Her Name Was Christa

A male colleague once told me about his many relationships with hooker and strippers by saying that they "appealed to his rich and varied fantasy life." He treated them like girlfriends, bought them expensive gifts and trips, and took care of their housing. In return, he got sex, arm candy and one way relationships where he had all the control. He wasn't really a cad. He was a sad and empty man who bought fantasy.

James L. Edwards wrote, acted and directed this movie about a man whose entire life is a dead end job and an empty house. When the man can no longer bear being alone, he takes the advice of a friend and buys a few nights with a hooker. The hooker is an intelligent young woman with a dark secret. As two broken people try to help each other, the man finds he cannot let go.

What happens in this movie has actually happened in real life, and Edwards is kind and compassionate about how he lets us into the world of his characterss. However, it is a horror movie, and not for weak stomachs.

I liked the movie a lot, in spite of the "EW!"

This movie is as good as a the smell of decay. This movie is a fat, cowardly, weak, old man's fantasy girlfriend come to life. There's no such thing as a Christa. I've seen romantic comedies that are more realistic than this romance shart!

Can love really hold on forever? Or will it rot eventually (no pun intended)? That is something that you have to figure out yourself. And if you like the slow pace this movie hands you. Because it takes quite a bit of time to get where it is heading. And that is quite the killer ending - if you excuse the pun (if one can even call it that).

It is or at least seems so sweet and innocent most of the time. But since we get clips of the future (or present, depending on how you view the timeline), we know something is off. And it is way off.

This is low budge mayhem, but it knows to shock. If you are open for that kind of stomach turning, wild and disgusting conclusion. For some that may be putting it mildly, for some it may be putting things over the top. Again it all depends on how much you can take and how easily you are offended ... and how squeamish you are. Can't answer that for you ... just remember, this is not normal.

Sadly this was doomed once Ariauna Albright dropped out. The role of Christa was written for her and it seemed at least that the big draw to this film would be Albright and Edwards reuniting in an attempt to re-capture the chemistry they had in 1997's Bloodletting.

Shianne Daye takes over the role as Christa and she makes an admirable effort. Unfortunately, inserting someone with little to no experience into a role with tons of dialogue written for another person isn't going to work and it doesn't here.

A ton of respect is due to Edwards and everyone involved. It seemed like they ran into an endless amount of setbacks and struggles but they were still able to power through. As much as I tried to keep that in mind while watching the movie, in the end it's just not good.

Writer/director James L. Edwards' Her Name Was Christa functions as a fascinating character study of Stephen (played by Edwards), an extremely lonely man who, at the urging of a co-worker, decides to seek out female companionship. Soon he's embarking on a "girlfriend experience" relationship with a call girl who goes by the name Candy, but we'll come to find out that her real name is Christa (Shianne Daye). Sure, Stephen is paying Christa for everything they do together, but their interactions are actually rather sweet. The structure of Her Name Was Christa reminded me of Takashi Miike's Audition in the way that it plays like a love story, complete with a love montage, up to the point when things go horribly wrong. The love doesn't exit the picture when things go bad here, though.

I was impressed by how well-written Edwards' dialogue is in Her Name Was Christa. Edwards also delivers a strong performance as Stephen, making him a likeable character we can understand and sympathize with even when he's making questionable decisions we can't condone. Daye is flawless in the role of Christa. She and Edwards have to carry a lot of this movie on their shoulders, and she proves to be fully capable of doing so.

While Her Name Was Christa does get very dark, disturbing, and (thanks to some special effects work courtesy of Alan Tuskes) downright disgusting, it's captivating throughout. Even when appalled I couldn't look away, and I was invested in seeing how it would all turn out for Stephen and Christa. Some viewers won't be able to handle the gross-outs found in the second half, but this movie is going to find some very appreciative fans - and it deserves to.