Dead Hooker in a Trunk

I recently saw the film American Mary which was directed by the Soska Twins. I was pretty impressed, as it was quite an interesting and fairly original horror concoction. With this in mind I had to see their debut movie, the brilliantly titled Dead Hooker in a Trunk. Well, after seeing it, all I can say is that they definitely got a lot better. In fairness, this movie seems to have been made on an ultra-low budget, we're taking peanuts here. But even cutting the Soska's some slack on this front, that doesn't change my view that Dead Hooker in a Trunk is a really terrible movie.

Its plot-line is certainly high-concept - four friends find a dead hooker in the trunk of their car. That's it more or less. A strong story is certainly no requirement in a good film but a movie needs to get other things right in the absence of one. And on a technical and artistic level this is an abomination. It has terrible camera-work and sound; really bad acting and an awful script. It's overall just too amateurish to offer very much to anybody. I am nevertheless pleased that these two Canadian sisters have gone on to do better things – as apart from anything else, there should be more women directors out there – but this debut just isn't good on any level I am afraid.

The biggest problem with Dead Hooker in a Trunk is a technical issue -- I couldn't hear half the dialogue in this movie, and the Blu-ray offers no subtitles. Whether the soundtrack was mixed way too loud, or the boom mic was too far away, or there was background noise, or whatever the case, sound is this movie's weakest trait. And maybe there's a really good movie in here somewhere, I don't know. I'm sure this was one of many issues in having a $2500 budget. Maybe you can't hire a competent sound guy. Your buddy gets the job (CJ Wallis is credited for all sound/mixing/music, he also played Goody Two Shoes, one of the leads). Two things I do appreciate, however, are (1) An ambitious movie on a tight budget, and (2) Badass chicks. So, 5 stars for me.

What exactly have the Soska Sisters done? They were supposed to be the next big thing in horror. American Mary is a stellar movie, but I think Katherine Isabelle in the lead should at least share some of the credit. That movie and this one were both written and directed by the twins. It seems since then they're just hired guns on feature films, which strikes me as odd considering the success of American Mary. Nothing since has been written by them, and this includes a sequel to a bad horror movie (See No Evil 2), and a modern day remake of a David Cronenberg film (Rabid). This, to me, says "slumming it." Can they not get the backing for another one of their own creations? I would much rather see what they have in store creatively next.

Edit: Surprise, looks like I need to see On the Edge (2022), witten and directed by Jen and Sylvia.

I liked the title, sounds a bit like those good old exploitations but what a terrible thing this was. Once started I thought, yes, this is going to be good but once the girls are watching the trunk I knew what I was getting. Trash.

Written by the Soska sisters and even played and directed by them it is obviously a ultra low budget. There aren't any real effects to see because it's done off screen, well, most of them. But there is a lot of red stuff that I can confirm. Sadly, it's the script and a lot of talking that made it almost unwatchable. I must admit that I grabbed the remote and had the fast forward button ready to push. Some parts are really okay but to many scenes are ridiculous and boring.

Maybe I they had a lot of fun but I rather should let this flick in the trunk straight to the bin.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

DHIAT's so-called "originality" did not distract me from its oddly paced, and often disengaging, story-telling. It seemed as if the Soska Sisters abandoned all, if any, logic in their script to boost its own bizarreness and eccentricity. Movies don't exactly demand realism (nor do I), but in this case it resulted in a laughable story that just felt too unbalanced to offer room for its humor to surface. In other words, they tried too hard. Whether they tried too hard to be witty or weird, humorous or homage-y, the Soska Sisters didn't know which direction to take their debut so they ended up taking all of them. Their decision made DHIAT a tangled and stupid effort. The dialogue was so stereotypically and poorly written, it literally had me finishing the sentences the actors were saying. (Ever heard that about a Tarantino flick?? Yeah, so don't go comparing them with QT) The acting, at times, was convincing… But how hard is it to act like a whore, a nerd or a religious douche? I guess I understand why people really like it though; it's a (moderately) violent homage to Grindhouse films, that actually has a pretty fun sub-plot about a masked serial killer that's worth mentioning. The Soska Sisters did their best considering their budget and will be welcomed with open arms in the horror community. Personally, I think they will be receiving a bit more than they deserve.

I read some pretty positive reviews for this film, and am always willing to support indy film.

but seriously WTF! I just payed 7 bucks to rent this, I feel so strongly about it that I will ask for my money back from the store.

I could only sit through 20 minutes of it. When the movie starts the first thing you will notice is just how terrible the audio is.

quickly followed by the lighting, camera work. and editing.

you will not know what the hell is going on.

Then when the performances start you will face palm at the writing and execution.

The thing that bothers me most is that the film makers have cast themselves in the lead roles, when really, if they cared at all about film making, they would have stayed on the other side of the camera, at least that way they could have attempted to limit the damage of every other terrible element at work.

0 out of 10