Death by Engagement

I had the chance to catch this movie while I was at the World Horror Convention in San Francisco and I was pleasantly surprised. It's basically a Quentin Tarentino meets Jason from Friday the 13th film, with plot twists that keep you engaged until the end. It follows the murder spree of Spencer Starkington (Brandon Largent), a young man with an explosive temper, who kills his bride and puts the maid-of-honor into a coma on the day of his wedding. Starkington himself is also left in a coma, because he attacks the bride and maid-of-honor from the back of their speeding car. The wedding ring worn by the bride is removed at the scene by an unscrupulous police officer and is given to his fiancé. The comatose Spencer, now being cared for at home by his mother (P.J. Soles), comes back from his coma and goes out in search of the missing wedding ring, regardless of who has it and where. This leads him in and out of the lives (and hideous deaths!) of a variety of seamy individuals as the ring moves from one victim to another.

Spencer is pursued by a pair of police detectives: Detective Rikki Moore (Sascha Knopf), who's consummate anti-girly girl and Detective Cade Hamilton (Aaron MacPherson) who's delightfully smarmy and a perfect foil for Rikki. They until the end, as the movie careens like an out-of-control roller-coaster. You'll never know what the ending is until the final credits roll.

This movie is loaded with great performances, most notably P.J. Soles. Her portrayal of Spencer Starkington's mother is the creepiest movie mother I've ever seen. She is disturbing without going over the top, with a quiet air that hides a bubbling cauldron of psychotic behavior. Sascha Knopf and Aaron MacPherson, the two police officers, work together like clockwork. There performances compliment each other as if they've been together since the police academy. All of the characters are played like something out of Pulp Fiction, with lots of quirky tics and memorable personalities. It also helps that the movie has a great story and a solid script.

The only thing I would have like to have seen would have been a better handling for the movement of the ring. I was confused on why the ring turned up where it did, only to get the explanation late in the film. This made the continuity just a little clunky. I'm not sure if this is the final cut, so this is something that can be fixed with some additional editing. However, don't let this stop you from seeing the film. This movie was a total hoot, with spills and thrills for everyone!

What's so incredibly bad about this movie is that it isn't even good enough to look like a fresh-out-film-school project, with those clumsy attempts to be arty and make up for that final C minus. The editing is choppy and the story makes no sense. (It's clear the filmmaker just wanted to make a statement, and sadly, there's no enough substance in that statement to fill 105 minutes.) The acting - oh, who am I kidding, there's no acting going on, just line recitation. All the characters talk exactly the same, and worse, all have the same bad dialog of that immature, bitter guy in his early 30s whose friends have all moved on while he wonders why he's the one who's still single. In fact, the characters are SO unlikeable, so shallow, so crude, so sex-obsessed, so mean-spirited, and so stupid, including the detectives, that you're forced to root for the killer just to get it over with. And that's the moment when you KNOW you've wasted minutes of your life you'll never get back.

I waited a while to get my copy of this film. The copy I have is autographed by writer/director Philip Creager, Sascha Knopf (Shallow Hal), Aaron MacPherson, P.J. Soles (Carrie, John Carpenter's Halloween, Jawbreaker), Edie Dearing, Julian Berlin, Jilon Ghai, Pennie Leigh Orcutt, and more. Mentioned in the interest of full disclosure before I write a review.

While I was thrilled that I got a good look at Christa Campbell, who was supposed to sign, but didn't show, the movie as a whole was routine and the acting was what I would expect on the WB.

P.J. Soles was very good as the creepy mom, and Sascha Knopf was interesting enough to make we want to see more of her, but the story just didn't flow very well and it was hard to keep track of the ring as it passed from girl to girl.

It was worth my time to see Christa, but if she's not on your "must-watch" list just wait until it comes on cable.

i don't usually post comments about films. but after watching this disaster i needed to warn any potential viewers: STAY AWAY. there is nothing redeeming about this movie in any way. the acting is laughably bad, the editing made me want to close my eyes (which is what the black screen cuts felt like) and the script...i kept marveling every two minutes, "who wrote this?" the lead actor couldn't act his way out of a speeding ticket, and the lead actress, all i could do was stare at her obviously cosmetically enhanced bosom and lips. i'm surprised that someone actually committed time and money to this catastrophe. in fact, i'm so incensed right now that i have to continue writing more lines since there is a minimum of ten required for comment submission so i will continue typing things until it says i am OK to submit. apparently this is enough.

Anyone looking for a "serious" horror film, not my usual cup of tea I should point out, won't find that here. But that's not the point here . . . having fun with the ridiculously corny plot and the campy characters with their over-the-top cheesy dialogue is exactly what this film is all about.

For those folks who seem bent on delivering a somber, detailed analysis of this film . . . lighten up, take a breather for a moment or two.

I liked this film. The clichés' and absurd one-liners is enough to keep anyone entertained . . . if you are in the mood for an offbeat, quirky pseudo horror comedy, which is my take on this odd piece.

My favorite character / actress in this escapade is Sascha Knopff as the (in my humble opinion, uniquely hot) detective Nikki . . . but everyone here was absurdly delightful in their own way.

So folks, lighten up a little bit . . . have some fun with this one, if you can.