User reviews

That's what the director (and lead actor) was afraid of in the question and answer session after the theater showing at Montreal Fantasia Festival. What if his movie called "Suck" sucked ? Well it doesn't but it's not that great either. I'm not quite sure it's an humorous alternative for Twilight fans either (or people sick of it) as they're two very different beasts. Suck is a rock horror comedy with vampires. The only female of an unsuccessful band gets turned into a vampire and the band then starts gaining success because of her very charismatic presence. We see the band travelling from city to city, trying to deal with their changed band mate while being tempted themselves by the dark side.

Jessica Paré, the actress playing the female band member, is mesmerizing to look at with her white skin, pale blue eyes and red lips. One could understand the fascination she would create. The other highlight of this film are the roles played by famous musicians such as Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop. They're a bit longer and juicier than cameos but although they play well, they basically play themselves and nothing particularly challenging (except for Moby, a pacifist vegan in a surprising performance). I admit the crowd reacted very well to the film but a Fantasia crowd is quite generous with this kind of genre film, especially a Canadian one. I personally found it sometimes amusing but not hilarious except for a few bits (one of them being a visit to a convenience store).

Suck's writing did not impress me as it often felt too easy or cliché. The low-budget production had a Canadian and straight-to-DVD flavor to it. From a technical standpoint, it was quite bland with too many cuts from one head to another in dialogue scenes often making it feel as if the two actors were not even in the same place. The spinning vampire and the crossroads showed a bit more inspiration. The several musical numbers felt as if they were there to pad the thin story. To be fair, the original songs were rather good but it sometimes made this comedy skirt too close to the musical genre, something I'm personally allergic to unless Tim Burton is somewhat involved. I think "Suck" would be a decent rental provided you have a few friends to watch it with interested in the subject material and/or knowing the (in)famous guest stars. I think young Twilight fans, perhaps sucked into renting it because of vampires, might be disappointed because the vampires are lame (they have powers but not really shown) and the little romance there is kinda sucks as either serious or parody.

Rating : 6 out of 10 (good)

What a great ride! Suck is one of those movies that will put you in a good mood. Jessica Pare is mesmerizing as a vampire, you will find yourself unable to break eye contact with her in some of her scenes. The makeup is done in the vein of the original Dawn of the Dead, giving the vampires a graphic novel look and feel. The humor is akin to Shaun of the Dead and rarely misses. I found myself laughing all the way through the movie, something I can't often say with many of today's comedies. The cameos by the old school rockers were awesome and contributed immensely to the production. The music-videos-in-a-movie format works well and almost makes you feel like you're back in the day when MTV was actually MUSIC television. There is one song performed by Jessica Pare that is quite touching, in my humble opinion. The director's conservative use of ever so slightly slowed movement is hypnotic. I know my comments may not seem like they were written for a film like 'Suck', but that's why I feel it's so eclectic, and it so works.

In Montreal, Joey (Rob Stefaniuk) is the lead singer of the struggling band "The Winners", composed by the sexy bass singer Jennifer (Jessica Paré), the guitarist Tyler (Paul Anthony), the drummer Sam (Mike Lobel) and the handyman Hugo (Chris Ratz). Their incompetent and alcoholic manager Jeff (Dave Foley) is incapable to help them to reach success and they are on the road on tour playing in clubs and bars in Canada and United States of America.

After a show in a bar in Montreal, Jennifer, who is also the Joey's former girlfriend, leaves the place with the creepy Queeny (Dimitri Coats), who is a vampire, and they spend the night together. On the next morning, Jennifer does not meet the band and they travel in their hearse to participate in a rock 'n' roll show without her. In the last moment, Jennifer arrives with a different appearance and on the next day they find that their home page had had several hits, all of them with good reviews and compliments to Jennifer. They become famous and Jennifer brings great audiences to the shows of "The Winners" and one by one, the musicians are turned into vampires but the reluctant Joey. "The Winners" become successful and Joey has a dream where he meets the bartender (Alice Cooper) of their show in Montreal in a crossroad and the man tells that he needs to decide whether he wants to be a winner or a loser. Meanwhile the vampire hunter Eddie Van Helsing (Malcolm McDowell) is hunting the vampire queen and tracking "The Winners" in their shows.

"Suck" is a refreshing vampire and rock 'n' roll cult movie with cameo of Alice Copper, Iggy Pop, Moby and Henry Rollins. But the greatest attraction is the sexy and gorgeous Jessica Paré with her luxurious lips and beautiful eyes. Chris Ratz is hilarious in the role of the handyman Hugo and Malcolm McDowell has also a great performance. But the originality of the story makes this film a worthwhile entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I'll skip the review of the regular stuff and jump right to what makes this movie unique. First off, we get a parade of cameos from legendary alt-rockers We have Alice Cooper as the headmaster vampire (not far from his real life persona), Iggy Pop as a hopelessly old school studio engineer, Henry Rollins as a hilarious loud mouthed DJ, Alex Lifeson (guitarist extraordinaire for Rush) as a creepy border crossing guard, Carole Pope (80s punk icon) as a club bouncer, Moby as an arrogant rival band singer, and who knows, probably a few more I missed.

"Suck" relies on these cameos to give the audience a little wink. So if you're unfamiliar with these people, you might miss out. It's never too late to look them up on youtube though. There are other little inside jokes too; for example, there are a number of visual homages to famous album covers (if nothing else, you'll recognize Abbey Road). Digging deeper, there are funny ironies such as Moby playing a character named "Beef" whose gimmick is to play with raw meat on stage. In real life, Moby is a strict vegan... and it's hilariously obvious that the "raw meat" is nothing more than some strips of rubber with red food dye.

A lot of this stuff comes at you fast, and even the most hardcore fans will probably miss a few gags. So don't worry if you have to watch the movie multiple times.

OK, all that aside, the story itself is pretty basic but with an interesting metaphorical spin to it. As other reviewers have pointed out, it's not a movie about vampires as much as it's about the vices of success... whether we're talking about drugs, glamour, or "selling out". How far will a struggling musician go to win fame? And at what cost? That's basically the only serious part of the film, and the rest is totally tongue-in-cheek. Don't expect realism. In its place expect absurdist humor (such as the fact that nobody gets caught for murdering people in the open, or live on national radio). Again, this may be a metaphor for the fact that many famous musicians never got caught for their extravagant drug habits even though they flaunted it in public. With that in mind, "Suck" becomes a biting satire of not just the fame-seeking rock stars, but also of the mindless fans who will condone and glorify anything.

I saved one of the best performances for last. Malcom McDowell plays an ominous character with a fetish for flashlights. He brings his usual larger-than-life presence to the screen but with a nice comedic air. Check out the outtakes on the DVD and you'll see that he had a great time playing the part.

Even if you have no idea who some of these famous cult musicians are, you'll still find the movie entertaining, funny & interesting from start to finish. Similar films include the Australian flick "Garage Days" by Alex Proyas, "Thunderstruck" (about a bunch of AC/DC obsessed fans), and on the more serious side, "Sympathy for Delicious" which tells a great rock'n'roll metaphor.

But like I said up front, this film's power lies in its ability to connect with "cult audiences" using cameo appearances to create quirky characters. In that respect I'd compare it to "Coffee and Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch (featuring Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, The White Stripes, etc). If you recognize at least 50% of the people I've mentioned, then don't hesitate to see this flick.

star-writer-songwriter-director Rob Stefaniuk's comedy horror about vampires and a music band coming together in a clash of mockery and rock and roll.

The plot partly derived from Bram Stoker's Dracula. When bass player Jennifer (appropriately pale Jessica Paré) turns into a vampire after bitten by one it actually transforms a lousy band into a popular act due to her sudden seductive outlook and musical prowess. The group soon discovers the truth about her. They make a pact with Jennifer to stop murdering folks for blood and not to harm either of them. But the temptation of hunger is nothing compared to her band members desperation for success. Hot on their musical tours is Eddie Van Helsing (Malcolm McDowell) tracking down the leader of Nosferatu.

Surprisingly appealing songs (sung by the characters themselves) & cameos by some of hard rock's luminaries includes Alice Cooper & Iggy Pop (Victor) saves the Canadian cheapie from mediocrity.

Maybe the Punk-Goth-rock fans will appreciate it more. Try to spot references to famous musical montages and albums covers.

I attended the World Premiere of "Suck" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. To simply say that this film is an original hybrid of genres doesn't do it justice. I'd label it a rock 'n roll vampire musical comedy road movie. Talk about a unique concept.

Writer/director/composer/lead actor Rob Stefaniuk has crafted a work of pure genius. The basic premise is simple: rock band The Winners, like most small-town acts, will do whatever it takes to make it in the music world. They stumble upon an "interesting" formula and hit the road.

The catch here is that the technique comes via bandmate Jennifer (Jessica Paré), who picked up something while carousing with a visiting rock band that gives them powers you just don't get from Red Bull.

The mind-boggling ensemble cast features such diverse icons as Malcolm McDowell and Dave Foley to rock legends including Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins, Moby, Iggy Pop, and Alex Lifeson. There aren't just cameos, either.

Even with its stellar cast, "Suck" is still story-driven and filled with gutbusting humor. The script guarantees a gag on every page. Production values belie the film's relatively small budget with topnotch visual and special effects that just wowed me. Michele Conroy's rapid-fire editing picks up the already fast pace of the action and never lets up. But the soundtrack makes the movie. Kickass music infuses the film in segments that could function as standalone videos or strung together to make a concert movie. The fact that most of the musicians/characters (led by director Rob Stefaniuk) actually wrote, play, and sing their own songs is a big plus, to say the least.

For those not into the Twilight genre of pretend vampire movies, this is an interesting film from Canada.

The band sucks, and so does someone else. The second sucking will cure the first.

Rock legends Alice Cooper, Moby, and Iggy Pop contribute to the fun, which also includes cartoon scenes interspersed throughout.

And, what would be a vampire movie without Van Helsing. Malcolm McDowell fills that role splendidly.

More yucks than gore. So, it is really a very soft R, almost a PG-13. Put drugs in a film and it overrides everything else.

After ten years on the road without success, rock band The Winners are on the verge of splitting up. Their luck changes, however, after Jennifer (Jessica Paré), the band's sexy female vocalist, falls victim to a vampire and becomes a member of the undead, drawing in the crowds with her supernatural stage presence. Pretty soon, the other members of the band are joining the ranks of the undead in their bid for fame and fortune.

It's a brave move to call your movie Suck, such a title inviting the obvious derogatory comment from those who don't quite appreciate your vision. Thankfully, Rob Stefaniuk's offbeat musical vampire road movie should avoid such harsh criticism from the majority of viewers: although it doesn't quite achieve the cult brilliance it so clearly strives for and some of the comedy falls flat, the fun cast (which includes rock stars Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Moby) and some surprisingly good songs make this moderately entertaining for the duration.

An struggling rock band, which they called themselves "The Winners". The lead of the band, Joey (Rob Stefaniuk) is trying hard to find success with his band. His bassist Jennifer (Jessica Paré) is also his ex-girlfriend, guitarist (Paul Anthony), drummer (Mike Lobel) and their french-Canadian roadie (Chris Ratz) along as well with their sleazy manager (Dave Foley). They play music across Canada and the USA to keep themselves together. Although the band mates are pushing in their 30's. After an night of playing music in a bar, Jennifer finds herself bitten by a mysterious vampire named Queenie (Dimitri Coats). Slowly the band finally finds success with their music, although most people came for Jennifer. Now she looks totally different with her Gothic looks and her now alluring eyes. But there is an vampire hunter named Eddie Van Helsing (Malcolm McDowell) is after the lead vampire Queenie and the band.

Written and Directed by Rob Stefaniuk (Phil the Alien) made an amusing, entertaining, black comedy with campy thrills and some humorous special effects. Stefaniuk is certainly good in the movie, Paré is eye candy in this movie but special credit goes to McDowell, who gives an fine performance as a Vampire Hunter, who is actually afraid of the dark! Stefaniuk displays some visual style. Rocker:Alice Cooper appears in a surprisingly good supporting role. While other rockers like Iggy Pop, Moby, Herny Rollins and Alex Lifeson are put to good use in their small parts.

DVD has an fine anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD includes an 45 minutes documentary, interviews with the cast & crew. I would have love to hear an running commentary track by the director. Since this is an independent feature, it is well produced and well directed. For sure, "Suck" will certainly have an cult following. Clever use of old footage of a young Malcolm McDowell during an flashback sequence. (****/*****).

This was so much more than expected. Malcolm McDowell throw backs, Alice Cooper acting. Jessica Pare singing. Oh and Iggy Pop. What's not to like.

Very cool, don't expect to much, but this is fun. You have to be old enough to understand many of the old references, but if you get them, it's great fun.

I'm amazed at the writing from the standpoint of light things you need to catch.

And the music is not bad all the way to Beethoven's Moonlight sonata..

I've only seen it once, but I bet additional viewings with uncover more. I hope is becomes a cult classic. Again, don't expect too much...

Crazy stuff, enjoy.

I really enjoyed Suck. It felt like a funny, surreal, and musical vampire experience.

It did interesting camera work to create surreal scenes with music that gave off some real Rocky Horror vibes. It was funny, had decent actors, and a little contained story. There was cool stop-motion effects used for transitions and some fun cameos.

A big con is that they used "sped up shaking" effects a lot that didn't look good. The lead singer was not.

..JP was the main reason brought me to this film.. had seen her in a couple of other films and was intrigued to see more.. and couple of the reviews made it sound somewhat interesting-worthwhile viewing..

..as for the movie itself, it was just passable.. there was not much to say great things about.. and without her to dress up the proceedings, the overall rating would be a couple notches lower..

they could have and should have given her a couple three more musical numbers to perform.. besides being very pleasing to look at while performing, she's got singing talent.. ..as for cult classic.. don't believe any of the others in the genre need worry.. this is a one shot wonder..

Joey Winner (Stefaniuk) leads his band with bassist Jennifer (Jessica Paré), guitarist Tyler, drummer Sam and their roadie Hugo. Their manager Jeff (Dave Foley) is incompetent. Instead of sleeping in the hearse with the guys, Jennifer stays with weird looking Queeny who turns her into a vampire. The band leaves Montreal for Toronto without her. Joey asks money from his girlfriend Susan who is jealous of Jennifer. Jennifer shows up in Toronto with a different look. Eddie Van Helsing (Malcolm McDowell) is tracking down Queenie and follows the band. The band suddenly begins to get noticed.

Written and directed by Rob Stefaniuk, this has some interesting ideas. However the filmmaking is not sharp enough. It has great actors in this. I don't know how they got McDowell but I'm sure the music legends have something to do with it. I can see what this movie is trying to do. It seems obvious that this needs a music video director's touch to energize the pace. The humor isn't really that good either. The movie is just not sharp enough in any way.

mmmmmmmmk. I do love a good surprise and this film doesn't disappoint. Keep in mind I'm not into all the goth, vampire, teen-angst-I-hate-my- parents-and-desperately-need-attention-from-anyone scene, but this film entertains throughout. It's well thought out and continues to flow throughout with plenty of amusing tidbits and darker yet somehow still light-hearted moments which will make just about anyone lolz. I particularly enjoyed the direction and choice of cast here. Everyone seemed to fit into their roles brilliantly, including all of the famous rock n rollers from days of yore. Nice to see everyone is working and keeping their sense of humor as opposed to overdosing and kicking off way too early.

There are a lot of fun visuals going on in this movie which take the viewer on a journey deep into the minds of the characters, but pulling back just at the right time to make way for some genuinely humorous moments. The direction ranges anywhere from B to A at any given moment and transitions nicely between the two. Thankfully the B moments retain some brilliance as well saving them from being misguided and flat.

For someone who isn't that into this particular kind of music, I somehow managed to find my way through the audio tracks and ended up actually liking a few in the end. They are believable, at times heart-felt and yet hilarious when called for. This Is Your Brain On Drugs was particularly entertaining :)

I must say that Alex Lifeson is evolving into quite the actor! I've thoroughly enjoyed his stuff on the most recent RUSH dvds and it just keeps getting better and better. His scenes in this movie had me in tears laughing :)

I highly recommend this film to anyone who is into the whole vampire meets rock n roll thing with a twist of funny.

Little fun flick that combines the rock 'n' roll music bizz with vampires, comedy and road movie - not every scene is that funny but all in all Suck is an entertaining one refined here and there by some unique ideas and a good production. The soundtrack is also not a bad one.

Last but not least: as sugar candy we get some great heroes in the cast: Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Moby honor us with their performance.

I had little expectations to this movie, and as such I wasn't disappointed.

The good thing about the movie was that it actually had a decent enough story, and it worked well enough. Actually, you weren't really bored at any time in the movie, it just had that good pace to it.

As for the acting, well most actually did good jobs with their roles and characters. Malcolm McDowell was really good in the role, despite his name being Van Helsing, that was a bit too cliché for my taste. But his performance was excellent, he could have used more screen time though. And of course Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop did great in their supporting roles, especially Iggy Pop. There is just something odd-charismatic about that guy.

Now what made this movie drop down on my rating list was the whole cheesy feeling there was to it. It didn't really come off as a comedy, nor did it come off as an actual scary vampire movie. It was sort of a blurred mix of them both. And what was up with Dimitri Coats as the vampire Queeny? He looked like a discount version of Dani Filth (from Cradle of Filth), and he looked like he was crazed on flu medicine most of the time. That was one role that should have been giving to someone else, or at least had him look differently.

Despite the movie being fairly straight forward and decently paced, nothing much really happened throughout the entire course of the movie. Once it ended, I was going "was that it?" There were no major plot twists, no scenes that made you cringe or go "ooooh". It was basically a flat ride all along.

For a vampire movie, I have to say this is a tame one. There are other vampire movies out there with much more bite to it. And don't get bitten by a fake CGI bat while you read this!

I was looking forward to watching this film as i have enjoyed watching other vampire spoof films. However the film had an exceptionally slow start and didn't really speed up even towards the end. The film was billed as a comedy and watching only found 3 or 4 lines in the entire film remotely funny. The best thing about the film is the cast. Some of the music stars really helped me continue watching, as i wanted to see who else would be in the film. The best thing about this film is that it really lives up to its title this film really "Sucks". It was 91mins of my life i will never get back. This however is just my opinion, and know of people who have actually enjoyed it. So i would say watch it. But don't buy it rent it as once will be enough.

I had heard mixed things about SUCK from festival screenings, and I don't know why, it's really just not that good. The film wants to be something that it just doesn't quite achieve, unless you are a fan of misplaced music, non-laugh-out-loud jokes and tame, seen-it-before Vampire gags.

The biggest issue with SUCK is that it doesn't go for the jugular, pun intended. Its pretty weak in all aspects. I can respect the attempt and idea, but I can't respect the way it was carried out. The film was obviously low budget, but big enough to get the names that were attached, which were the only reason I can see this film getting the attention it did. The cameos were decent, but the rest of the film was badly paced, very predictable and uneventful. As a viewer I knew what was coming in the first ten minutes, but what should have taken 25 mins to get there, was stretched to about 50mins. The music didn't fit in with the hard-rock atmosphere, it was very 90's indie-pop sounding, and not a single tune stuck in my head. The biggest mistake with this film is that it didn't go all out in any sense, it wasn't a hilarious or over the top comedy horror, it wasn't an all out rock and roll horror, it was just tame all around, with lots and lots of gimmicks. Ontop of the that, the look of it was quite bad. Camera work looked really cheap, like Hilarious House of Frightenstein cheap. If it was intentional, it didn't lend itself to a better film. I have to say I'm not a big fan of REPO, and knowing its budget was somewhat higher, it at least knew what it was and went for it, I have a little more respect for it after seeing SUCK.

I feel bad ragging on a low budge film with a cool premise, but when it's just not done right, in reason for spending money on well known cameo names over substance, that makes me think of the high priced garbage Hollywood churns out, with big names and lots of gimmicks, and I don't buy that. Sorry

Can a semi-musical vampire movie with a comedic twist ever be good? Rob Stefaniuk proves it can! This Canadian movie starring Rob Stefaniuk and Jessica Pare (... oh wait, you don't know who they are? How about Alice Cooper, Moby, Henry Rollins and Iggy Pop ? They are all in this) mixes all of the things above into a perfect union. I find it hard to describe it without comparing it to other things. It feels like the original Lost Boys found Interview with a Vampire, it looks like a Queens of the Stone Age video, it sounds like a rock concert and the jokes are tasteful and they relate to things without parody, but only good humour.

Bottom line: too cool for words, this film is not even about vampires. The undead condition is only a metaphor for the seduction of success. Best quote: "I'm just here to set you free... again.". It just proves that a good idea and a lot of spirit can make a movie great without the need for explosions and naked women. Watch it! Now!