All About Evil

Mousy librarian Deborah Tennis (Natasha Lyonne) inherits her father's beloved old theatre (the Victoria) which shows only horror films. Somebody pushes her too far one night...and she kills them in a VERY gory manner. The audience sees it...and think it's just a movie! Deborah realizes she enjoys what she's doing and decides to kill off other people and film it...and pass it off as fiction.

Wildly overacted with dime store gore but this sucker works! It pulled me in very quickly (cause I'm a horror fan) and I was loving it halfway through. It's chockful of black BLACK humor and throw everything they can think of up on the screen. It's a throwback to those incredibly gory horror films of the 1980s that actually got booking in respectful cinemas. Tons of blood and gore are in here but it's impossible to take it seriously. Also add a cast that includes Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) and u have a genuine cult movie! Also Lyonne chews the scenery again and again and AGAIN...but she's a LOT of fun. A must-see for horror fans. It was unrated at the film festival I caught it at...but this is NC-17 material all the way. Let's hope it's not cut down to an R. Also the writer, producer and director all GAY were there! It was playing in a gay resort town (Provincetown) and when the gratuitous female nudity came on the mostly gay audience roared and accepted it as a joke and not some sleazy turn on:)

When Walter Tennis passes away, he leaves a single screen theatre named the Victoria to both his daughter Deborah (Natasha Lyonne) and estranged evil mother Tammy (Julie Caitlin Brown). Deborah and the elderly projectionist Mr. Twigs (Jack Donner) want to carry on their father's tradition of showing horror films, while mother Tammy wants to sell the property for a quick profit.

When both family members collide in conversation to discuss the future of the Victoria in the theatre lobby, Tammy loses control and kills her mother with the very pen the mother offered to sign over ownership.

What Tammy doesn't know is that the security cameras caught the murder on tape and thanks to her inexperience in operating the projection equipment, she inadvertently projects the homicide on the screen much to the delight of the paying audience that believes they are viewing a horror short film.

Most admiring of her work is horror film fan Steven (Thomas Dekker), a regular at the Victoria and dotting fan of elder Deborah. Steven will continue to visit the Victoria as Deborah builds on her fame established with grisly shorts. And as fans begin to line up and sell out the theatre, Deborah begins her murdering rampage while creating such great film titles as A Tale of Two Severed Titties, Gore and Peace and Slasher in the Rye.

All About Evil is the directorial debut of Joshua Grannell who works the camera and moves his actors and story along like a seasoned veteran. From the opening credits (which we just loved!) through the bloody meta ending.

Contributing in supporting roles are Cassandra Peterson (don't make me tell you) as Steven's mom and Noah Segan who seems to be in just about every other obscure film I have watched in the past month. Noah's character Adrian will work as part of Deborah's filming rampage crew alongside homicidal and pale twins Veda and Vera (Jade and Nikita Ramsey).

With films like The Maiming of the Shrew and The Scarlet Leper titillating packed houses, we as a viewing audience get treated to the making of films inside the film with all the fun and camp exploited without excuses.

The film may go down occasional paths of expectedness – in particular when it comes to the investigating detective who is looking for missing schoolgirl Claire last seen at the Victoria, but there is little stereotypical in All About Evil.

It is at times horror, at times spoof, at times meta and it is very much a throwback to some of the campy horror films that paved the way to today's standards. As the body count increased, I could only imagine a packed house of theatre patrons engulfed in the horror premise – cheering and laughing with each new development.

All About Evil is headed to Canada in August 2010 as part of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. I will be attending the Festival and I look forward to revisiting the experience with a couple of hundred strangers. For not only is All About Evil a fun and ultimately rewarding film, but it is also a definite must to enjoy in the company of others.

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I picked this up for two reasons, to see the fallen coming star Noah Segan in it, face it, he was to become big in the genre but somehow it all went wrong for him. Secondly for Cassandra Petersen we all know as Elvira. But if you don't know how she looks like in the real flesh then you wont recognise her.

What a great opening credits this has. I'm sure that a lot of horror buffs will get a boner by only seeing the credits alone. But once they are over this flick falls a bit down in silliness. It never really becomes scary at all and all types shown are a bit exaggerated.

The story itself is okay and the place it was shot if that is still in business that looks amazing too. But not all the acting was convincing. Cassandra did fine as did Natasha Lyonne as Deborah. But Noah failed a bit here laughing a bit with his own character.

On part of the horror itself of course all elements are included like for example the old man running after a goth victim and tearing of her blouse so she can reveal tattoos and titties. She's running around showing them in full glory for a while. The red stuff flies around sometimes and the killings itself are indeed full of the red stuff but there's no gore attached.

I should not recommend it as a family horror flick because some scene's are maybe to explicit but it's fun to watch, nothing more nothing less.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0,5/5

Hehehehe, oh gee what a fun time All About Evil is, for starters this movie has a dream cast for a film destined for a cult following, Natasha Lyonne is probably the coolest and looniest indie actress, Mink Stole is cult royalty and Cassandra Peterson, need I say more? That woman is beyond fab!!!! So yes anyway, this movie will appeal to all types, horror buffs, campy queens and indie fans. The story is as follows Deborah Tennis is an awkward and reserved librarian who also works at her fathers movie theatre, she one evening transforms into Deb-Or-A!!!! An alter ego with a murderous streak and a psychotic and diva like personality, Debora decides to make short films of real murders to play at her theatre which eventually turn the once floundering theatre into the hippest place in town, thus many horrific hilarious mishaps ensue.

This really is a dream come true for a film buff, there's so many things that are great great great about it, mainly though the best part if the film is the cast, each person puts in a terrific performance, in particular Natasha who is truly bonkers as the villianess DEBORAH! Thomas Dekker is also a great leading man, he is slightly annoying in other things but he suits this kind of film a lot.

The only thing I would want more of is The Gruesome Twosome, they are swell in many ways, but their characters are a little underused. So if you are in the slightest interested in All About Evil I would highly recommend getting the DVD, it's worth it!!!!! Lots of fun to be had! It's excellent in every way. :) long live filmmakers like Peaches Christ! Enjoy.

A midnight movie for the new millennium! Peaches Christ and co. present an amazingly fun horror film. I attended the New York City premiere (or 4-D show as they described it) and it was like "Rocky Horror" back in the day. Natasha Lyonne is fantastically demented as Deborah Tennis, and the rest of the cast is also exceptional. The twins are as creepy as they look on the poster. Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson as the "straight men" of the movie are just plain great. It definitely has a John Waters feel to it, plus. The camp of it all only adds charm. If you can, see it on its current tour. The live show beforehand is fun on a bun!