Aspiring African-American rap artist Kwame uses some of the family-practiced "killing magic" to get himself revenge on a sleazy music agent (local gangster) after his grandmother is hospitalized by the “agent’s” thuggish brothers (one of them being a flamboyant cowboy tough guy who is amazing and should have had a whole film dedicated to him) when he doesn’t outright accept the man’s offer to sign with his shady ass and then tells him to pretty much go fuck himself in front of a club “full” of people. The dark magic is transferred into an ugly-ass old-fashioned ragdoll that acts as a host and this damn thing belongs somewhere rotting in hell as opposed to residing in the bedroom of a child. Well, black magic is gonna black magic and any deal with the “Shadow Man” doesn’t necessarily play by moral rules. Sure, guilty folks are dropping at the tiny hands of the murderous doll but so are Kwame’s bandmates and friends. Any social messages feel forced thanks to performances that can’t handle the melodrama but I’m quite familiar with how much cringing is in store anytime shit that floated out from The Full Moon bathroom tried to provide anything more than dumb fun from psychotic little things. The lean runtime is plumped up with musical performances that are probably best fast-forwarded over if you’re not a fan of bland music and lip-synching. The villains are great in the “these people only exist and have power in a schlocky B-Grade horror film” kinda way and the doll may not be a convincing monster but I love it’s cheap and ugly ass all the same. Our hero has more balls than sense which makes him hard to root for, especially after he sets everything in motion to end in tragedy… more than fucking once. Still, when I throw on a Charles Band produced killer doll flick, my mindset is usually lowered to a level where it should be. The crime boss looks like what would happen if Steve Harvey enjoyed downing Twinkies before bedtime but only gained weight in his head for some reason and an opening scene features a killer wedding dress and I find that just wonderful. Get past the unlikable protagonists and you should have a good ol’ time with this one. It ends with our hero singing a song about magic and it’s a fucking hilarious way to send this movie off into the ether.
No comments:
Post a Comment