Into the Lion's Den

This may be one of the worst movies I've ever watched. Waited until the end just to see what finally happened but it was a torture. Is a low budget film, with bad plot, bad acting and bad everything.

Here's the thing: the "gay road trip" genre is actually very tried and true. It taps into the psyche of many gays trapped in their "gay ghettos" who actually WISH they had the opportunity to travel across country/see new places. Had this simply been a character study and/or comedy, this would probably have been successful. But of course that would have involved actually insight and writing, as opposed to taking the easy way out. Bad writing, VERY bad acting and unbelievable plot overall. Not worth watching.

Three gay guys are driving from California to New York. They are Johnny (Jesse Archer) who will sleep with any guy he can get, Mikey (Ronnie Kroell) who's the serious sensitive type and Ted (Kristen-Alexzander Griffith) who seems to have no personality at all. They decide to spend the night at some small southern town and Johnny insists they go to a str8 bar called the Lions Den for drinks. Actually it's for Johnny to hook up with a man he met online. However things slowly (VERY slowly) go from bad to worse and all three are fighting to stay alive.

The basic plot is OK and you have to give the film credit for giving it to gay audiences quickly (there's full frontal male nudity and graphic simulated sex in the first 10 minutes!) but then it just falls apart. It moves VERY slowly (the film is half over before anything happens), Johnny is easily one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen and it's not scary or thrilling--just unpleasant. It's routinely directed and some of the acting (particularly by Jodie Shultz) is dreadful. On the upside the acting by Kroell is pretty good and he has a lengthy full frontal nude scene. Also the script itself is not bad and has some interesting lines. But, all in all, I was bored and couldn't care less.

It is one of that film who could be better, having as premises a simple story and a fist of cliches. But, unfortunatelly, beginning promissing, it ends as a very stupid film , a cocktail of gay and cheep horror . The good thing - the intro scene , used again, in wrong way , for a too sentimental end, being more than atrocious kitsch.

So, easy to define, for save it, as a short film about a trip, friendship and bad luck.

But that is all.

Nothing to save it and the music of the last part is just a huge mistake.

The problem are not cliches - the story is fair, the acting is good intentioned , the premises are seductive, the story has the gift of pleasant predictability - but their use is totally mess.

So, less than dissapointment. .

Three guys, a night in southern town, a bar and difficult situation for heroes of film.

Not bad. Only waste of time.

This definitely rates as one of the worst movies of all time. There is absolutely no talent being showcased in this movie. The only horrifying thing about this movie is a combination of bad acting, bad directing and bad, bad, bad writing!!

Both writer Philip Malaczewski and director Dan Lantz should apply for a refund for their post graduate schooling because if this film is any indication of what they learned in school, it was all for not!

This film merits no further comment other than that it was an utter waste of time! Time you will never ever get back!!

I was just informed by IMDb that my review had to be a minimum of 10 lines to be accepted. This is the 11th.