Make-Out with Violence
A genre-bending tale of a boy trying to fulfill his unrequited love for a girl who has risen from the dead. It tells the story of twin brothers Patrick and Carol Darling, newly graduated from high school and struggling to come to terms with the mysterious disappearance of their friend, the bright and beautiful Wendy Hearst. When a drive through the countryside surrounding their suburban community leads to the discovery of Wendy's mysteriously animated corpse, the boys secretly transport the un-dead Wendy to an empty house in hopes of somehow bringing her back to life. As the sweltering summer pushes on, they must maintain the appearance of normalcy for their friends and family as they search for ways to revive the Wendy they once knew, or, failing that, to satisfy their own quests for love amongst the living and the dead.
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- Cast:
- Bob King
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Reviews
Pretty Good
Memorable, crazy movie
How sad is this?
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
This is sort of an indie coming-of-age story with snippets of horror.Don't be misled by the cover and the title of this flick (as I was), because this is in no way a full blown horror flick.Wendy comes back from the dead as some sort of a zombie. Without the craving for human brains that is, because once again: this is not a horror story.The rest of the story is about Wendy's friends being bored and feeling sorry for themselves. Without having any shocking epiphanies while doing so.The movie starts with over half an hour of storytelling and elaborating on the characters. Although the acting is more than decent, the pace of the story is excruciatingly slow and filled with unnecessary scenes (buying a chocolate milkshake, minutes of walking through fields etc.). Maybe it's me being impatient, but I turned it off. How long can one watch a couple of teenagers walking around explaining how sad they are? But then again, that's just my 2 cents....
Unlike Deadgirl, which was released around the same time, this movie struck me as pretentious nonsense that exists only to showcase the indie cred of all involved. There wasn't anything really *wrong* with it, per se, but I found myself constantly rolling my eyes and sighing heavily. Most of the scenes are melodramatic, though the acting is decent enough. None of the characters ever seem to express any strong emotions, though I suppose that's probably the fault of the writers/directors than the actors. Speaking of the writing, it was pretty mediocre. I've seen much, much worse, but with the pretentiousness of the directing, I was really expecting something a bit deeper. The soundtrack seems to be a major part of the experience, and I'm sure that if you're one of those hipsters who can't get enough of pretentious, derivative pop music, you'll love it to death. Unfortunately, I don't think I was in the target demographic for this movie. Some movies can transcend their genre and target demographic, like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (spaghetti western), The Shining (horror), and The Godfather (crime drama). That requires good directing and writing, however, and this movie simply can't rise above the silly pretensions of the Smeagol brothers (or whatever). If you're into this sort of thing (pretentious "indie" movies), you'll probably love it, but I was overcome by boredom and annoyance.
'Twas terrible. During it's premiere, people were getting up and leaving. I wanted to. I honestly don't know how it won any awards. It was simply a bloody, gory mess. The story doesn't make much sense at all, and it is just quite plainly strange. I don't know what people saw in this movie, but the girl eats dogs, rats, and a man. Just weird. It is now my duty in life to prevent as many people as possible from watching this terrible movie of crap. I dislike it. I dislike the story. There was really nothing good in the movie, and nothing good that came out of the movie. I highly recommend watching it. It is great in all senses of the word. It was terrible. Don't watch this poop hole.
The Deagol Brothers' "Make-Out with Violence" is a stylish, smart, sweet little American indie that is sure to leave the viewer buzzing. This isn't your typical genre film, and the quirky mix of comedy and horror defies description. Films that terrorize with tongue firmly planted in cheek are among my favorites, but "Make-Out with Violence" doesn't even fit that profile.The film opens with the slightly creepy voice-over of little brother Beetle (scene-stealer Brett Miller), segues to flashbacks shot with a soft, dreamy, oversaturated look, then takes the viewer on a ride through the most perverse summer this group of slightly off-kilter misfits has ever had. The soundtrack is one of the film's strongest elements, mostly the work of composer Jordan Lehning (who also plays lead character Rody). The writing, direction, editing, and production of the film are all the handiwork of a small group of multitalented family members. Even the actors had a hand in the film's creative process. The two brothers at the center of the film (Eric Lehning and Cody DeVos) are also credited as writers, along with the Deagols. The film is shot and edited with such precision that there isn't a single frame of filler. Every word, every camera angle, every visual and sound effect is devoted to advancing the story. The filmmakers certainly made the best use of their low budget -- from all appearances there were no post-production special effects. Everything appears to have been done in-camera. No small feat for a genre film. This is quite an impressive calling card for these first-time feature filmmakers.