Almost Hollywood

You know the advice students are always given in English classes where they are told to write about what they know about; well that adage has been applied quite a bit in the case of Almost Hollywood. It's actually very unusual indeed to find an exploitation film that it about the behind-the-scenes goings on featuring the people who make exploitation films. So hats off to the film-makers here for doing something that is simultaneously so obvious yet so utterly rare. Its story surrounds a film producer who specialises in soft-core exploitation films; he gets mixed up in murder and other shenanigans.

I have to say that I was pretty surprised with this one. It obviously was made on an absolute shoe-string budget, yet it actually displays a decent amount of ambition to not be a genre film but to be about the making of them. Sure, it's a comedy and some of it gags fall flat but it was surprisingly clever quite a bit of the time too, with some worthwhile things to say about the business and a few clever scenes where we in the audience don't know if what we are seeing is real or a film. So, yeah, well done I say for giving us something more thoughtful than the usual generic drivel. This one also has the good fortune of starring the Playboy playmate India Allen, who also is in on the joke, while still being kind enough to strip off once which was, of course, nice.

If there had been any justice in this world of ours, "Almost Hollywood" would have been instantly forgotten after its initial release on home video more than fifteen years ago. But the good folks at Mill Creek Entertainment resurrected this movie in their "Rare Cult Cinema" DVD pack they issued a couple of years ago. The question is: WHY? This is an absolutely terrible movie. It's really cheaply made, with cinematography that looks like it was shot on videotape and transferred to film, hollow sound, and tacky sets. The story unfolds at a snail's pace, taking forever to set everything and every character up, and an equally long time to wrap things up. But the worst thing about this movie is that there is not one likable character. EVERY character is unbelievably repulsive. If these characters are really like real life Hollywood film folk, you'll cancel your plans to hit Hollywood and become a star. I just hope this movie isn't resurrected once again fifteen years from now.

This movie has a too slow pace in its entirety, as there isn't question of a gradual increase of suspense that is so decisive for many movies. The main characters can be mentioned flat characters and are often too shallow and predictable in their behavior. I am sure that there already have been made quite similar movies about defiance, deception and envy between Hollywood actors. The only character who has taken me by surprise is Michael, who shows eminent modesty and comity to his chief, but gradually evolves a more critical approach to the other actors so that he becomes the leader of the crew. Actually, my incentive to watch this movie is that Greg Scott (who plays Michael) has also played a role in the awesome movie Ghosthouse. Therefore I am very sorry to say that the quality of Almost Hollywood is miles away from Ghosthouse. In spite of all my criticism, the movie has some funny, more or less original scenes about the rehearsals and conflicting appraisals and biases of the making of any movie. So if you like an easy movie that shows conflicts in the Hollywood scene in a nutshell, I would do recommend you watching it (without having too great expectations).

This is a clever murder mystery. It's funny and suspenseful and the characters are believable enough that the tension works. If you're getting annoyed at the trite "erotic thriller" formula you'll enjoy this picture. If it didn't make money it might be because it was sold *as* an erotic thriller, what a shame.

I have not been disappointed yet with an India Allen production. Nice work.