Dead Hooker in a Trunk...

When I was reading about Women in Horror Month for a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago I realised that despite supporting the sentiment, I'd never actually seen a horror film directed by a woman...until I remembered Near Dark, Ravenous, Pet Sematary, The Being, Freddy's Dead, The Howling 6 and American Psycho. So I'll amend my previous statement to say I had yet to see any of the films by the recent wave of indie women horror directors as listed here. 

I went for Dead Hooker in a Trunk based on the fact that it has a UK DVD release making it the easiest for me to get hold of. And now I'm a little bit in love with it.

I should start this with a warning. Dead Hooker in a Trunk is one of those films that needs you to meet it halfway. Clearly filmed on no budget at all, it's often not pretty to look at and is a bit rough around the edges. You won't hear any complaints from me as the same can definitely be said about the no-budget feature I wrote but when the film started I did have that sinking 'this might be a bit of hard work' feeling. It didn't last.

The film follows a group of friends on a mission to figure out how a dead hooker ended up in their trunk and losing various body parts along the way. It's kind of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia meets Bad Taste.

About halfway through there's a scene in which one of the characters has her arm ripped off by a passing truck and her friend marches over to the driver, punches him in the head and retrieves the severed arm all in one shot. It was at this point I realised I was really enjoying myself and I began to understand why the film has already built itself a formidable cult following. As well as being completely unlike anything else you will ever see it's also a lot of fun, and that's the key. It feels like it was fun to make, the characters are fun to hang out with and it never takes itself too seriously (except for a really long murder scene towards the end which feels a bit out of place).

There is a bit of a problem with the writing, in that I felt all the of the characters could walk away from the situation at any time with no repercussions. Sure, there was a mystery to be solved and killer on the loose, but was it really up to them to solve it? Would anything have happened to them if they hadn't? At one point the characters actually say something to the effect of 'let's go home and forget about it for a while' which is narrative suicide - if the characters are in no hurry to move the story along then why should I care what happens? At the same time this is balanced with a kind of Easy Rider  almost-arthouse 'let's just hang out with these guys and see what happens' attitude which does a great job at covering up the holes in the plot. 

And then the film ends on a rather touching, uplifting note that made me forget its flaws and rediscover a long-forgotten love for humanity. This is a film about friendship and the things we are prepared to do for the people we like. It is the loudest, bloodiest, craziest feelgood film I've ever seen, and for that it should be applauded.

Also, if this one is anything to go by, Jen and Sylvia Soska's next film is going to be something really special...