Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet
z-Diet-3 Productions / Kiss of Death Productions
World Wide Multi Media (WWMM)
100 minutes, 2011 / 2012
www.facebook.com/Fetish-Dolls-Die-Laughing
www.mvdvisual.com
The first half of the film is a bit
convoluted with many different deaths and multiple directions involving not
only our happy monster, but other deaths as well, such has by hatchet, leading
to an extraordinarily higher than usual body count. This also gives us a chance
to be introduced to some of the key players.
Of course, this is also a set up for the action to come in the third
act, as we learn the lead cop, Greer English (well played by Laura Romeo) is
sort of a Dirty Harriet (or pick-a-TV-cop) who tends to put her own life in
danger by going rogue and solo, to nab a killer. You know that’s going to turn
out badly, since this is a genre film, and “you don’t need a Weatherman to know
which way the wind blows.”
Trailer HERE
Images from the Internet
Fetish Dolls Die Laughing
Directed by David Silvioz-Diet-3 Productions / Kiss of Death Productions
World Wide Multi Media (WWMM)
100 minutes, 2011 / 2012
www.facebook.com/Fetish-Dolls-Die-Laughing
www.mvdvisual.com
The premise is simple: the creature
your parents always invoked when you were a wee one as they tickled you (“It’s
the tickle monster!!”; I’ve done this, myself, to my wee ones) is an actual
demon that transports from body to body, much like the one in Fallen (1998). You can tell the
possessed by the red eyeliner, pale skin and yellow teeth, not to mention the evil
giggling of the host.
Now, as a confession, this is not a
joyous thing for me as I am hyper-ticklish, much to the dismay of loved ones
who I won’t let touch me that way. The last time I punched someone was in
junior high, when the much larger kid behind me in line would not stop poking
me in the ribs, which for most people is ticklish, but for me is painful. After
asking him to stop a few times, I lost my temper, and punched him in the jaw.
It was seen by my classmate’s mother who worked in the lunchroom (she, like her
son, would later become a principal; RIP Mrs. Daub) and I did not get in
trouble for it, but the other kid did.
Point is, most people will see this
as a – er – laughing matter, but the terror that is being struck in the story
is a bit more palpable to me. This actually made me happy because it added
another layer to the onion, as it were.
And you may wonder, how does this
deranged demon kill? Well, along with the tickling, he also rips out your innards,
with lots of blood and some gore, or as the story goes on, methods of disposal of
course ramp up. So, of course, the fiend tends to transfers into males,
so we can get the great and curious title of the film.
Laura Romeo and Michael McGovern |
A nice proposition is that the tickle
monster (or is it Tickle Monster?) invades the body of someone who runs a fetish
film company along the lines of W.A.V.E., for those who remember that New
Jersey-based company (whose specialty included various fetishes, SM/BD,
torture, and tentacles; no I don’t own any of their features) from back in the
‘90s, which introduced some amazing talent, such as the underrated Tina
Krause). If you are into fetishes like feet, tickling, plastic wrap bondage,
and a host of others, of course, there may be other reasons for watching this.
There is an extremely large cast
(including many Italianos), topped by
four characters. There is the lead cop, the aforementioned English, and her
partner, the love-jealous and borderline sexual harasser Leland Tucker (Angelo
Bruni, who looks a lot like a ‘80s Lenny Kaye, right down to the haircut), English’s
love interest Adam Bishop (Aaron Bernard), and the possessed wacko fetishist
killer, Billy Tagg (Michael McGovern). Now, all due respect meant, McGovern is
a decent actor considering his lack of screen credits, but I do find it hard to
believe the amount of women way out of his league who throw themselves at him
(i.e., victims). Even his late wife, Tanith (Diana Silvio, the director’s spouse),
who ran the fetish website which Bill takes over, is quite bosomy and fetching.
There is a lot of sexual tension, attractive
women, short skirts, and displays of fetishism, but surprisingly no visual
naughty bits. Yet Silvio makes the film kind of weirdly sensual and sexual
without it. Again, tickling or feet aren’t my things, but watching other peoples’
out of control lust is fascinating,
in the words of the late, great Mr. Spock. The gore is effective and not
overdone, though it’s more blood than viscera. However, the ickiest moment to
me is when a main character doesn’t wash hands after using bathroom.
Technically, this is a dark comedy,
so there’s lots of self-references throughout, sometimes quite subtle as done in
An American Werewolf In London (1981), such as someone on the phone
saying “You don’t sound tickled to death to be there,” or we see a young couple
in a loving tickle fight. One of my fave moments is a cigarette bit at a
hospital early on that I won’t ruin.
Sure there is a lot of goofiness, and
none of the fetishes are mine, as I said, and yet, despite some wooden acting,
this film is actually successfully effective. Part of the reason for that is
it’s not just tickling, not just toes (though a lot of that), but a string of many
scenarios that play out in a Hershell Gordon Lewis / The Wizard of Gore (1970) bloody kind of way. The body count is
large, as I stated, which is all the better to balance out its moments of silliness
(again, not meant as an insult in any way, because, well, this is a micro-budgeter with a huge cast,
and is supposed to be a dark comedy),
such as a smiley-face blanket on the torture table.
For me, the problems with the film
are just logistical, which really shouldn’t be applied in cases like these, but
it’s the way my analytical brain (or some other organ) works. For example, the
torture chamber is set up a room in an apartment. Wouldn’t other tenants hear
the screams? And there is at least one attempted escaper in a prone position
who could have easily have raised a knee hard enough to cause some damage and
escape, but of course, that would lower the count. Also, the echo in the Maniac
(1980) inspired dream sequences are just a bit too reverbatory (yeah, I know
it’s not a Scrabble-worthy word) to
make it clear what is being said. But mostly, it could use a bit of trimming to
keep it less than 90 minutes.
It’s obvious from the beginning they
are setting up the go-on-her-own main character to fall victim to the tickler, so
I’m not giving anything away there, but the question is, though, does she get
out of it. Not gonna tell. But I will say that one of the aspects of the finale
was not what I was expecting, which I admired.
The extras are a 9-minute deleted
scenes collection that mostly doesn’t add much, a decent gag reel, a trailer,
and two “Webinars,” which are actually two decent short films worth watching.
So, to sum up, despite the incredibly
silly name of the film, it is actually a fun ride in part for the lack of
single direction of the story, and by adding elements to the plot – such as a
second murder storyline – it becomes more interesting than just goofy.
As a side note, this was a perfect
time to see this release as another big budget fetish film you may have heard
of called, oh what was that again… oh, yeah, Shades of Grey (2015), opened in theaters all over. Coincidence?
That question tickles my fancy.
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