Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Chris Zylka, Roxane Mesquida, Juno Temple, Andy Fischer-Price, Nicole LaLiberte, Jason Olive, James Duval, Brennan Mejia, Kelly Lynch
Written by Greg Araki
Certification UK 15 | Australia MA
Runtime 86 minutes
Directed by Greg Araki
Greg Araki's latest is bonkers to be sure, but a bust too – an overstuffed exercise in ineffable naffness. Though his cast are easy on the eye. They're all young, good looking performers playing oversexed college students, dealing with their sexuality and coming to terms with who they are. But wait, there's more to it than that. There's also a global conspiracy afoot involving a secret organisation that wants to end the world. Yep, Mr Araki has far reaching ideas.
In the press notes he said he was inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks – the dark and weird underbelly of small town life and how the innocent protagonists react to it. But watching this witless effort didn't remind me of Mr Lynch. It put me more in mind of Russ Meyer – not in depicting big bosomed ladies, though there's plenty of nudity on display, but in the inane, one note approach to its subject. Araki's movie comes across as facile and immature, a naughty boy smirking from the side of his mouth. After the halfway mark one has grown tired and impatient with him.
This campy tale centres around bisexual university freshman Smith (Dekker), who fancies his surfer roomate Thor (Zylka), but nevertheless succumbs to sex with free spirited orgasm-loving waif London (Temple). He is constantly plagued by dark dreams involving people wearing animal masks and a dumpster. Meanwhile his best pal Stella (Bennett) is indulging in lesbian trysts with brunette beauty Lorelei (Mesquida), a sultry witch. As it drifts on however it morphs into a hokey, apocalyptic disaster tale with the world blowing up in its sights, as Smith finds out that he is the Chosen One, and his late father is actually alive and the leader of a vast underground cult intent on annihilating the human race.
It tries to be humorous – indeed, I did laugh once – but it's mainly hamfisted, failing to keep boredom at bay. The makers know they're peddling garbage but they haven't the nous to be persuasive about it. Not worth your time – it's cheesy, stupid and irritating.