Unspeakable

I cannot believe that this is a film that I did not like. . . I usually find that I am open minded about all sorts of stuff. . . but this flick is just, well, bad.

I could deal with the subject matter if the script and story were better. I could deal with the acting if the camera work was better or if the characters were better established. . . I think it mostly boils down to script and direction though.

it was just bad.

i want to give this the lowest rating, but . . . I don't believe in that, at least this guy got off his tail to make a movie. . . so he gets four stars (just above the average rating which this has so far)

Try to imagine this... a Troma film, that has typical Troma gore, Troma acting, Troma production values, Troma sound effects, Troma script quality, and Troma direction... but it isn't funny. It doesn't try to be funny, and it isn't unintentionally funny because it's so bad. This is Unspeakable, a film so unbearably terrible that I rate it amongst the worst films ever made. It is shot on low-quality video, looking like a perverse home movie. The sets seem to have been made by unskilled schoolchildren. The acting is just stupid, utterly stupid. The script has been written with one goal in mind: to include every offensive thing imaginable. That is about all this film does well - it is certainly a thorough catalogue of disgusting human behaviour. Paedophilia, rape, drug addiction, murder, and childishly-written obscene language.

Basically, this film is crap.

If you want to see a funny, silly gorefest, pick up one of Troma's good films, like The Toxic Avenger, Terror Firmer, or Tromeo and Juliet. If you want a serious, disturbing portrayal of a serial killer, watch Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or Nightmares.

If you want to see an utterly awful film with nothing whatsoever positive to recommend it, and waste an hour and a half of your life in serious psychological discomfort, by all means see Unspeakable.

I have watched Unspeakable numerous times, as every opportunity I get I try to share it with those that have not been introduced to the sick, twisted world the film presents. Strangely enough, though, this is a world we all live in everyday. The film just presents it on a darker level. It is effective, creepy, and downright disturbing. Director Chad Ferrin has created a dark and sinister story revolving around a man whose life is turned upside down after an accident claims the life of his daughter and permanently disables his wife. As he sinks deeper into his depression, he begins a descent into madness that eventually drives him to murder. Sure, its been done to death, several times over. BUT NEVER LIKE THIS! Kudos to Troma for putting this out to the unsuspecting world. And BRAVO, Mr. Ferrin. I cannot wait to see what you have on tap for your follow up to this incredibly affecting film.

This basically has a lot of what you expect from a Troma film: unrelenting gore, cheesy acting, demented sexual content and a nonstop outpour of gratuitously shocking moments. The problem with "Unspeakable" is it seems to be taking itself seriously. How else can you explain the over-dramatic music score? But how am I supposed to take the film seriously with such horrible acting and unsympathetic characters? The main star is supposed to be constantly depressed over the loss of his daughter and disfiguration of his wife, yet he never sheds a tear. All he does is howl and make faces like he's constipated. It's revealed early in the film that the main character has abused his daughter sexually in the past. So how am I supposed to feel sympathy for him and his quest to kill? He should've just killed himself. And his wife deserved to be disfigured (or better yet, dead), since she's revealed to be nothing more than a nag. The director gives us no reason to feel sympathy for her. Despite the flaws, I really wasn't too disappointed with the flick. First of all, it's made by Troma. I've acquired a taste (or "tastelessness") for Troma, and can officially call myself a Troma fan. So it's hard for me to be disappointed by the poor aesthetic quality of Troma film. You can attack this movie from all angles.

Aside from the things I've mentioned, the cinematography is sloppy and so is the editing. I was, however, slightly disappointed by the lack of gratuitous nudity. That is a Troma trademark. It's best to view this as an exploitation film. As I said, the major problem with it is it seems to take itself seriously. If that was the director's intention, then he failed. The plot doesn't contain the same drama as Thomas Jane avenging his family in "The Punisher." Like in any trashy exploitation horror flick, you're just waiting for the next violent murder to occur. And to give the film credit, it did sustain my interest for the whole 81 minutes. I don't care how it sustained my interest--the point is it did. I guess you can say this film is not for the squeamish, but I found the blood and gore effects so cheesy that I couldn't be disgusted by it. The most disgusting part of the movie, for me, is the gag that involves a demented caretaker having oral sex with the main character's disfigured wife, who just crapped all over herself. But if there weren't moments like that, Troma wouldn't release the film.

Chad Ferrin's Unspeakable is darker fare than the usual Troma output. Depressing and grisly, with an overall nasty atmosphere throughout. Certainly a movie without much light.

So, dark in tone. But there are some comedic Troma-like qualities to it. Mostly from Timothy Muskatell's Barry A. Carter, a sick perverted lowlife home nurse, who abuses his crippled patient (Muskatell also plays a dual roll as a ridiculous drug dealer, later in the film)

Unspeakable is quite an uneasy watch. But somehow that's what I like about it.

A twisted psychological slasher. Great soundtrack too.