Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2015
Images from the Internet
Bill Huckstabelle: Serial Rapist
Written, directed and edited by Jerry Landi
Fiona Studios / Amuck Duck Films
56 minutes, 2015
www.Vimeo.com/
Images from the Internet
Bill Huckstabelle: Serial Rapist
Written, directed and edited by Jerry Landi
Fiona Studios / Amuck Duck Films
56 minutes, 2015
www.Vimeo.com/
Since
even before the days of Hostel
(2005), the Roughie genre (pre-Sexploitation) has been coming back. Early
versions of the style from the 1960s, for example, include Scum of the Earth (1963) and Bad
Girls Go to Hell (1965). It’s the kind of film that feminists (rightfully)
were up in arms about. It has resurged with the likes of the Japanese Guinea Pig series, or indies by those
such as Dustin Mills (e.g., Her Name Was
Torment [2014] and Applecart [2015],
though to be fair, both genders are the objects in his releases).
Director
Jerry Landi, known for his Blood Marsh
Krackoon (2014), is back; his latest deals with, well, you-know-who, if you
couldn’t tell by the name of the films. Y’know what is the difference between “Based
on a true story/incident” and “Ripped from the headlines”? The former is predicated
on something you’ve probably never heard of before, and the second has a
foundation in someone or something infamous. Y\know what the two of them have
in common? At least 95 percent bullshit. I’m not saying this is a bad thing,
just the truth (pun intended). The major divergence with the second is you have
a better chance to recognize the real bits, such as here.
Landi
takes “America’s Dad” head on, albeit in a near completely fictionalized
version of one of the most beloved / reviled actors in recent history. Although
fictionalized, it does well to also make some fine points about the entire
event, such as denial and blaming the victim (“it was so many years ago, why
now?” as a co-worker recently said to me, about origin story). Throughout the
review I will refer to the real person as Cos, and the fictitious one as Bill,
just to keep them straight.
Having
formed a friendship with director/actor Sean Weathers, Landi directs him in the
first feature that Weathers stars in but has not directed. I was looking
forward to seeing someone else lead point for Sean’s actions at least once to
see some acting stretches.
Rather
than the early 1960s, the back part of the story here takes place in 1990, so
when they catch up to “now,” rather than being in his 80s, Bill is only in his
supposed ‘50s (Sean looks way too young for that, being 35, but this is given
as a compliment). The unfunny standup comedy routine (intentionally?;
personally, I found the Cos stuff from his early career, before the revelations,
hysterical) of Bill reflects back to Cos, with monsters and Skinny Vinny, both
referencing a bit about Od Weird Harold.
There is even a veiled indication of Cos’s first television show, I-Spy (1965-1968).
After
the black and white flashback, we brought to the present, where Bill hosts a program
called Kids Say the Dumbest Things, a
not very hidden reference to the Cos’s own remake of Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the Darndest Things (1998-2000).
Never saw the Cos version of the show, so I can’t speak to its accuracy. Bill’s
show and endorsements, however, are in jeopardy thanks to the hounding by
daytime television show host Cindy Marie (Weathers’ regular Sybelle
Silverphoenix, giving the strongest performance I have seen her do so far). She
has even interviews some of his alleged victims, such as the self-lip-lickin’
Casey (Sara Rosenberg).
 |
| Sybelle Silverphoenix |
Bill
is supported in public by his long-suffering wife, Leeanna (b-movie regular Erika
Smith, playing a white version of Cos’s wife, Cam…let’s stop there) and his
manager Schlomo Rosenberg (Landi regular and scene stealer Sal Amore); he is also
helped in his evil, hidden side by sidekick Louie (Brian Martin) and the
occasional others.
One
of the references in the film is the Bill sit-com, “Safe at Home,” where he
teaches his son about responsibility using fake money (a bit taken directly from
the first episode of “The You-Know-Who Show”). But despite that, there is a lot
of mixing up of timelines by changing the order of events, which is not a
complaint in any kind of way, just an observation. But there are also some
interesting little bits here and there, such as some anti-religious statements
(not that I’m a fan of organized religion), and a negative mention of Kim Jong
Un, my guess is to possibly raise The Interview
(2014) level-reactions and publicity. Nice try, even if it ends as only a
commentary on those events.
The
following comment has nothing to do with anything, but this is filmed in the
New York area, most likely Landi’s home turf of the Bronx, and Weathers’ locus
of Brooklyn (Silverphoenix is also from da
Bronx), and some of the accents are beautifully thick (I say that without
sarcasm) as can be, especially Amore’s. Having grown up in Bensonhurst, with a
Bronx-bred dad, it made me feel at home.
There
is one thing regarding this film about which I felt a bit uncomfortable. In
Weathers’ films, women are often mistreated, but there is either retribution,
such as with They All Must Die (1998),
or his own characters are treated more harshly in the long run, like in Act Jackson is a Dead Man (2015) or Scumbag Hustler (2014). It is the
violence against women that is on display here, be it via beating, skinning,
etc., that feels unbalanced. Even during the many rape scenes, the women are
naked and the men are fully clothed. Heck, Weathers has been shown a propensity
to be naked to show off the muscles at the drop of a lens cap in his own films,
but that does not happen here. This one-sidedness is, to me, the biggest
drawback of the film.
 |
| Brian Martin and Sean Weathers in the titular role |
As
the film proceeds and veers ever further from the latest reports on our 24-hour
news cycle about Cos, by the end it’s (hopefully; who knows what really happened with Cos) completely
over the top, and that is actually a somewhat good thing, because it helps with
the “not based on any real or living person…” disclaimer thingie that goes at
the end of every film.
The
extras are the trailer, a 13-minute unrated “Making Of” that is a mix of gag
reel, deleted scenes, and behind the camera stuff, and a really good 8-minute
film called Rex Baily by Landi about
a has-been and bitter baseball player, who signs autographs in a bar in the Bronx
for a living (made me think of Mickey Mantle on many levels).
Honestly,
this is not the most shocking film name I can think of off the top of my head –
that would go to Bill Zubub’s similarly titled Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist (2004) – but this is definitely up
there in the Troma-level Whaaaaaaaaah? class.
It’s also pretty brave, if you think about it, because Cos could pos – er – I mean
possibly find offense and do a law action (not saying the sue word, but cease and
desist do come to mind).
If
you like serial killer films or just human monsters in general, this might
interest you. There is a lot of female nudity and violence, some decent acting,
and a nice level of bang for the
production buck. Den dere are doze axcents…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqP_8XIKaaA
