Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Written by: Willem Wennekers
Release Date: November 16th 2007
Plot Outline:
Royce (Wes Bentley) and Dexter (Scott Speedman) are two slackers who live in the strange little town of Weedsville. When Royce’s girlfriend Matilda (Taryn Manning) overdose’s on their stash and dies, they decide to bury her in an abandoned Drive-In theater. Things get out of control when they discover Satanists performing a ritual sacrifice right where they were going to bury the body.
Overall Impressions:
The opening film for the 14th RDFF last year (which I naughtily didn’t document at all) was quite depressing. It was a film that sent you to the after-party drinking your sorrows away like Devdas gone mad, rather than feeling good & mingling with the fellow film-enthusiasts and film-makers.
Admittedly, I had some reservations that this may end up being a similarly depressing flick or worse, maybe like Trainspotting that shows dead babies & throws you in a horrific limelight to portray the message that it’s giving: “Drugs are Bad Mmmmmkay.”
Thankfully the opening film for the 15th RDFF couldn’t have been any better than this. It was an upbeat feel-good film with ample dosage of laugh-out-loud moments. Though it showed drug-usage and its possible repercussions, it did in a total tongue-in-cheek fashion. The plot does get rather silly and the whole tone reflects with the sense of humour attached.
The star of the show I’d have to say is Scott Speedman, who you probably recognise from the Underworld films. He seems very comfortable in his role here. He definitely has strong screen presence, it surprises me that he isn’t getting the commercial success that I would attach to that attribute.
The Director did introduce the film and tis a shame we didn’t get a chance to quiz him after the show as the film started quite late, but this lateness actually worked out to my advantage. More on that on my next post.
Though in essense its just another ‘drugs are bad’ film it’s the emphasis on comedy and the way that it’s delivered throws it into the above average film category. Certainly worth a watch.
Reviewed by Ramchandra