Scream of the Bikini

Saw this fabulous film in Washington, D.C. where it won Best Comedy at the ThrillSpy International Film Festival and laughed myself silly. Unlike most films of this genre it has a plausible plot and I was riveted to the screen watching it unfold.

The leading ladies are women who appear to think that looking good is more important than what they do and what is that you ask? By day they are gorgeous super-models and by night they are would you believe. . . brutal bounty hunters! One minute they're basking in the sun sipping cocktails, in bikinis of course, or walking the runway and the next they are skulking about or running on tippy toe trying to track down the evil villain. . . who is known as the CHAIRman. [?] Say "Pepe Rosa" in your deepest darkest voice.

The handsome Humbert keeps our curiosity alive, is he a bad guy . . . . or just another pretty face?

This is a 1960's action-spy-thriller by acclaimed South American director, Fernando Fernandez. Jasmine Orosco and Paola Apanapal - in their English language film debuts - are Bridget and Sophia who are beautiful and seriously funny women. Kelsey Wedeen and Rebecca Larsen actually pull it off, keeping their characters likable despite their self-centered naiveté.

The center of the plot is a microchip which appears and disappears threatening the lives of our heroines causing dead silence in the audience which is, with one silent voice, praying for their survival. Did I say I was riveted?

The acting is excellent, the direction is crisp and inventive and the photography is very '60's as are the costumes. "It was filmed somewhere in South America in 1966, poorly translated and dubbed by Germans as it plumbs the seedy depths of the international fashion model/psycho-killer underworld with a boldness that only a gun to the head can provide". Or, it was directed by Kiff Scholl, a multi-awarded stage director who has now tried his skillful and dexterous hand to this, his first full length film, which keeps our attention from beginning to end.

Scholl and Bill Robens are to be congratulated for putting together this funny and yet almost believable marvelous comedy thriller. Bikini was nominated for 15 Maverick Movie Awards and won Best Director. Each of the main characters has a back-story which makes sense as we go along. One puzzlement - how do Randolph Mantooth and Kirsten Vangsness appear in a film that was made in the 60's??? Great spoof, eye popping thrills and definitely worth seeing again which, given the opportunity I will.

An instant cult classic for this generation in the tradition of Monty Python's Holy Grail and Rocky Horror Picture Show. From the title to the movie poster to the film itself, Scream Of The Bikini is everything I love about the movies... inventive, sexy and brilliant. Beneath the James Bond cloak and dagger plot, the writers and Director find a rhythm that is refreshing and compelling. There is even a nod to Antonioni's Blowup that, among other references, makes you realize that you are watching a film that loves other films as well as the experience of watching films. The actors make this world of eccentric characters believable, accessible and lovable. At the same time, the cinematography adds its own character to the plot with striking colors and composition. Like the pillow-fight between the beautiful protagonists, Scream Of The Bikini is smart and flirty. It is only a matter of minutes before Scream Of The Bikini dominates the world.

In the tradition of Monty Python and the Christopher Guest's Mockumentaries, Scream of the Bikini takes the traditional spy movie of the 60's and 70's and turns it on its funny bone. Allowing a company of actors to mine every last drop of comedy out of the genre. It's is hard to watch a minute of Scream of the Bikini without laughing out loud. Only goes to show that the quality of the comedy is not dependent on the size of a film's budget. While you can tell the film was made on a shoe string budget, this is never a deficit to the quality of the film, but used to evoke the creativity of the film makers. Still the point of the film is to provide a reason to laugh and at that it succeeds.

If you look through the movies I've written about over the years, you'll see quite a few Eurospy films. As a rule, I love 'em. Imagine my delight to discover a modern movie that spoofs the Eurospy genre. Like a lot of the movies it pokes fun at, Scream of the Bikini isn't perfect, but it is a lot of fun.

The plot of Scream of the Bikini hardly matters. Let's just say that there is a super-villain out to take over the world. Trying to stop him are two female agents, Bridget (Kelsey Wedeen) and Sophia (Rebecca Larsen). They're super-models by day, spies by night. They'll have to use all their abilities to get through this tangled mess of a plot and save the world.

While I really enjoyed Scream of the Bikini, if I'm honest, I'd say it's a bit inconsistent - particularly when it comes to plot and acting. The plot can be very funny, but in places it can be a bit tedious. Surprisingly enough, I found the face-off with the chief baddie one of the more lackluster parts of the plot. Then again, given the limited resources they were working with, it would be difficult to do what this film attempts to do and not run short of ideas now and again. Likewise, the acting is inconsistent. Wedeen (especially) and Larsen are very good, funny, sexy, and actually able to carry the movie. They're great! However, some of the other actors don't measure up to their standard.

Finally, one of the really cool things about Scream of the Bikini is the way they've tried to make it look like a film from 1966. The movie would have you believe that it was filmed in the 60s in South America and dubbed into English by a bunch of Germans. You get the lip/voice inconsistencies and the strange translations you find in real Eurospy film dubbing. There are lines on the print, a few missing seconds of action, and other things you find in an old print that hasn't been taken care of. Think of Tarantino's Grindhouse and you'll get the idea. Really clever stuff.

I saw this moving in Los Angeles recently, and I think the title of this review accurately describes how sexy, funny and entertaining this film is to watch. A spoof on foreign crossover films of the 1960's; it's a sexy-spy-thriller by a fictional South American director and stars. Fernando Fernandez directs Jasmine Orosco (Kelsey Wedeen) as Bridget and Paola Apanapal (Rebecca Larson) as Sophia, in their first English language film. It's kitschy, edgy and silly, set against a '60s hipster backdrop. Beautiful and delightfully dingy Bridget and beautiful and exotically dingy Sophia are super models with secret identities -- they are spies! -- brutal, yes, but they would never miss a nail appointment or go outdoors if they weren't dressed just so. Self-absorbed and narcissistic, but with hearts of gold, or at least, to naive to be conniving, the girls are unlikely but delightful heroes.

Intrigue follows them on their adventure. Humbert, debonair man-about-town and dangerous, is a mystery man. The girls seem taken with him, but where do his loyalties lie? Who are the bad guys, who are the good? Whom can the girls trust? After stumbling across a clue that set them on their way, they romp, stalk and tip toe -- mostly dressed in bikinis -- from a hip Hollywood Hills pool party to a haute couture fashion shoot, out decipher and spoil the hellish plans of evil mastermind, The Chairman. Nevertheless, there's always time for a cocktail or a pillow fight. The girls prove that in the world of spies, it's better to be lucky than good.

The film is very well acted; great characters and unlikely situations abound, along with good pacing and lots of laughs and knee slaps throughout. With a great score, costumes, sets and dialog cadence, director Kiff Scholl does a wonderful job of staying true to the look and feel of this 1960s genre. It's a fun movie going experience I can recommend without caveat or reservation.