Backlash

Just so you know what I'm all about: I love drive-in shlock exploitation "B" films and find most mainstream Hollywood productions to be quite lame and boring...

Not your usual Hollywood garbage,but boring none the less.....Sloooooooow paced crime drama pawned off as a horror film.It has a lame "made for TV" production feel to it.Not what you would expect from the fine folks at Troma at all.The first reel had me thinking it was going to be interesting,then it takes a sharp turn for the worst into a crime drama .Let's put it this way: I'm typing this review as I watch the film,just to have something to do!When is something going to HAPPEN already?Fighting off sleep now....stay awake you can do it...Finally (1:15:00 into the movie) the maniac shows up!Can she save this waste of film?Nope....forget it.Shame on you Troma!....and you thought "Manos" was bad ,at least it was watchable.I can't even say that for this film.....do something more entertaining like stare at a wall.I think I hurt my brain watching this junk.

This total waste of time came in the otherwise watchable 3 DVD set "Toxie's Triple Terror #1" Watch the other 2 DVDs and use this one for a Frizbee or coaster.

1/10 on the Drive-in freak-o-meter The DVD makes a handy coaster.

This film wasn't so bad really, it's about TV movie level, not as exciting as you'd hope for from a Troma pick up at it's best (and nothing like the synopsis on the box) but nowhere near Troma's worst, either. Relax! The highlight was the scene where James Avery shows up, best known as Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince and the voice of Shredder in the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. It's nifty when a sort-of star like that shows up in a Troma film.

The film, by the way, is clearly a lot older than 1987. James Avery is considerably thinner than he was in either Fletch (1985) or Fresh Prince (which began in 1990), plus everyone's wearing flares, the woman has Farrah Fawcett hair...I imagine it was shot the best part of 10 years earlier.

Troma films -- ALL Troma films -- have a pitch. They have something to them to make you want to see them. Either they star someone who went on to be a major actor who first appeared in B-Movie crap (Billy Bob Thornton in Chopper Chicks) or they have a cult following (Bloodsucking Freaks) or they have something infamous about them (the ending of Beware: Children at Play). Or they just have cool titles (Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator, Rabid Grannies, etc...). This film has none of those elements. In fact, it's pretty much useless garbage that seemingly has no reason to exist.

I guess this film was made to cash-in on some kind of rape/revenge craze like Last House on the Left, I Spit On Your Grave, etc., and things actually start out pretty interestingly. 10 minutes in, we have racist rednecks. 20 minutes in, we have racist redneck raping. 30 minutes in, we have boredom. And that continues on and on and on and on until... DEADLY DAPHNE APPEARS! Now, lemme talk about Deadly Daphne for just a moment: She is mentioned (almost as an afterthought) in the background near the beginning of the movie. She is then mentioned later. Then, she appears in the last few minutes and the film ends. Indeed, she gets her revenge... on the viewer. I'm not sure what I did wrong to watch this film, but I can safely say it's the worst Troma film ever. They tried to do some interesting things with the mob and such, but it never materializes and the film just never comes up with anything compelling. Is it a drama? No, it's not dramatic! It's not a comedy, because it's only funny if you laugh at how awful it is. And it isn't action, despite a gun or two being drawn. Hey, it isn't even worth watching for the rape scenes or the revenge scenes. In fact, it isn't even worth watching. Period.

One of the worst films ever. And I LOVED Nightmare Weekend!

Deadly Daphne's Revenge (1987)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Four buddies are on a camping trip when they decide to pick up a 17-year-old hitchhiker (Candy Castillo). It does take long for the leader of the pack to get drunk and start making advances towards the young girl. She eventually willingly sleeps with one of the men but later that night she is raped by two others. She eventually goes to the police and the local DA brings up charges on all four men but that's not the end of the story.

DEADLY DAPHNE'S REVENGE is a film that was released from Troma and they changed its title to try and make it seem more like an exploitation movie. In fact, this picture has been sold as some sort of rape/revenge thriller with horror elements but it's certainly not that. In fact, I'm really not sure what the filmmakers were intending when they made this film because it doesn't fit into any genre really. If I had to force it into something I'd call it a low-budget drama.

The film's story is incredibly active because it's constantly doing something but that doesn't mean it's entertaining. The story starts off like a typical drama but it then gets into the rape and then the law gets involved. You'd think the film would follow some sort of plot that we've seen countless times before but it doesn't. No, I give the filmmakers credit for doing things a bit differently but the screenplay takes the story all over the place and there are just too many boring moments or things that just lead to non-stop dialogue scenes that get rather tiresome.

Richard Gardner directed, co-wrote and plays a major role in the film so obviously this here was his baby. As I've said, I give him credit for trying to do something different but there's just nothing here that makes the film stand out and in all honesty it's easy to see why Troma would have to make stuff up to get the picture sold. There's some nudity and some mild violence but very little else. The performances are the best thing about the picture but this here isn't going to keep you glued to what's going on.

I guess this might qualify as a grindhouse flick.

Seventeen-year-old obnoxious girl who looks forty gets picked up at a truck stop and is taken by a number of hicks in a cottage.

One of the guys is actually named "BoBo!"

The acting isnt horrible, but the story is bizarre. The first scene is another woman who got out of an insane asylum. Then it cuts to the girl who gets picked up. She's a bad actress and annoying.

Then there are loooong segments with lawyers and such and then the movie is putting you to sleep until the final quarter when it takes a turn, making it all the more bizarre.

Not really sure why on Earth this movie got any backing. It couldn't have made money. And it definitely could not be made today.