Venus
Flytrap
(1987/Massacre Video DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: C+
Life's
a drag!!
Venus
Flytrap
is a 1987 film that was shot on analog video (and available here for
the first time on DVD) but has a lot of charm and a pretty solid
story to be honest. Three street punks--Turk, his girlfriend BB.,
and his sidekick Wimp--observe two young affluent kids, Ginger and
Danny, shoplifting from a record store after they have ambushed the
store manager and stolen his money and his gun.
On
a lark, the street kids invite themselves along to a party at the
home of the yuppies' friends, Rod and Arlene. There, the party games
turn from strip darts to Russian roulette as it becomes increasingly
obvious that the yuppies are playing with the street kids' emotions.
Eventually the three street kids are all brutally murdered by the
yuppies, who had purposely lured them in for exactly that purpose.
The yuppies then prepare for their next kill...
This
doesn't have the greatest acting or dialogue but its pretty damn
charming in its own right. It has plenty of nudity and violence and
the soundtrack is cheesy-excellent in its electronic '80s type of
way. One scene where the group passes around a pistol with one
bullet in the chamber and pull the trigger at one another is pretty
unnerving and effective. Once the table turns and the Yuppies start
killing off the street punks, things get a little more interesting as
it cross cuts from kill to kill. There are also scenes that cut to
the Wimp that is observing the whole thing through cameras that are
set up around the house.
The
ending sequence is pretty well put together and pretty ironic for
Turk - who is the biggest a@#hole throughout the whole movie, and its
nice to see him get his. It almost reminded me of Last
House On The Left.
The theme is if you are going rob someone's house and take advantage
of them but you better say sure you know you are taking advantage of!
The
transfer on the film isn't the best, but it's not really supposed to
be. In standard definition with a 4:3/1.33 X 1 aspect ratio and a
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track, it looks like a slight upgrade over
the VHS version... and I wouldn't want it any other way. This is
part of a cycle of DVD releases of video-shot horror of the time now
going on VHS and even Beta videocassettes for $100+ and up.
Extras
include a Video
Interview and Commentary with Producer Kevin M. Glover and Actor
Steve Malis, Liner Notes by Kevin M. Glover, and Trailers.
The
running time is pretty short with a little over an hour, but if you
like underground or cult type movies then this may be one for you to
check out!
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
