Skinned Deep

Troma + David Lynch + Texas Chainsaw Massacre = Skinned Deep

Aside from the lead, Warwick Davis and the guy who played Brain, the acting is pretty much awful. It looks like it was shot on video. The majority of the budget looks like it went to the special effects, (which were decent.) (Considering the director is a special effects artist, this was no surprise.) The, uh, story was a bare-bones Texas Chainsaw knock-off. The dialogue zig-zagged between hilarious and cringe-worthy.

Overall, though, I enjoyed it. I hope it gets some kind of DVD distribution, because I would probably buy a copy. It's just so goofy and weird that I couldn't help but smile through it.

"NO! NO! NNNOOOO! NO! NNNNNNOOOOOOOO!! NNOOO! NO!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!"

Sweet Jesus...

While watching Skinned Deep I thought I was watching a bad movie from the mid 90's - but nope! This 2004 indie flick is so messed up in all departments, I actually couldn't even enjoy it as a so-bad-its-good movie!!

While listed as a comedy horror in its synopsis, I honestly don't think it had the smallest bit of comedy in it during production. Only since its release and ratings do I believe that the word comedy was added to make it seem that all the terrible bits were on purpose.

Taking more than its fair share of inspiration from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; House Of A 1000 Corpses; and Jeepers Creepers - Skinned Deep does have moments where it could have been something sweet, although had it been from a better director, editor and stronger cast! The acting is among the worst I have ever seen - I mean,dreadful - especially the mother of the maniacs, and how the they got Warwick Davis to do this I'll never know!!

The camerawork is also dreadful with many dirty lenses and awful shots, marred once again by the bad editing. Is there anything good? Well, the FX work is very well done, with a great character in the Surgeon General - although they never really know how to use him properly, and Warwick Davis gets to play a mental ADHD fuelled crazed ninja-of-sorts who uses plates for weapons - it has to be seen to be believed.

Skinned Deep is something else! Its confused, its messy, its funny for all the wrong reasons, and for me - its a hard watch because it seems like such a wasted opportunity. And I haven't even got to the biker pensioners yet or that bizarre twisted ending...

This makes Godfrey Ho look like Kubrick!

Skinned Deep is a cheesy Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip off with a fair share of gore! It offers funny characters, a typical Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip off plot and an hour and a half of entertainment! Not only there is no nudity, there is also no sleaze climate. The story is about a family that consists of two fat parents, a young brother and a vegetarian older sister who happens to play the main role of the victim that is tortured by the typical deformed family! This deformed family consists of as usually one person who happens to be an old lady. This old lady also happens to be psychotic , but she looks normal, and a bunch of deformed bastards. One of those deformed bastards actually has a sensitive soul. Therefore, the girl victim takes advantage of his sensitive soul for her own survival interest. Later on, a bunch of funky old people declare a war on that deformed family who has killed their buddy. In a nutshell, I suggest you watch this cheesy flick if you enjoy b-grade cheese cinema! And no! It ain't so awful as the films produced by Troma!

Gabe has worked on some great movies and with some great people. I suspect this movie was made because he knew he could do it on the cheap and the phrase "why the hell not" was probably thrown around quite a bit.

It's not very enjoyable to watch, but it's a lot of fun to talk about. If you're, say, two idiots that run a horror movie podcast, you could do worse than watching this movie to discuss it and have a great laugh. If you're not a nutty gorehound or going to discuss this with your goofy friends, there's really no point in watching it.

However, for people in those very narrow bands of viewership, there is some value here.

I still remember the General... Nice Jaw, nice overall look. That, and that it was stupid. Very stupid. Bad acting (not as bad as in movies like "Abscent of Light" or "Goth", but stupid), bad music, bad story, lots of gore and goofy characters.

Seriously, the movie is meant to be comedic, or how else could you interpret a wrestling match between a senior citizen and a midget? A plate-throwing dwarf? The grannies and grandpas getting ready for war? The colorful comic - like look? This one never wanted to be taken serious, and as long as you don't, you might enjoy it. If you are indeed looking for a deeper sense or some kind of message, you're completely lost.

Then again, if you dislike cheap splatter movies, why did you even rent it?