Rating: B-
Dir: Guile Branco
Star: Lynn Lowry, Julia Coulter, Guile Branco, Lou D’Amato
Lynn Lowry is a goddamn national treasure. After cult success in the seventies and eighties, her career resurrected itself about twenty years ago, and she has since become the grande dame of low-budget horror. Not everything she’s in is good, of course. But she’s good in everything, and the more unhinged the character, the better. This is therefore top shelf Lowry. For in the first few minutes, her character, Angela, has blended small furry animals, cut her husband’s finger off with a spatula, and made him eat the digit. Understandably sent for psychiatric evaluation, she seduces the shrink, Doctor Roger Park (D’Amato), dressing up like a dominatrix – did I mention Lynn is in her late seventies? – and playing kinky S&M games with him, before killing his ex-wife and her lawyer.
Meanwhile, Angela’s daughter, Karen (Coulter), is trying to deal with her mother’s behaviour, build a relationship with new boyfriend Mark (Branco), and fend off harassment from her boss, Cudjoe. Who is also Dr. Park’s drug dealer. It all builds to the Most Uncomfortable Family Dinner Ever, on Halloween night. There will be blood. Oh, yes. If you look at the scores for this film on Letterboxd, it’s not your usual bell-curve. It’s nearer to a flat line, running the whole gamut from ½ to 5 stars, almost equally. And I wouldn’t argue with either end as an opinion. This is definitely not for everyone. It’s gleefully gross, defiantly in poor taste, and idiosyncratic as hell. It ends in a quote from Nietzsche, because why not?
Not everything works, with some of the humour a swing and a miss. While Mark’s presence is explained, it’s a thread which takes too long to develop, and we’d largely put the pieces together before the film’s big reveal. And some of the supporting characters, not least Dr. Park, are frankly boring to be around. But others were delightful, like Karen’s friend Goth Girl. When she is complimented by Karen’s brother on her Halloween costume, she stares blankly at him and says, “What costume?” Or Cudjoe, who goes through the film getting more and more peeved – until he crosses paths with Angela. I don’t think I have ever seen arterial spray from the crotch area before.
When the film is going for it, full-bore like that, it’s a real hoot. In part because it tends to mean Angela is not far away, and this is when the film comes gloriously alive. Lowry elevates every scene she’s in, along with the other actors in it, who have to raise their game to avoid getting blown off the screen. The actress has often appeared in supporting parts, and it’s nice to see her talents given full rein, in what might be her best role. I don’t know if it was specifically written for her, but if not, she makes it hers; Branco clearly knows what he has in his lead. Watch this for her alone, and any ancillary pleasures this offers will be a bonus. I repeat: Lynn Lowry = goddamn national treasure.