Tickled

As with The Jinx, a simple take-away is this: you get someone who has a *lot* of personal identity issues and a *lot* of New York family money, and it makes for a ridiculously dangerous combination - emphasis on both ridiculous and dangerous.

This was riveting material as a mystery-unfolds story, though the filmmaking is fairly standard as an expose (you can't help but feel suspense for the directors as they have to do literal stake-outs outside of places like the 'Tickle' video building, where as if out of the Joker's hide-out you can hear the barbaric sounds of laughter wafting out of the windows, or when they wait for days to find the one car that belongs to the now-late David D'Amato). It gets stronger and more disturbing as it goes along as the directors discover more and more in places they weren't necessarily looking; at first they were simply looking into another tickling-fetish video company out of Orlando not related to the group that was trying to "sue" the filmmakers (in quotes as it turned out to be a bust). Then this leads from one person to another, and it turns out to be aliases and undercover identities, stolen social security numbers from dead people, and a figure who was once an assistant principal at a school.

I thought at first this was going to all be some sort of goof, even into the first minute or so of the interview with the first "tickled" subject who agreed to talk on camera (face and all, not in the shadows or only just a voice or so on). What this so-called 'company' did is mortifying, and all for what is on one hand a seemingly innocent and on the other hand is disquieting; think about the times that you have, as a child, been tickled by your parents or tickle siblings or friends, and all in a having-fun sort of way. The manner in which some of these tickling videos were presented, one expects the Gimp from Pulp Fiction might appear to either tickle or be tickled.

And yet people going into this doc should know it's not an exploration of ticklers like, say, Hot Girls Wanted where it's about the subjects in the videos. It touches somewhat on the fetish, but this, aside from some curious homosexual aspects (and I mean that not in any gross way, simply that it's interesting that it's all men and that David D'Amato is one of those highly ashamed gay men of wealth and prestige and projects that on to others), is more about the depths of WTF that go into this "Tiffany Tickle" or whatever her name was and how she is really this one man D'Amato.

It's about power and control, and how it corrupts and makes humans into monsters, which slightly, thematically, connects back to how tickling in these videos is about submission and domination and being emasculated under intense pressure (again they're *all* young, well-built men in the videos, never women, never men older than, say, 24). In that way, Tickled can't help but hold out attention - not to mention a final, devastating phone conversation with D'Amato's step-mother.

Tickled is such a weird creature, a documentary about the "Sport" of competitive endurance tickling. Yep, you read that right.

However that is merely the beginning, as the documentary delves deeper it gets dark. Really, really dark.

Not to ruin anything but there is so much more and the subject matter is remarkable, trouble is its ruined by a very lackluster near spineless documentary filmmaker who squanders the potential.

Within moments I felt like I was watching another scripted documentary alike Catfish (2010) the concept was too fantastical and everything just felt too convenient.

However upon investigation it certainly appears to be legitimate and once you've watched the documentary you'll realise that is a really scary fact.

Well made and truly fascinating subject matter but handled by people who were just out of their depth.

We can only dream what could have been! Do hope this doesn't develop a TV show like Catfish otherwise my spidey sense will start tingling again.

Tickled certainly deviates from its trailer, but the film itself is a shocking piece of art. Tied together with tasteful cinematography (with necessary hidden cameras here and there), Tickled captures the enigma of David D'Amato's empire of male-tickling videos which results in scare tactics, harassment, and financial bullying of the unsuspecting participants--something that is very relevant to modern issues. I felt sad walking out of the film, which is evidence that this film does its job of riding the line between comedy and tragedy. I do feel that the trailer sets up an expectation of a horror/thriller aspect, but there is not much of this atmosphere in the film. I do, however, think that the film by itself is a brave piece of journalism that endangered the Tickled team financially and psychologically. The fact that the team was able to muster up the courage to finish the film is remarkable, and I hope David and his team are brought to justice.

David Farrier captures our attentions with subtlety and ease in his documentary, TICKLED.

When David receives a hostile response to an inquiry about competitive tickling he does not shy away from looking further.

It is the looking further when a seemingly harmless 'sport' comes to be seen as something much much more. David managed to arouse our curiosity and take us on a journey that (pun intended) tickled my interest, deepened my suspicions and shocked me with it's focus.

TICKLED goes to show us what money and position can achieve and get away with. In a scenario which could have been harmless, one person takes it to an abusive next level and David is there with us the entire time.

And it isn't even a thriller. The tenseness I felt watching this movie is something I never felt before. This movie is a prime example of true investigative journalism, starting with something seemingly innocent and it ending up being one of the most disturbing things I have heard about. I believe this movie is a must see, even for people who do not like documentaries. Because this story could have easily been fictional.

David does a great job letting you see this movie trough his eyes and trough they eyes of the people affected by it, I can only imagine the dread and fear he and they felt making this documentary. I liked that David left in his struggles while making this movie, even though the movie sometimes slowed down because of it, and that's my only critique. I have great respect for the fearlessness David and Dylan had making this movie, and for the people they managed to interview.

Tickled is a crazy adventure about something I didn't know I wanted to know about. Its frightening, Interesting and sometimes a little silly. The title might seem funny, but believe me this movie is no joke.