All Things Horror

Last week, I recieved a phone call from an old friend.

"I just saw a movie listing for something amazing. I don't know anything about it, or what it is. But I need you to come with me. It's called Dead Hooker in a Trunk. And it's only five dollars."

On Wednesday, I found myself in the basement of the Somerville Theater handing over a five dollar bill for a film screening I knew nothing about.

"Hi. I'm here for Dead Hooker in a Trunk...?" my friend asked.

Wait, What?

Just over a year ago, Mike Snoonian and Chris Hallock began to collaborate on a blog to review, discuss and celebrate the Horror and related genres. After a debut year of sucess and an ever growing readership, All Things Horror began to showcase up and coming feature and short horror films on the first wednesday of every month. We're not talking Saw XII or Brother-in-Law of Chuckie. We're talking old fashioned, freak you out and have a blast horror.

As Mike proudly writes: "He promises you that his vampires do not sparkle..."

ALL THINGS HORROR: All Things Horror Presents-our monthly film series...: "All Things Horror Presents is a monthly film series showcasing new voices in horror. The event takes place at Somerville Theater s..."

I walked into the theater without any idea of what to expect. The house was full, as I was met with a warm, fun atmosphere of people who weren't here to see to sit quietly and politely zone out to background violence. No, this was a group of people who knew how to have a good time. People who would laugh, scream, and respond to loud groans with "It gets worse..."

I would like to take the time to focus on two films:

Rubber Whore Hell and of course, Dead Hooker in a Trunk.

Rubber Whore Hell

I'm just going to say it right here: This thing is weird. I would compare it to Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel's Un Chien Andalou meets Silence of the Lambs. Except with with humor and spaghetti.

However, beyond being a bizarre film, I found a sincere undercurrent of FUN and FREEDOM in this film. Which is why you're reading about this on a theatre blog.

As disturbing as this movie is, I never felt violated. You know what I'm talking about. Those really gratuitous, imaginationless attempts at visual exploitation that simply rape one's mind. Not with this movie. For every horrific image...there is something inherently funny and surreal about what's going on. The imagery is surprisingly beautiful, despite the extremely graphic nature of the film. And quite frankly, I have to say this film features an absolutely brilliant soundtrack choice... When it happens you'll know.

Here's a link to the movie. I remind you... it's really graphic. It's also dubbed, so don't be alarmed.

Dead Hooker in a Trunk

Four 20-something archetypes embark on a routine car ride the morning after an all out bender. They wake up to discover, more to their confusion than horror, an expired prostitute in the trunk of the car. The thing is... no one is exactly sure where the woman came from or how she got there? They resolve to dispose of the body and hope no one asks questions, until they accidently walk every so closer to the disturbing truth... at which point, hilarity ensues.

The film is the brainchild of two identical twin sisters (Jen and Sylvia Soska of Twisted Twins Productions) who wrote, produced, directed, stared in the film and killed an ACTUAL dead hooker for authenticity.* Strasberg would be proud.

As low-brow as the premise may seem, the acting is actually solid. If you're as big of a fan of gorefest slasher films as I am, you'll know how rare this is. You typically don't see horror films for the stunning naturalism. Though these actors won't be hearing the academy anytime soon, they give truly solid, fun and strangely believable performances. When was the last time you watched an actor running around holding their own severed arm and thought to yourself "Wow... she's really good at that!"

Second, there's some truly memorable characters here. Besides the sisters themselves, the character of "Goody Two-Shoes" is memorable for his performance as a devout christian simultaneously horrified as he is intrigued by the actions of his compatriots. There's nothing quite like watching this character call in sick to his choir group while his friends carry a dead prostitute through a hotel parking lot in the background, dropping her in the process.

Finally, the movie doesn't try to be something it's not. I wouldn't call it a horror film in the way we usually think. I have been describing this movie as a Slasher-Hijinks-Comedy. The only movie I can think of similar in structure would be... Well, The Big Lebowski, in that the mysteries and thickening plot don't exist to increase the suspense, but rather to remove you from the pedestrian world of realis and bring to a funnier version of the world, where really weird things just...happen...

Seriously, I don't mean this to be ironic. But Dead Hooker in a Trunk is a fantastic film. The ending is a little abrupt and forced, but by the time the storyline has wrapped itself up, you've had too much fun to let the 10 minute deus ex machina (Devil Ex Machina?) resolution ruin anything.

Laughs, shockers and dead prostitutes. Honestly, it's about damned time!

All Things Horror

I'm definitely going to keep an eye on this blog from now on. Moreover, I plan on making more of these film nights. They plan to do this the first wednesday of every month. Believe me, I'll be there whenever I can and will mostly likely mention it on this blog when I go.

ALL THINGS HORROR: About Us: "All Things Horror is run by two friends who share a love of the taste of karo syrup, the smell of latex, and the sight of stupid teenagers m..."

Best,

K

*Might have to check my sources on that one...