Hilarious! Outrageous! Shocking! And lots of naked women!
Ray Huffman | Nebraska, USA | 04/08/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"ACTRESS APOCALYPSE begins with a dedication "to all
those who've tried to make an epic film in their
backyard." It's an exploitation mockumentary about the
production nightmares of David B. Lincoln (Garo
Nigoghossian) and his brother Vance (Greg Freeman) as
they shoot their ever-morphing "mullet-headed killer
Indian/flesh-eating gay zombie" flick. Things quickly
go awry when an uppity "professional actress" (Dahlia
Legault) makes quite a scene of her own, bawling out
and humiliating the brothers after enduring an
agonizing day of shooting. She storms off the set leaving the already unstable Vance hungry for revenge. He takes over production, auditioning actresses in ways that Russ Meyer never dared to dream of, and the homemade epic turns into a snuff flick when Vance gets his mitts around each new aspiring, nekkid young starlet.. The first extended strangulation scene had this reviewer squirming in his seat! Really demented, disturbing stuff even though the preceding 40 minutes were hilarious! I feel like I've given away too much of the plot, but I haven't even mentioned the antics of the "Golden Terror" yet!
Who knows what inspired ACTRESS APOCALYPSE's "real" director Richard R. Anasky's (who plays the mild-mannered cameraman Fernando in the film) psycho/psychedelic imagery, but it's quite a feast for the eyes and ears. Metal band Space Probe Taurus provides the appropriate music to accompany the visuals. (and the soundtrack CD is included in the unrated double-disc set!) Anasky seems to have a pretty firm grip on who his target audience will be; people tired of the same old thing, looking for a movie with an edge that sends political correctness and Hollywood conventions to the landfill where they belong. So a word of warning to those of you on the fence: this is not a movie to take home to Mother! It's about as bold, misogynistic (to you wimpy PC-types), garish (in a fun way!) and outrageous a movie you'll likely find at Amazon.com!
The DVD has plenty of bonus features but curiously, no commentary. The feature itself has a fun gimmick that I discovered upon second viewing however: there are numerous subliminal easter egg freeze frames scattered throughout the film that speak to the viewer. Little messages that I'll let you find for yourselves. Besides, I doubt Amazon would let me reproduce my favorites without censoring the content. Speaking of censors, there's a certain scene in the film that is digitally pixelled over, but you'll get a good look at what the fuss was about in the outtakes supplement.
Overall, a very impressive debut film! Highly recommended for those of us who're ready for movies that take the gloves off and give their best shot!!!"