Verotika
Verotika
Glen Danzig, who is the original frontman for the classic horror punk band The Misfits wrote and directed his debut film, Verotika, which is based on a comic book series published by his company, Verotik. I will be honest, I am not sure what I expected when I put this film in, I know from his Misfits songs that he has a good taste in b-horror films, and from the cover, I expected a stylistic gothic horror exploitation film. I am not sure what I just watched...was there a vision that Danzig had when making this film, if so what the hell is it?
Verotika is a horror anthology, that is rooted deeply in the Italian exploitation horror style of directors like Lucio Fulci or Mario Bava, but Danzig's offering seems to be somehow cheaper and less focused, coming off as a comedic parody of the genre. Sadly it is obvious that this is not Danzig's intention, and honestly I feel a bit sorry for him, I think that in this film he had intention to create something great that captured the feel of those classic exploitation horror films, and also pays homage to the classic horror anthology films, but somehow he completely misses the mark and creates a film that can only be seen as so bad it's hilarious. I have seen critics compare Verotika to Tommy Wiseau's The Room, and there is a grain of truth to that comparison. A horror film, even a b-horror exploitation film requires a little more than topless women, blood, and a monster, even b-horror films with the loosest concept of a plot still have this certain quality to it that makes it a watchable film. Watching Verotika is like watching soft-core porn in the quality of acting as well as the overall look to the film (and I mean this in all of the worst ways, because I have definitely seen porn, both soft and hardcore that has better production and acting qualities than this film).
That all said there are things that Danzig got right. The in between scenes of the film "Morella" with the adult film actress Kayden Kross might be the best part of the film. These scenes have this great Goth look to them, and it sets up the film in a way that makes it seem like it will be a great love letter to the Goth scene. Some of the colours and sets also give it a Goth look. The last segment "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood", which is inspired by the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, had promise and it could have had a feeling similar to a Cradle Of Filth music video, but the direction of it was terribly, and the acting was atrocious, especially Alice Tate's performance as Drukjia. Natalia Borowsky in the role of Sheska in the segment "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood" was far better than the title character, her character seemed interesting and it would have been nice to see her character explored more. The film has some solid ideas, each of the segments has an interesting premise, but they are destroyed by bad acting and unforgivably bad production value, and Danzig fails to explore the ideas fully, to the point of even making any sense at all.
The film is broken into three segments, with the "Morella" segments that act as introductions and conclusions to the segments.
The first segment is "The Albino Spider of Dajette", which stars adult film star Ashley Wisdom as Dajette, and Scotch Hopkins as the Albino Spider. In this segment whenever Dajette falls a sleep a "spider-man" murders sex workers by breaking their necks. Also for no known reason that is explained Dajette has eyes for nipples.
The second segment "Change Face" stars Rachel Alig as "Mystery Girl", and Sean Kanan as Sgt. Anders. This segment is about a mysterious woman whose stripper stage name is "Mystery Girl", when she's not doing weird strip-teases she is hunting for pretty girls to steal their faces, which she cuts off and wears. She is being hunted by Sgt. Anders who is assigned to her case.
The third and final segment is "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood", which stars Alice Tate (credited as Alice Haig) as Drukija and Natalia Borowsky as Sheska. Contessa Drukija bathes in the blood of virgins, and feeds them by hand to a wolf? Sheska prepares the virgins for Drukija to bathe in. I honestly would like to say that there is more to this than that, but that is pretty much it, this is nothing more than a reason to get women topless and have blood spray from their severed necks, and slit wrists. I mean as a music video for a band like Cradle Of Filth this would have worked, I mean you get a topless woman bathing in a bathtub full of blood, and have a bound topless woman with her wrists slit hanging in the bathtub...but honestly even a music video would have had more of a plot and more of a point than this.
I think what this film struggles from even more than the laughable acting and terrible production is the fact that it doesn't actually ever have a point, it never tries to say anything or even have a purpose. If you watch this for the naked women, there is horror porn out there that delivers better, if you are watching it for a plot or decent acting then there is nothing here to see. That being said this film is entertaining in the sense that it is so bad that it is hilarious. People watch a film like this because it is funny, what the director intended is a moot point, because the comedy of how bad it is is what makes like a film like this go into cult classic status. People watch a film like this, or even like The Room, because it is funny to witness just how bad and inept a film can be. This has been a phenomenon since the days of Ed Wood, and honestly if Ed Wood was still alive I think that he would have made this film in his later career when he was making "nudie" films, it is on par with his film Necromania. So this film has its place, and once you establish in your mind that this is going to be one of the worst films ever made, and go into it with the same mindset that you would go into an Ed Wood movie, then you can admit that this is a fun movie, it is bad, it is terribly bad, and because of that it is actually a fun and funny film to watch. Also just as an aside, someone needs to get Kayden Kross to dress up as "Morella" and host goth music videos, seriously Cleopatra Records that would make a great music DVD release.
So if you are into so bad they are hilarious films, with a ton of blood and topless women, then this film is perfect. If you have tastes, maybe find something else.
Verotika is a horror anthology, that is rooted deeply in the Italian exploitation horror style of directors like Lucio Fulci or Mario Bava, but Danzig's offering seems to be somehow cheaper and less focused, coming off as a comedic parody of the genre. Sadly it is obvious that this is not Danzig's intention, and honestly I feel a bit sorry for him, I think that in this film he had intention to create something great that captured the feel of those classic exploitation horror films, and also pays homage to the classic horror anthology films, but somehow he completely misses the mark and creates a film that can only be seen as so bad it's hilarious. I have seen critics compare Verotika to Tommy Wiseau's The Room, and there is a grain of truth to that comparison. A horror film, even a b-horror exploitation film requires a little more than topless women, blood, and a monster, even b-horror films with the loosest concept of a plot still have this certain quality to it that makes it a watchable film. Watching Verotika is like watching soft-core porn in the quality of acting as well as the overall look to the film (and I mean this in all of the worst ways, because I have definitely seen porn, both soft and hardcore that has better production and acting qualities than this film).
That all said there are things that Danzig got right. The in between scenes of the film "Morella" with the adult film actress Kayden Kross might be the best part of the film. These scenes have this great Goth look to them, and it sets up the film in a way that makes it seem like it will be a great love letter to the Goth scene. Some of the colours and sets also give it a Goth look. The last segment "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood", which is inspired by the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, had promise and it could have had a feeling similar to a Cradle Of Filth music video, but the direction of it was terribly, and the acting was atrocious, especially Alice Tate's performance as Drukjia. Natalia Borowsky in the role of Sheska in the segment "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood" was far better than the title character, her character seemed interesting and it would have been nice to see her character explored more. The film has some solid ideas, each of the segments has an interesting premise, but they are destroyed by bad acting and unforgivably bad production value, and Danzig fails to explore the ideas fully, to the point of even making any sense at all.
The film is broken into three segments, with the "Morella" segments that act as introductions and conclusions to the segments.
The first segment is "The Albino Spider of Dajette", which stars adult film star Ashley Wisdom as Dajette, and Scotch Hopkins as the Albino Spider. In this segment whenever Dajette falls a sleep a "spider-man" murders sex workers by breaking their necks. Also for no known reason that is explained Dajette has eyes for nipples.
The second segment "Change Face" stars Rachel Alig as "Mystery Girl", and Sean Kanan as Sgt. Anders. This segment is about a mysterious woman whose stripper stage name is "Mystery Girl", when she's not doing weird strip-teases she is hunting for pretty girls to steal their faces, which she cuts off and wears. She is being hunted by Sgt. Anders who is assigned to her case.
The third and final segment is "Drukjia Contessa Of Blood", which stars Alice Tate (credited as Alice Haig) as Drukija and Natalia Borowsky as Sheska. Contessa Drukija bathes in the blood of virgins, and feeds them by hand to a wolf? Sheska prepares the virgins for Drukija to bathe in. I honestly would like to say that there is more to this than that, but that is pretty much it, this is nothing more than a reason to get women topless and have blood spray from their severed necks, and slit wrists. I mean as a music video for a band like Cradle Of Filth this would have worked, I mean you get a topless woman bathing in a bathtub full of blood, and have a bound topless woman with her wrists slit hanging in the bathtub...but honestly even a music video would have had more of a plot and more of a point than this.
I think what this film struggles from even more than the laughable acting and terrible production is the fact that it doesn't actually ever have a point, it never tries to say anything or even have a purpose. If you watch this for the naked women, there is horror porn out there that delivers better, if you are watching it for a plot or decent acting then there is nothing here to see. That being said this film is entertaining in the sense that it is so bad that it is hilarious. People watch a film like this because it is funny, what the director intended is a moot point, because the comedy of how bad it is is what makes like a film like this go into cult classic status. People watch a film like this, or even like The Room, because it is funny to witness just how bad and inept a film can be. This has been a phenomenon since the days of Ed Wood, and honestly if Ed Wood was still alive I think that he would have made this film in his later career when he was making "nudie" films, it is on par with his film Necromania. So this film has its place, and once you establish in your mind that this is going to be one of the worst films ever made, and go into it with the same mindset that you would go into an Ed Wood movie, then you can admit that this is a fun movie, it is bad, it is terribly bad, and because of that it is actually a fun and funny film to watch. Also just as an aside, someone needs to get Kayden Kross to dress up as "Morella" and host goth music videos, seriously Cleopatra Records that would make a great music DVD release.
So if you are into so bad they are hilarious films, with a ton of blood and topless women, then this film is perfect. If you have tastes, maybe find something else.
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