GSK23

How this slipped by me, I dunno. Oh, actually I do know: Most indie films lately are garbage so I avoid them. This one just looked... right. The poster art was just mysterious enough to draw me in.

It's a "mockumentary" of all those horribly lame, cheap and stupid TV shows and "documentaries" about cryptids and hillbillies that hunt them. However, director Ladner is REALLY good at getting believable performances outta non-actors and writing a story that never goes over the top, winks at the audience or shoves ideologies down our throats.

The humor here is often subtle character bits that you don't quite "get" in the moment, but the moment later. There are open gags (tinfoil hat, goats, etc), which are fantastic and not presented in a clownish way.

By the end, I was laughing regularly and am now forcing everyone I know to see this.

Okay, first things first: NO!! This has NOTHING to do with Ralph Bakshi. Jeez, another reviewer here (thankfully with zero upvotes) went on a rant about how this was lame for Bakshi, etc, etc. Wow. And, look! Here we are at IMDb where the cast & crew is listed clearly. It's a FRENCH-made film!

Whew.

That said... it's written by Mr. Mike! It's awkward, weird, dry as hell, funny, unfunny and sometimes actually entertaining.

I've never seen the original French version, so I can't compare, but methinks something was lost in the translation. I would guess that Mr. Mike and Anne Beatts just scrapped the original script and made up their own (kinda like J-Men Forever or What's Up Tiger Lily?). And, sure, Brian Doyle Murray, Bill Murray, John Belushi, etc are all there to help... only you have to be more stoned than they were to enjoy it.

But, really, it has it's moments!

I've known about this for AGES! I think John Waters mentioned it in his book Shock Value, which I read in High School when it came out. I've since heard him mention it in interviews many times. SO, I finally gave in and watched it last night.

Starts off a bit slow or something... but as it goes along, it drags you into it. Taylor is acting rather obnoxiously and even campy. One could say she's overacting. But, it's all done on purpose to expose her character as rather emotionally underdeveloped and immature. You see, she's been married like six times, each time outliving her spouse (and gaining his money). Now she sits alone on an island paradise full of servants, dwarf security men, nurses and a personal assistant (that is helping her write her memoirs). She's been granted full sovereignty by the French government; which means that she can enforce her own laws. Including execution.

Along comes Chris Flanders (Richard Burton), a ne'er do well failed poet that met Taylor at a party many years back. She offhandedly invited him to "drop by" sometime, so (years later) he does. He also has the reputation of moving in with women before they die. Not that he's a murderer, but he seems to be the literal "angel of death" and provides a peaceful and calm atmosphere for these wealthy women to die in. Very odd, eh?

But, wait! Noel Coward is "the witch of Capri"! He's a fey old dandy that drops in from time to time and tosses around bon mots, etc. As one would expect of Coward.

A lot of talking ensues. A lot of histrionics from Taylor ensues. Lots of Burton walking around with a samurai robe on and carrying a sword.

ALL of it shot in a beautifully "modern" artsy mansion on the island of Sardinia. It's colorful, gorgeous, weird, dense, goofy, campy, daft, brilliant and stupid all at once. If you're at all a fan of John Waters' films, you should at least see this once, as you can see a clear line of inspiration from this films that leads directly to Desperate Living and Polyester. In fact, a LOT of Divine's character comes from Taylor; which is painfully obvious in this film.

It's not at all a bad film! In fact, once I was drawn in (by the halfway point), I was solidly into it. Definitely a keeper!