Scream of the Bikini

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.

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.

In SCREAM OF THE BIKINI, supermodels / international secret agents Sophia and Bridget (Rebecca Larsen and Kelsey Wedeen) must combat eeevil while sporting the latest fashions. The plot has something to do with a mysterious microchip known as "The Helsinki Device".

It's immediately apparent that the story is secondary. Packed to overflowing with brainless characters, idiot dialogue, and absurd situations, BIKINI is -obviously- not meant to be taken seriously. At all. Helped immensely by its miniscule budget, this movie is pretty damned funny!

BEST BITS: #1- The dead guy at the pool party! #2- The nefarious death cult!

View only if you're drawn to cinematic silliness...

Scream of the Bikini, which looks like it was made on a limited budget, is a very funny spoof of those international caper movies of the 1960s. Specifically, the conceit of this film is that it was made in a foreign country in the 1960s and then re-dubbed in English by different (?) actors. Two lovely actresses, Rebecca Larsen and Kelsey Wedeen are the two leads, beautiful supermodels involved in international intrigue. Both actresses are very funny and look gorgeous throughout. Equally beautiful in Kimberly Atkinson as their nemesis. Also contributing very funny performances are Darrett Sanders, Bryan Krasner and Brad Light. There are also cameos by some familiar faces: Taylor Negron, Randolph Mantooth, Walter Koenig and Kirsten Vangsness, among many others; the film is filled with a lot of LA theater vets. I give it a 9/10 - I really enjoyed it but it went on a little too long.

For someone who is not a L.O.L.er, I found myself guffawing from beginning to end! What's not to love about Scream of the Bikini? The premise is wickedly clever, the writing is spot on. The director OBVIOUSLY knows what he's doing. Shot so well, so enjoyable to look at and you truly do believe this is footage from the 60's. Well acted with the two lead actresses taking the cake with their pitch perfect performances. Both drop dead gorgeous AND hilarious? When do you ever witness that combo?! They hold you in the palm of their tiny super model hands and you are theirs until the lights come up. And believe me when the lights come up, you let out a sigh of disappointment that it's over. Yeah, it's that good. The only negative was when I discovered it was just a special screening and that Scream of the Bikini isn't in the theaters! Considering it's better than 90% of the big budget movies out there, I know it won't be long before it hits the big time and when it does I'll be there to watch it again!