Suck

What a great ride! Suck is one of those movies that will put you in a good mood. Jessica Pare is mesmerizing as a vampire, you will find yourself unable to break eye contact with her in some of her scenes. The makeup is done in the vein of the original Dawn of the Dead, giving the vampires a graphic novel look and feel. The humor is akin to Shaun of the Dead and rarely misses. I found myself laughing all the way through the movie, something I can't often say with many of today's comedies. The cameos by the old school rockers were awesome and contributed immensely to the production. The music-videos-in-a-movie format works well and almost makes you feel like you're back in the day when MTV was actually MUSIC television. There is one song performed by Jessica Pare that is quite touching, in my humble opinion. The director's conservative use of ever so slightly slowed movement is hypnotic. I know my comments may not seem like they were written for a film like 'Suck', but that's why I feel it's so eclectic, and it so works.

After ten years on the road without success, rock band The Winners are on the verge of splitting up. Their luck changes, however, after Jennifer (Jessica Paré), the band's sexy female vocalist, falls victim to a vampire and becomes a member of the undead, drawing in the crowds with her supernatural stage presence. Pretty soon, the other members of the band are joining the ranks of the undead in their bid for fame and fortune.

It's a brave move to call your movie Suck, such a title inviting the obvious derogatory comment from those who don't quite appreciate your vision. Thankfully, Rob Stefaniuk's offbeat musical vampire road movie should avoid such harsh criticism from the majority of viewers: although it doesn't quite achieve the cult brilliance it so clearly strives for and some of the comedy falls flat, the fun cast (which includes rock stars Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Moby) and some surprisingly good songs make this moderately entertaining for the duration.

An struggling rock band, which they called themselves "The Winners". The lead of the band, Joey (Rob Stefaniuk) is trying hard to find success with his band. His bassist Jennifer (Jessica Paré) is also his ex-girlfriend, guitarist (Paul Anthony), drummer (Mike Lobel) and their french-Canadian roadie (Chris Ratz) along as well with their sleazy manager (Dave Foley). They play music across Canada and the USA to keep themselves together. Although the band mates are pushing in their 30's. After an night of playing music in a bar, Jennifer finds herself bitten by a mysterious vampire named Queenie (Dimitri Coats). Slowly the band finally finds success with their music, although most people came for Jennifer. Now she looks totally different with her Gothic looks and her now alluring eyes. But there is an vampire hunter named Eddie Van Helsing (Malcolm McDowell) is after the lead vampire Queenie and the band.

Written and Directed by Rob Stefaniuk (Phil the Alien) made an amusing, entertaining, black comedy with campy thrills and some humorous special effects. Stefaniuk is certainly good in the movie, Paré is eye candy in this movie but special credit goes to McDowell, who gives an fine performance as a Vampire Hunter, who is actually afraid of the dark! Stefaniuk displays some visual style. Rocker:Alice Cooper appears in a surprisingly good supporting role. While other rockers like Iggy Pop, Moby, Herny Rollins and Alex Lifeson are put to good use in their small parts.

DVD has an fine anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD includes an 45 minutes documentary, interviews with the cast & crew. I would have love to hear an running commentary track by the director. Since this is an independent feature, it is well produced and well directed. For sure, "Suck" will certainly have an cult following. Clever use of old footage of a young Malcolm McDowell during an flashback sequence. (****/*****).

I attended the World Premiere of "Suck" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. To simply say that this film is an original hybrid of genres doesn't do it justice. I'd label it a rock 'n roll vampire musical comedy road movie. Talk about a unique concept.

Writer/director/composer/lead actor Rob Stefaniuk has crafted a work of pure genius. The basic premise is simple: rock band The Winners, like most small-town acts, will do whatever it takes to make it in the music world. They stumble upon an "interesting" formula and hit the road.

The catch here is that the technique comes via bandmate Jennifer (Jessica Paré), who picked up something while carousing with a visiting rock band that gives them powers you just don't get from Red Bull.

The mind-boggling ensemble cast features such diverse icons as Malcolm McDowell and Dave Foley to rock legends including Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins, Moby, Iggy Pop, and Alex Lifeson. There aren't just cameos, either.

Even with its stellar cast, "Suck" is still story-driven and filled with gutbusting humor. The script guarantees a gag on every page. Production values belie the film's relatively small budget with topnotch visual and special effects that just wowed me. Michele Conroy's rapid-fire editing picks up the already fast pace of the action and never lets up. But the soundtrack makes the movie. Kickass music infuses the film in segments that could function as standalone videos or strung together to make a concert movie. The fact that most of the musicians/characters (led by director Rob Stefaniuk) actually wrote, play, and sing their own songs is a big plus, to say the least.

For those not into the Twilight genre of pretend vampire movies, this is an interesting film from Canada.

The band sucks, and so does someone else. The second sucking will cure the first.

Rock legends Alice Cooper, Moby, and Iggy Pop contribute to the fun, which also includes cartoon scenes interspersed throughout.

And, what would be a vampire movie without Van Helsing. Malcolm McDowell fills that role splendidly.

More yucks than gore. So, it is really a very soft R, almost a PG-13. Put drugs in a film and it overrides everything else.