Girlfriend from Hell

I recently viewed this movie. I was actually entertained throughout the movie. In the beginning it came close to it losing my interest, but if you have got nothing better to do. You'll want to stick around to see what happens, especially when the character chasing the devil comes into the plot. It's deffinetaly one of those crazy films kinda like beatle juice or even Little Monsters. The characters in this film are not well known, but their funny none the less, except for the two nerds they were more or less annoying. Overall would probably watch it again if there was absolutely nothing else on. There are very funny parts in the movie for example a part when the devil is walking down the street. It makes a baby jump out of a stroller and attack it's owner. Another would be when the devil starts to "sleep-around" and possess people. This is more of a comedy then an action or drama flick. It was enjoyed and would be watched again, but some of the characters lacked talent and some scenes were strange. For example when their driving. They are both not wearing seatbelts and the scenery around them does not look real and he barely looks like hes driving. It was clear the actors were more amateur, but still managed to put out a decent twisted comedy anyways.

Are you kidding me? 2.5 star average? Perhaps Girlfriend from Hell is receiving ratings from people who only watch full cinematic comedies, perhaps I'm an old crony who still likes his films fun, but I've thought Girlfriend From Hell was great fun since I first saw it in the 90s.

A group of young adults attending a small birthday party are planning to set the debilitatingly shy Maggie up with Carl, a young man so shy he can barely talk without wanting to vomit from nerves. Things take a supernatural turn when the spirit of the devil enters Maggie's body while running from a pursuer, turning her into the life, and death, of the party. It's up to devil chaser to restore Maggie to normal and save her friends, but having the devil inside her for a day might be just what the doctor ordered for Maggie's crippling insecurity...

The Good: Dana Ashbrook and Liane Curtis steal the show. Ashbrook is a criminally underrated actor, made famous by Twin Peaks but really not showing up as often as he should, and rarely gets a chance to be funny like he was here. To me he'll always be Chaser. Liane Curtis, well, I've seen her in pretty much nothing else, maybe Critters 2, but she does a great job here. The soundtrack is great too, with a combination of pop-punk songs and chugging synths so representative of the tail-end of the 80s.

The Bad: The rest of the cast are pretty ho-hum. Other characters aren't fleshed out like Chaser and the devil are, and the majority of the film seems to take place within the same house party. The cartoonishly violent relationship between two supporting characters is hilarious, but the same joke is then transferred to Dana Ashbrook's character and another supporting character, the movie then overuses the same 'man does something perverted, woman responds with cartoon violence' joke lifted straight out of a Japanese anime.

The Straight-To-Video: The camera work, not that I noticed this in my teens, is typical of a straight-to-video film, essentially just pointing at what you need to see, without any particular effort to frame it well or achieve the right dramatic effect. At times it can give the feel of a home video. The special effects, while cheesy, are impressive for something with such a low budget, with appropriately some gory corpses and even a brief "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" moment using a giant cheese-puff. For a movie about a being chasing the devil herself (HERself) across time and space, it all seems quite small scale, really, with only a few locations in the film. The house, a restaurant, the street, and a short trip to a canyon is about as far as it goes.

Unfortunately, while this used to be a bargain for a cheap VHS, there is no DVD, so I can only recommend it to retro VHS aficionados, Dana Ashbrook fans, or those nostalgic for the original release. If you aren't still rocking the VHS, head to twisted danger dot net where they produce a DVD disk of the film.

Okay Oscar winning material this is not. But if you like movies that are so bad they're good...this is it. God's hit-man, a geeky looking guy who drinks and likes to womanize, chases the devil throughout eternity. In this movie the devil leaps into a wall flower of a girl named Maggie. The ensuing hilarity which ensues involves rocket launcher toting nuns, women constantly punching their boyfriends, a high speed car ride, and the stealing of men's souls through their...umm...just see the movie. Don't expect witty dialogue...this movie is definitely only for those who like bad movies. I enjoyed it but I've got weird tastes.

Evil girlfriends... Nuns with rocket launchers... A guy girls keep trying to kill even though he's undead. Even the food attacking people was an uplifting sight. A true cult classic in the poorist form. I found this movie irrelevant and enlightening.

Nobody is going to mistake "Girlfriend From Hell" for "War of the Roses", but it is at least for the first half, an entertaining "black comedy". The idea of the devil taking over a shy, prudish girls body, and sending her into a frenzy of lust is pretty good. Unfortunately, once "The Chaser" appears to hunt down the devil, things rapidly deteriorate into "Three Stooges" slapstick. Character development is acceptable, and there is some sharp dialog. The opening and closing theme song is memorable, as is the long lasting image of a Nun firing a rocket launcher. In the end, the strong first half is enough to almost overcome the weak conclusion. - MERK