watched back to back. The original ended on a semi-cliffhanger and IDS2 continues a month later. If watched consecutively one right after another, this makes it feel like a more completed feature length movie. This is the true Incest Death Squad film.

In any case, let's break down the squad.

More Incest (and various degrees of fuckedupness)

The first movie hinted at the big "I". But here, Udler releases the hounds and goes nuts (even literally as we get to see Jeb's full frontal). Sexual depravity is on display here with Jeb and Amber and we get to see it in all it's incestuous glory. If only Udler had James Cameron's cameras, we could have seen this in 3D. Oh well some dreams will have to stay dreams.

The story continues as our Ambiguous Incest Duo still feel the need to do God's work (you know killing tourists) but Amber has unfinished business with Aaron (our intrepid reporter). Seems his "seed" has been planted and Amber's got to go all Maury on him and relay the paternal news. This leads to a road trip to Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, our functional couple Aaron and Andrea seemed to be living the normal life. But not everything is at it seems. Both have secrets with Aaron's being more fucked up than Andrea's. Let's just say one the parts of my trio of fuckedupness gets hit (read about it in my original review of IDS1) thanks to Aaron.

Like I said, more incest, more fuckedupness, even more rape. Yes folks, more rape. It's handled a little avante gardy slo-mo which was a little weird. Sorta like softcore in a hardcore movie. However, everything in IDS2 raises the bar to make you feel uncomfortable. As the jaded viewer, I'm too jaded to feel anything. But if you live on the Bible belt, you're fuckin screwed.

More Death (and various degrees of nudity)

Jeb and Amber continue their murderous ways and we get our solid quotient of blood and gore. A good Samaritan gets whooped and Jeb disposes of a vocal whore. It's not until we get to the end do we see some blood splatter walls. But more than the death is the nudity which was absent from Part 1. Various pairs of boobage are flaunted and taunted. You just can't go wrong with gratuitous nudity. Somehow it's like CGI explosions. It makes you feel happy.

More Squad (and various degrees of WTF)

As our iDuo threaten our now dysfunctional couple, Andrea hires her cousin Brent to protect her. It's a flash of mischief from Brent who goes toe to toe with our iDuo. Brent seems to be out of place here, as he was written for comic relief or to be the asshole of our movie.

The performances by everybody here are more solid than the original. Greg Johnson plays Jeb as a very overarching father figure, his sister his only concern. Carmela Wiese's Amber is full of vixen vixing as she seduces tourists. She also has a full emotional arc after being raped. Melissa Jo Murphy does her best overreacting intentionally melodramatic performance as Andrea when all the secrets are discovered.

But I have to say Tom Lodewyck steals the show as Aaron. His progression from Part 1 to Part 2 is evolution of insanity at its best. It just seemed he got the best lines, got the best material and his speech at the end is hilariously evil.

At 70 or so minutes, it packs alot in. Still some parts of the movie feel forced and yawn-ish at times. Conversations sound a little telepromptor-ish and when Andrea gets a phone call from our duo who are on their way to HER house, your first instinct is to run the fuck away from the house as far as possible. Andrea does not do this. Logic problems should be ignored but sometimes they can't.

I'd even say they should have focused more on the Wayne's. They are the heart of the movie and their relationship is the core. But their dialogue is cluttered with religious hyperbole and lacks that sibling feel. However, it finally gets that towards the end.

The sequel has been more tightly edited, shot and produced than the original. It feels more rounded and that shows the evolving work from Udler. Udler's vision of religion, death and a duo of fuckedupness has made a cult classic in the making. But the sequel is only the second half of this. Like a 2 robot lion Voltron, they have to be connected. That's the full Incest Death Squad.

And if you watched it, that's how you go to hell.

Gore-ipedia

Sliced Throats
Blood splattered walls

Nude-ipedia

Lesbian boobage
Whore boobage

WTF moment

Amber makes a deposit in the tiolet and shows it off

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

So how do you get to see Incest Death Squad 2? Glad you asked. On September 17th 2010, you can get to see it for FREE. Yes fellow jaded viewers, you can see it for FREE at HorrorSociety.com. Go here for more information.

IDS2 is a worthy successor to the original. Everything is amped up and jacked to the extreme. I don't want to take any credit away from Cory Udler, but I think my input helped in getting this movie way over the edge. So you can thank the jaded viewer for this masterpiece of horror exploitation sleaze.

Head over to the official Facebook site and the official site for more info. You can also follow Cory Udler on Twitter @ IDS2

Rating:
Check out the trailer below.

Categories: exploitation, exploitation film, gratuitous nudity, grindhouse, incest death squad, incest death squad 2, incest death squad trailer, indepentent horror, indie film, indie horror