All About Evil

Mousy librarian Deborah Tennis (Natasha Lyonne) inherits her father's beloved old theatre (the Victoria) which shows only horror films. Somebody pushes her too far one night...and she kills them in a VERY gory manner. The audience sees it...and think it's just a movie! Deborah realizes she enjoys what she's doing and decides to kill off other people and film it...and pass it off as fiction.

Wildly overacted with dime store gore but this sucker works! It pulled me in very quickly (cause I'm a horror fan) and I was loving it halfway through. It's chockful of black BLACK humor and throw everything they can think of up on the screen. It's a throwback to those incredibly gory horror films of the 1980s that actually got booking in respectful cinemas. Tons of blood and gore are in here but it's impossible to take it seriously. Also add a cast that includes Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) and u have a genuine cult movie! Also Lyonne chews the scenery again and again and AGAIN...but she's a LOT of fun. A must-see for horror fans. It was unrated at the film festival I caught it at...but this is NC-17 material all the way. Let's hope it's not cut down to an R. Also the writer, producer and director all GAY were there! It was playing in a gay resort town (Provincetown) and when the gratuitous female nudity came on the mostly gay audience roared and accepted it as a joke and not some sleazy turn on:)

Writer/director Josh Grannell, aka horror hostess Peaches Christ, has created a comedic bloodfest artfully designed to become a camp classic. Grannell pays overt homage to some of his favorite filmmakers, notably John Waters and gore auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis of "Blood Feast" fame, and gifts us with an enthusiastic romp to the dark side of film-making.

Natasha Lyonne, as librarian-turned-lunatic Deborah Tennis, channels various Hollywood grand dames to wild-eyed comedic effect; imagine if Bette Davis chewed scenery in one of Roger Corman's legendary Poe adaptations. Thomas Dekker of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" plays the star-struck film fan to boyish perfection. And satisfying cameos from the likes of Waters alumnus Mink Stole and fellow horror hostess Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira) round out a great cast. You're also treated to the best evil twins since "The Shining" played by Jade and Nikita Ramsey. And wildly entertaining turns from Noah Segan as dentally-challenged psycho Adrian, and Jack Donner (who's been in everything from "Buffy" to "Star Trek") as the crusty and overzealously murderous projectionist Mr. Twigs, round out Grannell's fantasy cast.

What's often most important to get from a film like this is the sense that cast and crew are enjoying themselves, and the fun shines through in every scene. Part of its delivered joy comes in spotting its numerous in-jokes, which touch on such diverse topics as horror film history or the local San Francisco drag scene. But an insider's knowledge of trivia isn't at all needed to appreciate the over-the-top and violently funny romp that Grannell delivers; instead, bring your love of exploitation and an enthusiasm for camp. Worth the price of admission alone are the parody film titles created by Tennis in the course of her filmicidal spree. And the movie has one of the best opening title sequences I've seen in years.

Much of the film was shot inside San Francisco's historic Victoria Theatre, a former vaudeville hall in the city's Mission district. Using such an authentic location is all part of Grannell's desire to create a red-inked love poem to the uniquely thrilling experience of watching horror films in a packed movie house.

Hopefully you'll get a chance to see "All About Evil" with its touring live stage show, featuring Peaches and her fright-inducing friends in person. It's a one-of-a-kind, in-your-face experience that's not like anything else you'll see in your local theater -- unless you've been going to Peaches' "Midnight Madness" shows in SF for the last 12 years.

Don't miss it -- hopefully coming to a theater near you!

A midnight movie for the new millennium! Peaches Christ and co. present an amazingly fun horror film. I attended the New York City premiere (or 4-D show as they described it) and it was like "Rocky Horror" back in the day. Natasha Lyonne is fantastically demented as Deborah Tennis, and the rest of the cast is also exceptional. The twins are as creepy as they look on the poster. Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson as the "straight men" of the movie are just plain great. It definitely has a John Waters feel to it, plus. The camp of it all only adds charm. If you can, see it on its current tour. The live show beforehand is fun on a bun!

I was fortunate enough to catch the 4-D All About Evil Experience in Milwaukee.

Not only was the pre-show with Peaches Christ and Mink Stole a blast, but the film couldn't have been more enjoyable!

There is a fine balance that Horror films of this genre run where the comedy and heightened acting can either be extremely entertaining and clever or completely immature and ridiculous. All About Evil definitely fell into the first camp and all of the performances were top notch for this style of film! I couldn't help but laughing constantly throughout the film even though parts of it got rather morbid.

Secondly, clearly this film has its inspirations and in some respects it becomes a homage to many great filmmakers and genres. I have seen many homage genre films fall apart and become a complete waste of time due to the lack of ingenuity and a lack of understanding of the genre. Clearly Joshua has done his homework and delivered a skilled and well-crafted film that not only does the genre-filmmaking justice but brought much fun to the style. His film even has enough of his personal touch that All About Evil supersedes being just another homage film and stands well enough on it's own freakish legs as a new, great installment to horror films!

Go check it out! It's a blast!

Two things attracted me to this film: Natasha Lyonne and a mix of horror and comedy. You can't go wrong with that combination, right? The film starts out as a comedy and even though it remains funny until the end, the second half is very dark and bloody. There are quite graphic killings and the ending is nothing short of a massacre. Yet, it still remains entertaining and keeps you guessing how it will all end.

The performances from all the leads are great. Natasha Lyonne totally disappears in her character as a somewhat demented auteur who gets consumed by her newly found fame. Cassandra Peterson puts on a very solid performance as a worried mother and there's even a nice little nod to her Elvira character.

If you can enjoy a mix of horror and comedy with a touch of the bizarre and macabre, definitely watch this film. You'll be pleasantly surprised.