Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Slacker finds himself at the mercy of a serial killer he's deeply attached to.
Biased, pithy comments: This is sort of a ``Buffy'' or other WB-teen-show inspired take on the classic tale of a man against a hand a la ``Evil Dead.'' This is a niche movie, to be sure, as it appeals largely to teens and Fangoria-readers hitting the movies on a Friday night looking for laughs and gore and not much more. Although the director talks all big about John Waters as his inspiration, it's clearly Raimi that he watched closely. I had fun---the movie happily switches gears between comedy and horror without missing a beat, and takes in earnest what ``Scream'' made fun of. There are classic horror conventions lovingly polished and put up against some serious irreverance. It probably collapses a bit near the end (see note below for spoilers), but with a great cast (Green and Henson are fantastic, Sawa really seems like he's possessed, and Fox sells some really crazy exposition) and some fine tunes (The Offspring and Motley Crue in particular). Fun, energetic, gory, amusing, cult. I loved it, but you might not.
Other Notes: SPOILER WARNING---Original ending on the film, which the director happily cut when test audiences didn't love it, made more sense to me---it's a little darker, a little more serious, and had fewer marijuana jokes. I'm for drug legalization and all that, but it saddens me to realize that means I'm going to have to suffer through more stoner scenes in movies as time goes on. Just because it's MJ doesn't mean it's funny, guys.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, Christopher Hart, Vivica A. Fox, Jack Noseworthy.
Directed by: Rodman Flender