Holla (2006/Lionsgate)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Film: C

 

 

Up until the last ten to fifteen minutes, H.M. Coakley’s Holla (2006) is both a throwback to the older slasher films by adding some suspense and adds the twist of having African American characters more prominent.  It is so funny and knowing in doing this that it even adds some white “sick happy” characters who seem like out of place for any time after the early 1980s.

 

There is even a mystery of sorts, even weak one, which is more than the current torture porn cycle seems to be able to offer.  If Coakley had just seen some more of the older films and tired a bit more to try out some new ideas, twists and turns, this could have been a major genre work.  As it stands, it is a mixed bag when all is said and done, yet, it is one of the few notable such films anyone may remember when the current cycle finally dies out.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image has some haziness issues, but is not bad for a low budget production.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes are not as bad as many we have heard in the played out genre lately, with the 5.1 a bit better and both still do not use the surrounds like you might expect.  The combination is passable.  Extras include a making of featurette and audio commentary by Coakley, writer Camille Irons Coakley and actress Shelli Boone.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo