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Shock-O-Rama
Directed By Brett Piper
Released: 2006
Starring: Misty Mundae, Julian Wells, Erika Smith, Caitlin Ross, and A.J.
Khan
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Released By E.I. Independent
Rebecca Raven (played by Misty Mundae) is tired of playing in exploitive
horror movies where she has to constantly take off her clothes for the
camera but before she can complain, she is fired by her sleazy boss,
Frank. In order to clear her head, Rebecca heads out to a secluded house
in the woods to do some thinking. Meanwhile, Frank and his assistant
Gaylord are going through tapes of horror movies in their desperate
attempt to find their new Rebecca Raven. They watch two films, one about
an alien invasion which starts in the unlikeliest of places, a junkyard,
and the other film about an ancient brain-like creature that needs the
dreams of beautiful girls to survive. Back at the house, Rebecca
accidentally awakens a zombie living under the house and she must gather
strength from the characters she’s played in order to battle the creature.
Brett Piper (Bite Me!,
Screaming Dead)
directs this fun indie horror anthology. The cinematography really stands
out here with well composed shots and an eyeful of color in nearly every
scene. The dialogue is campy and the plots for each of the stories are
outlandish but the movie-within-a-movie bits reveal the intentions of the
crew to poke fun at cheesy horror and sci-fi flicks. Thanks to the
anthology breakdown of the stories and good pacing from the editing,
Shock-O-Rama
moves very quickly. Imaginative setpieces and special effects help to
disguise the film’s modest budget and give it even more visual appeal.
Shock-O-Rama
sports quite a few good performances with a cast that is clearly having
fun with the material. Some of the ladies in “Lonely Are The Brain” are
too stiff and their lines are forced but (if not taken too seriously) are
passable and even add to the goofiness of the story. “Mecharachnia” has
some cool effects and two funny leads, Rob Monkiewicz and Caitlin Ross (Bite
Me!), whose characters despise each other
too much for a romance to ever develop. Misty Mundae fans will also be
quite pleased as her performance as Rebecca Raven is quite well realized
and tongue-in-cheek. Rebecca expects to be taken seriously as an actress
by her producers and directors when she agrees to star in their crappy
horror movies.
While I had a hard time with some of the performances in “Lonely Are The
Brain”, the section still remains quite entertaining with its mind-bending
plotline, bizarre visuals, odd dream sequences, and general kinkiness.
“Mecharachnia” is strange and goofy enough to be quite entertaining while
the connecting story of the anthology, “Zombie This”, is the best of the
bunch and could easily have been stretched out into its own feature.
Shock-O-Rama
is an excellent chance for indie fans to catch some gore, humor, and T&A,
all wrapped up in a neat little spastic package.
DVD Stuff:
Shock-O-Rama
has an awesome presentation on this E.I. Independent disc. The 1.78:1
widescreen is excellent with vibrant colors jumping out all over the
place. The audio is clear and the dialogue is easy to hear. The extras on
the disc are plentiful with a whole mess of trailers from Shock-O-Rama and
Retro Shock-O-Rama. But that’s just the beginning… An interview with Brett
Piper and producer Michael Raso, Behind The Scenes footage, the New York
Screening Premiere, Q&A Session with Brett Piper, and an audio commentary
with Raso and Piper, are all packed on this disc.
Links:
For more information, get your butt over to
Shock-O-Rama Cinema.
Quotes:
Rebecca: “Fuck the surgery, fuck you and your little dickass studio, but
most of all: Fuck you, Frank! Fuck you!”
Rebecca (while undressing): “It’s nice to be undressed without someone
filming it.”
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