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Dirs. Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska
Very rarely does anyone become
instantly good at their work the first attempt. Just because I'm writing about
genre films here doesn't mean I've instantly become Kim Newman. Likewise, Dead
Hooker In A Trunk should be seen as the first steps for the directors Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska, that shows how they managed to get a film created
amongst themselves and with a small group in the film, and pushed them along to
be potentially great in the future. As an actual film, its only worth viewing
as a beginning attempt.
It's very unfocused. Four
characters, the Geek (Jen Soska), the
Junkie (Rikki Gagne), the Badass
[sic] (Sylvia Soska), and the Goody
Two Shoes (C.J. Wallis), a Christian
volunteer and the sole male pulled into this situation, find themselves on a
bloody odyssey when they find a literal hooker in the trunk of their car. There
are plenty of surreal journeys taking place in films. Likewise, there are a lot
of films made by young directors that are about the frivolous gore and
tangents, Street Trash (1987) coming
to mind. Unfortunately this film comes across like so many movies in which, no
matter how it tries to be inventive, the content of the film and its practical
gore effects are padded around a work that has no idea where it is going. It
comes off as not really trying its hardest, almost abandoning the titular point
of the thin story halfway through with a short, abrupt introduction of Chinese
gangsters that go away immediately afterwards. Later plotting is just trying to
plug holes up in a tone that has no real drive to it and is sinking quickly
from the beginning. It attempts to bring the unexpected to the content, but
comes off as messy without any effect. Only a few films can make this tone
work, by utter accident or on purpose like with Frank Henelotter films, but that's because the tangents do have an
immense effect on you or the entire narrative pulls on to keep you on your
toes. This tries its best at its tasteless tone - never has limb loss been
treated so matter-of-fact like it was a paper cut - but like the minor, tedious
genre films which try a gonzo edge it feels like bad improvisation.
Visually, its unfortunately
another low budget film shot on digital cameras which has to sacrifice its
cinematic quality for cost. The shaking cameras through, always shaking even in
dialogue sequences when they shouldn't, aren't as bad though as the mistakes in
the editing, which botches a few key, sudden moments into practical effects to
the point you briefly have no idea what is going for a second or two.
Thankfully American Mary (2012) was
the directors' film directly after this. It's far from perfect, and it's kind
of startling how both films, from female directors, have a lot of violence
against women especially in Dead Hooker
In A Trunk, but it was a massive jump in quality. No abrasive use of loud
rock or metal songs, potentially good if listened to separately but too high in
the mix and not properly synchronised to the images and movements, a drastic
shift up in the look of the film, and more importantly, really interesting
ideas within the plot. In fact that film gives me hope the Soska Sisters will start to make some exceptionally good movies now
they're jumped this high in quality already. I'm not going to give Dead Hooker In A Trunk a pass though,
just because it's their debut, when its clearly lacking and more of a failed
sketch of an idea they would improve on later on.
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