Svengali-2001

Let me admit from the first that I am a fan of the lovely Miss Liz Di Prinzio and that I see a great future for her and that she is definitely one of the best things about this movie and I can see more better and better films coming Liz's way as she masters her craft. She is both talented and a very hard worker and very honest and passionate about her work and that shows through in this film.

The movie has lots of good points and like any budget teen flick also has all the negative points like stereotyping and mixed degrees of skills from both in front and behind the camera.

In the end the good points outweigh the bad and this flick has enough fun and gore and teen sexiness to entertain.

The opening scenes are edited really well although the alley scene, while critical to the story could have been handled better. The second half of the film flows better than the first part and the director needs to show more pace when establishing his actors or give them some tighter dialogue. The highlight was the dumb and dumber actors and of course the two female leads, Liz Di Prinzio and Sarah Harrison with good support from the vampy teen *itch played by Liz Bell. All three bring something to their roles and the beefcake school jock is exactly what you would expect, but he is outshone in all his scenes opposite Liz and Liz!!! The murder scenes were pretty well executed with some nice touches, which I won't reveal here, and the denouement is well done too and better than a lot of similar films in this genre.

Overall this film gets a 6 from me, but for movie lovers who like to see actors who are going places then see this one and enjoy Liz Di Prinzio and her two fellow female leads because I can see good things in the coming years. I love watching actors develop and change and grow and despite this film's budget restrictions it's still well worth checking out and has some excellent moments and nice touches.

When I saw this on Aussie TV (ABC) one Sunday night I was surprised to see it had not appeared on this site and it took me a while to get the details to post it here, but it is well worthwhile because it is a fine little TV vignette to film Noir and a great chance to see some fine old actors and Cyd Charisse in her final screen appearance, along with Kirk Douglas in a strong non-speaking role and the rest of these Hollywood legends. It has echoes of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid but without the humour. Well worth seeing as a curiosity piece and to enjoy some grand old film clips from the golden years of yore!!!

I would give this an 8 out of 10