Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead

I decided to give this a go one slightly hung-over Saturday morning. I expected to be out by the first commercial break (and as this was on Chiller TV, that was due to be really, really early) but I found myself pleasantly surprised and quickly engaged by a charming, capable cast and first-rate direction.

The entire cast handled well the delicate balance of playing out an absurd premise with relatively straight faces, but you could tell they were having a good time. Ralph Macchio and Jeremy Sisto were a lot of fun in their smaller roles, but the leads were truly standouts. Jake Hoffman and Kris Lemche both have great timing and an easy charm while Devon Aoki, well, let's just say that when her boyfriend tells her that she's beautiful, he ain't lyin'.

As Horace the Vampire, John Ventimiglia stole every scene he was in, and I'm embarrassed to say that this 'Sopranos' fan had no idea that it was Artie Bucco who was chewing up the scenery.

Some of this brought to mind 'Repo Man' (and from me that's no small compliment)and while not a classic of that magnitude this was a lot of fun to watch. When I see it on the supermarket rack I'm gonna buy it because I look forward to seeing it again, sans commercials. I also see that writer/director Galland worked again a few years later with Ventimiglia, Lemche and quite a few others from this cast in 'Alter Egos'. I'm looking forward to seeing that as well.

The plot: A vampire infiltrates the off-Broadway community, intending to feed on the cast and crew, after putting on his avant-garde re-interpretation of Hamlet.

When I saw the title, I figured this was going to be an unwatchable mess. Still, since I'm such a huge fan of Stoppard's play, I figured that I'd give it a chance. Hell, I've watched more Troma movies than anyone I know, so it's not like I have any right to say that I have standards.

I steeled myself for lame theater puns and ironic references to the Stoppard play, but I was actually quite surprised. Yes, there are lame theater puns and a couple references to the Stoppard play, but this is more properly a parody of Hamlet and Dracula. Depending on your tolerance for unsophisticated humor, you may even find it funny. It's not really all that witty or intelligent, but it's stupid and wacky enough to be mildly amusing, much like Troma movies.

6/10 might be a bit generous, but, for those us out there who are very easily amused, I think you could do worse.

This is, definitely, one of the funniest films I have ever seen in my life! I don't think I've even taken more than a 5 min. break from laughing! The only things I don't like about this film are that I didn't get to see more of Hamlet (Joey Kern), I would like to hear and see more of the bizarre adaption of the play, "Hamlet"; there weren't any lyrical songs in the film and I prefer the piano version of the score, played by Sean Lennon. Both Jordan Galland and Sean Lennon did a great job with the other 2 songs they composed together, though. Other than that, this film is great for those who love comedies and people in need of a great, whole-hearted and hardy laugh.

I saw this funny flick when director/singer Jordan Galland came to my province of Ontario, to partake in "Canada Music Week" as a movie premier and also as a panel speaker (because of his contributions to movie/sitcom soundtracks) I had seen the preview of this movie back in summer and had been happy it came to a city a few hours drive away.

I can say that this was unlike any movie I have seen! Lately I have found that a lot of movies lose my interest 30 minutes into the film, because they are so formulaic, but this movie kept my attention because I could not predict what would happen next, the special effects were pretty fresh and funny! and had a Monty Python (its a British comedy and not a snake like I first thought!) flavor to it. It was also reminiscent of "Young Frankenstein" The plot line had many twists to it as well, and ending was definitely not your typical "happy ending" formula, but sinister and funny! I enjoyed the chemistry between the actors, especially Devon Aoki and Jake Hoffman. I had been somewhat curious to see her since I saw the movie "Sin City", and "Frindly Fire", and was pretty impressed by her ability to do comedy! her timing was perfect.

I hope this turns into a sitcom spin-off, to fill the void left by "Angel" , " Buffy", and "Charmed"

I give this movie a 10 out of 10

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE UNFUNNY. Despite a clever concept and one or two witty moments, the film (which deals with vampires, not zombies) isn't all that amusing. The good news is that the film is well produced with good production values all around. Bit parts are filled out by the likes of Ralph Maccio, Jeremy Sisto and Chip Zien (the Baker from Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS). But in place of comic bite, R&G delivers a muddled plot that wouldn't be feasible to the least lively corpse. I found it amusing that the lead character Julian Marsh shares his name with the lead character in 42nd STREET, the ultimate show-biz flick. But is this cleverness, or mere coincidence? I'm not sure - and therein lies 'the rub'.