9 Dead Gay Guys

This movie is a completely pointless work of art. It's hysterical, silly, and lewd, and everything that could possibly be related to those words. However, it never makes any claims to be anything BUT hysterical, silly, and lewd. There are a few moments where it might drift into a realm a bit more serious, but then someone will say or do something to bring it right back into crazyland.

While some people may feel that this is a tasteless work of stereotypical junk, and it does make use of a surprising number of stereotypes, it doesn't do it in a way that is offensive. It's more of an affectionate mocking between friends (much the way that Kenny and Byron mock each other from time to time). All in all, this movie is absolutely hysterical, and a great movie to watch with your friends, straight or not. Just... no small children or old people not as accommodating as the three park bench biddies.

It seems to be one long gay joke, it really does. Over the top queens, guys at a toilet checking each other out, and no scene is complete with out some sort of homosexual reference.

Of course, what do you expect when the film is called Nine Dead Gay Guys...?

The film's not funny. It has rare moments which can raise a smile but ultimately each joke is as cringeworthy as the last. The film's barely got a story - each scene seems like it's been added in to add another joke, another bizarre character or just as filler. It copies it's style almost so blatantly from the likes of Lock, Stock.... but fails to capture what made such films great - character.

Byron has character, so does Kenny. After that? Stereotype after one-joke-pony after stereotype. It doesn't work, I couldn't care less about who these people are. So I become disinterested, the worst thing a film could possibly do.

Byron and Kenny find themselves in a Greek tragedy of horrendous proportions as the gay guys that the cynical, drunken one of this Irish pair of 'working' lads has persuaded his more innocent friend to make money from start dropping dead. Ripped clothes and rent boys are in evidence as the lads start looking for the loot in the orthodox jew's bed, and they need a tool as big as two cans of Red Bull to get there. Luckily one is endowed with good fortune! The twits stumble through plot twists amid a succession of caricature characters and the film looks like South Park in live-action Brixton. Since every sensibility is deliberately offended, it reminds me of the attitude in Stephen Pickles' brilliant book of the pre-AIDS eighties, 'Queens.' No visible dicks may upset gays more than seeing themselves portrayed for laughs, but the lads are quite engaging, and humour not pornography dominates. It has won at gay as well as straight comedy film festivals (notably Montreal and Dublin) and the anxious straight critics needn't worry that they ought to be offended for their gay sisters. It's a tease: there are a couple of good twists about stereotypes near the end, and one of the lads realises he is enjoying the sex with men, while the other goes home to his mammy. In other words the film's biggest stereotypical statement is less about queens, dwarves, vicars, fat women, minicab drivers or black men than it is about Irishmen!

This picture generally works for what it is, a rather silly dirty joke pleasantly pulled off by the well-played leads on an eccentric cast of Felliniesque gays. The assortment of grotesques give it enough sparkle to keep it amusing for 82 minutes, and a couple of the bits are first-rate crude. This seedy British comedy certainly wins out over the stupid frat-boy comedies that glut the American movie market trying to give out the same dose of offensive humor. It amazes me that some reviewers used the stupid term "politically incorrect" when making their analysis of such a harmless, rather cartoonish sex comedy like this one. The Iron Lady bits were the best and the colorist did a notably terrific job with the saturated look of the picture.

Nine Dead Gay Guys is a hilarious movie, make no mistake, but it is definitely not for everyone. It's crude, shameless, direct, and hard to ignore once you've seen it. I've sat through the movie with different types of crowds. Some thought it was laugh-out-loud funny, some thought it was gross, some even tried to look away for portions of it. They all agreed on one thing, though. It's a bit of a shocker! Not in a way that makes you jump out of your seat, but in a way that makes you think "whoa, I wasn't ready for that one!". Enjoying the film depends on what your attitude is while seeing it. If you choose to be "up-tight" and unopen, then the movie will come across to you as lewd and inappropriate. If you go into it knowing you're going to see something off-the-wall, different, funny, and alternative, you're more likely to have a good time. If you see the movie once and thought it was a little too much but thought it was funny, I encourage you to watch it again because be then the initial shock will be over and you can take the film for what it is. For it's boldness, uniqueness, and humor, I give the film 7 out of 10.