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Gothkill (2008)
Starring Erica Giovanazzo, Flambeaux & Eve Blackwater
Directed by J.J. Connelly
Written by J.J. Connelly
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The concept of the "Horror-comedy" is something that can go very wrong. Sometimes a filmmaker will use it like a safety net, a defense. When serious moments come off unintentionally funny it is better to say that it was meant to be a joke instead of just copping to the fact that it didn't turn out to be the serious hardcore movie it was envisioned to be. Thankfully, GOTHKILL seems to be in on the joke and doesn't fall under that category.
GOTHKILL, written and directed by JJ Connelly, pokes fun at the Goth scene and provides us with more Goth kids than you can shake a stick at. Former priest Nicholas Dread (Flambeaux) was once a good guy, sticking up for those who were being burned as witches. The elders among him didn't agree with his viewpoint and ended up burning him at the stake with two innocent women, one of which is Mistress Juliya in a small but memorable role. Well guess what wronged man of the cloth was given a kingdom in hell from Satan to exact revenge and fill up with souls? Yep, you guessed it, our own loveable Nick, now known as The Soul Collector.
Enter Annie Caldwell and her friend Kate. They are two young college girls rooming together who get invited to an exclusive party at an underground Goth club called The Scorpion Society. The club is filled to the brim with leather, whips, boobs, black make-up and depressing fortunetellers. What did you think they would be doing? Baking banana bread? It is in these sequences that GOTHKILL jabs a finger into the side of the Goth lifestyle. I mean it has to be a joke because I can't believe the lifestyle would be this goofy but what do I know? I'm from Minnesota and Minnesota isn't exactly known as Goth Central. Plus, it's too cold there to wear nipple clamps and black rubber thongs.
Soon Annie and Kate's drinks are spiked and a sideshow of Goth freaks quickly feel them up. The group leader turns out to be a bit of a poser but still manages to summon up Nick, who takes over the body of young and virginal Annie. Gee, Spiked drinks, magic shows, funky music. Maybe I could get used to this whole Goth scene. While watching this movie I took away two things: Grown men shouldn't wear shiny black lipstick and GOTHKILL is bloody good fun. A knife shoved through the head of a Goth boy was especially impressive. It also boasts an end sequence of Nick/Annie slaughtering their way through the club. Think BRAVEHEART only with lace-up leather boots; black wigs and spider rings.
NYC underground performance artist Flambeaux was born to play Nick. He chews the scenery with all the gusto of a 300-pound woman on a diet. He really does make the movie what it is, a campy look at evil, Goth life and demonic cults. I see this playing at midnight theaters and taking on ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW-type status with the Goth crowds dressing as their favorite characters and shouting dialogue at the screen. Although maybe I'm just falling back on the "I loved this movie" defense because this particular group of actors look like they could mess a certain blonde horror writer up pretty badly. Who knows? Decide for yourself by going to www. gothkill. com and picking up a copy of GOTHKILL today.
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janet