She Kills

I picked up She Kills at Family Video. I was happy to find it and gave it a spin. I liked the film for the most part. One of the selling points was the tribute to the old style grindhouse movies. It was also my biggest problem with the film. Director Ron Bonk tried so hard to be a certain type of film he forgot to make this one more his own. It is like a greatest hits of scenes from other films I have seen. But they did it first and they were original. There have been many films it seems trying to do this type of tribute film. It's all one scene after another copied from better movies with a bunch of animated digital scratches thrown on it. Ron's film is better than most. I think he knows about these types of films and maybe even experienced them. But I also feel that this style he chose overall kind of hurts the film. She Kills has enough crazy and original ideas that it did not need the gimmicks. I really loved the Sadie character and I think Jennie Russo did a very good job. Overall the acting is in pace with the story and the overall feel of the film. It is over the top. Some of it is fun and pretty well done while some is a bit annoying.

Taking inspiration from films like "Thriller: They Call Her One Eye" and many exploitation films of the 70s, She Kills moves at a good pace and has good technical quality. The sound design is fun in places and the acting, while not great, is fun and ads to the insanity. It's a wild ride to be sure, and one that I intend to take again when I rewatch the film. There is so much going on, I am sure I missed some of the gags. Action moves pretty quickly and the lighting is really good as well. I have to hand it to Ron and his team for going places many films only hint at, without making me regret watching. It's still all in fun. So many films today seem to just push atrocities in my face and tell me it is entertainment. It's not. It is disgusting and I turn it off. Ron keeps things fun and light, no matter how nasty it gets.

Ron Bonk also did one of my two favorite Hi-8 segments so I am looking forward to what he does next. After the disappointing Empire State of the Dead, I feel he is back on track with this film. It is a good movie to watch with friends who are open minded and get a laugh out of movies like this. In the end, I was entertained and that is what we watch movies for. I gave it 5, and would have gone a bit higher if so much of this didn't feel stolen from other films. But I give it an A for effort! Makes a nice triple bill with Night of Something Strange and Dreaming Purple Neon. All films that express love for an age of cinema sadly long gone. And all of them, like this movie, are really crazy movies where anything can happen, and probably will.

I'm gonna be absolutely honest here. I only watched 15 minutes of this. It is some of the most ridiculous acting I have come across in a really long time. When I started it and realized that it was going to be rough, I allowed it the 15 minutes to at least give it a chance. I just couldn't do it. I've seen 3 year old kids act better than this. This is supposed to be a rape revenge film but I've seen chihuahua's rape stuffed animals more viciously than this!

I have absolutely no idea how this has a 6.3 rating. I hate when I read reviews that talk about fake scores but this film is one of the first films that I've come across and can honestly say that folks have been REALLY, REALLY, REALLY generous with their ratings.

If you want to take your chances on it, by all means, do so. If you do start it, you are a real trooper if you can make it past 15 minutes in. You've been warned!!

So I did watch this first - and then the movie this is supposed to be a sequel of. I don't think you have to watch the other movie before this. Or at all - but if you really dig this, you should watch the other one too. If possible in the right order. Not because of any story developments (I know good one, right?), but because this is better than the other one. I am standing up for that (no pun intended).

But yes there is innuendo to say the least - and there is the notion of trying to make even the most horrible situation funny. I am not sure if you can see the humor in the "Benny Hill" style ... sexual abuse of someone. If you remind yourself that it's just a movie, you may be able to let things go. I am just warning you and telling you what to expect. What you make of it ... that's up to you.

That said, a lot of nudity, a lot of blood effects and a lot of really insane "otherworldy" situations ... and humor! Above all it is the humor that will make or break this for you. And how "sensible/sensitive" you are ... because this literally takes not prisoners ... and when I say this, you could put that in the pun column too ... you've been warned ... or encouraged, not sure to be honest.

This parody to 70's Grindhouse movies is good. Yes. There are scenes that made a lot of reviewers very uncomfortable, that they were unable to watch the entire film. Those scenes of sexual assault in She Kills, were made with a comedy element. Not like the scenes with the movies "Thriller :A Cruel Picture, AKA They Call Her One Eye, I Spit On Your Grave, Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom and other sexploitation movies that didn't tone down the sexual assaults. Those two movies that I mentioned, those sexual assault scenes were brutal. Here in She Kills, they took a lighter touch and even paid homage to Thriller with the eye patch as well as other exploitation and mainstream movies. The sexual in nature scenes were more of a comedy gross factor, than making the viewers think that this could be an actual assault taking place on film. The filmmakers and the actors are all in on the joke. They know it's a bad movie and they put their all of the worst into it. With double stand-ins, burned film, the dialogs doesn't switch up with the actor's mouths, the use of a dog and a cat being used as weapons for a fight, the use of not to scale models of buildings, roads and cars. There are even scenes with the crew in the shot.

It's a funny film. You have to stay with it. It doesn't go down easy, but you will laugh and groan at the same time.

Ron Bonk's story is a hilarious ride into insanity, and sexuality. "She Kills" takes all the character flaws that fans of cult cinema celebrate in the b-movie genre, mixes it with a heavy dose of campy tasteless fun, and pops out an unhealthy amount of fun, tacky, gory awesomeness. Honestly I think this may very well be the first time I have seen camp and trash cinema from a straight man's point of view. Normally John Waters' movies, and the few new indie directors in the LGBT community are the ones who bring these awesome blends of style, and humor together in such an over-the-top way-and make it work. I laughed a lot while watching this movie. Everything is so visual, spoofy, and insane. Ron Bonk "goes there" in his play on the whole "revenge kill", grindhouse genre.

The special effects in "She Kills" are cheap, practical effects that are obviously cheap, but the way that they are used it doesn't matter. They are meant to be seen as cheap, practical, gory, and gross. The special effects, music, and cinematography style that Bonk goes with in this cult cinema comedy are all meant to be exactly what you see on screen, and it is all just fun, cheeky, entertaining madness. Overall "She Kills" is a great indie flick for the spoof, grindhouse/trash cinema fans who really dig the cheap and tacky stuff. It is a film that I will have on my shelf and watch over and over. Now this is not gonna appeal to the straight laced, serious grindhouse, revenge cult cinema movie goer, because everything is just so over-the-top, and yes you can even say - "shticky". Still I feel everyone should check out "She Kills" out. It will make you laugh, gag, and above all else you will be entertained.