Eles Matam e Nós Limpamos

In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated movies of the 90s, featuring one of my all-time favorite performances by the enchanting Angela Jones. It is based on a short made in 1991, about a childlike murder-obsessed Colombian-American who takes a job as a maid...who cleans up after violent murders. Apparently, Tarantino liked the short so much that he cast Jones in Pulp Fiction and produced a full length version of "Curdled" with Jones and William Baldwin (who is surprisingly great.) This is one of my favorite black comedies and easily the funniest serial killer thriller ever. Angela Jones lights up the screen with her animated facial expressions (think Audrey Tautou) and quirky delivery. Oh, and this movie features one of the best dance sequences in a movie (yes, even better than Britt Ekland's in "The Wicker Man"). The recently released DVD is a blessing and surprisingly chockful of extras (including the original short film) for a movie that is apparently so reviled. The worst thing I can say about "Curdled" is that Braddock didn't go on to make another film and Jones went on to do a freakin "Children of the Corn" sequel. Recommend to all fans of serial killer movies and dark comedies. My rating: 10/10

It's surprisingly hard to make fun about serious subjects, like murder. Curdled succeeds in it: it's a hilarious film about a girl obsessed with murder, with a nicely twisted vision of the world. Yes, it has it's faults, but there are some irresistibly funny moments in it as well.

Jones does an excellent job in this black comedy, it really is a shame we haven't heard more of her. Even Baldwin fits in his role! The soundtrack is spicy and quite excellent. Braddock has extended this from a short film, and unfortunately it shows in some places. A few scenes feel, well, boring, and dialogue isn't as sharp as it could be.

Tarantino is often linked to this film, although he was only the producer and wrote a very little piece of script. However, there are connections to his movies in Curdled and they are fun to catch.

My score: 3/5

This movie had the potential to be a great black comedy with the idea behind it, but it falls very short. There is very little in this film that impressed me or made me laugh. It's like a black comedy without the black (the film tried to be violent and gory, but looked little more than ridiculous) or the comedy. The film is about a woman (Angela Jones) who quits her job and decided to go work for a company called PFCS (Post Forensic Cleaning Service) when she becomes fascinated with a serial killer known as the "Blue Blood Killer", a psychopath who goes around Miami beheading rich women. The company is a cleaning service that is called in to clean up the blood and guts left behind in homes in the aftermath of a murder, after the Cops haul the body and evidence away. The premise for a company like this is funny (one of the only moments in the film that caused me to laugh was their T.V Commercial), but the end result is not.

I can see why Quentin Tarantino was attracted to a project like this. Word on the street is that this was originally a funny short film that was shown at Sundance in the early 90's and after the success of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", Tarantino bankrolled this full length version of the movie and released it later on video with his "Rolling Thunder Pictures". Tarantino seems to be very amused and fascinated with the idea of a cleaner or cleaning service to clean up the mess of the deceased. He surely watched Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" many times in the later stages of his video store clerk days and used the idea of "Victor the cleaner" for his Winston Wolf character in "Pulp Fiction". The idea of a "cleaner" is quite funny and worked very well in both films, but here, it simply does not work beyond the admitted hilarity of the T.V commercial and of the mock-up sensationalist reality-TV show excerpt in the middle of the film. The rest of the movie is boring and pointless and the acting, apart from Angela Jones, is pretty stale. If you want to see real black comedy that will make you laugh (and cringe, that's another thing this film was missing), I would suggest seeking out the early works of Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting", "Shallow Grave") and the Coen Brother's "Fargo" over a boring film like this. 4 out of 10

When Curdled was in the cinemas I missed it, but now I rented the VHS and I'm happy, having seen it. I had a couple of hours of pure fun. This is a very good "black" movie: in Europe we'd rather say "noir with a touch of sophisticated humour"or "black comedy". The actresses are impressive and the plot unique. Just follow my advice: if you loved Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs don't miss it, Curdled it's even better!

Gabriella (Angela Jones), a Colombian immigrant, is obsessed with understanding violent crime. The current string of murders by the Blue Blood Killer of affluent Miami socialites provides her with fodder for her scrapbook of death. She lands a job with a post-murder cleaning service and during a Blue-Blood clean-up job, discovers evidence that police have overlooked.

While this is not a perfect film, it is a fun dark comedy that should appeal to "gore hounds" and fans of Robert Rodriguez. Apparently this exists in the same universe that "From Dusk to Dawn" does, plus features Billy Baldwin as a killer. That is pretty sweet.

I would need to see this a second time to really get a handle on it, but I think I was pleasantly surprised and hope this film somehow makes a resurgence on people's to-see lists.