Dead Hooker in a Trunk

Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009)

* (out of 4)

Badass (Sylvia Soska), Geek (Jen Soska), Junkie (Rikki Gagne) and Goody Two Shoes (C.J. Wallis) discover a dead hooker in their trunk and that's about it. The Soska twins directed, wrote and stars in this movie that seems to have gotten some pretty glowing reviews but I'm a little confused as to why because I found the film incredibly hard to get through. The film isn't a complete disaster so I'll start off with the only good thing. I think the vision of the film was actually quite good and it's hard to believe that this thing was shot for just a couple thousand dollars. I give the sisters credit for certainly having an eye because they've made this film look quite professional and that there is saying quite a bit considering how most low-budget horror films look. With that said, the rest of the film was pretty much dreadful with the story being the most annoying thing. I'm not really sure what the point of the film was except to come off like a Quentin Tarantino movie and mix countless genres together with quick dialogue, over-the-top violence and other bizarre matters. The problem here is that none of it works as the story never makes a bit of sense and the characters are all just annoying to the point where you're hoping they all die. The movie has one drawn out sequence after another and sometimes we get some graphic gore but more often than not it's just dialogue full of F-bombs. The performances aren't the greatest in the world but they are slightly better than we typically see in this type of picture. I know many are calling this a "terrific homage to grindhouse pictures" but I found the film to be far from that. I guess people will have to make up their own minds but while the Soska girls show talent here, the final result is quite horrid.

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

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.

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.