Review: Bad movie night candidate ‘Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!’ comes with a warning
Great horror films challenge social norms, critiquing modern life by turning everyday experiences into waking nightmares. On the flip side, some fright flicks ask questions that don’t really need an answer, like: What if somebody remade “Saw” with the models from Suicide Girls?
Prolific B-movie writer-director Jared Cohn doesn’t do much to disguise how derivative his “Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!” is. Even the title is a ripoff of a classic Russ Meyer sexploitation picture (or, more charitably, an homage).
Rising scream queen Sara Malakul Lane stars as Amber Stardust, part of a retro riot grrrl music act. The band’s colorfully skimpy outfits make them easier to identify after they and some hangers-on are imprisoned by a maniac called the Mastermind (voiced by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine), who provides them with weapons and demands they murder each other to escape.
Cohn frames the Mastermind’s torture chamber as his method of revenge against shallow Americans who lead selfish lives while soldiers risk their lives overseas. That slight bit of commentary feels like an afterthought to what this movie’s really about: young women in cool punk clothes playing a cruel game of kill or be killed.
“Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!” is just dumb enough to be a potentially fun candidate for someone’s “bad movie night.” But beware! The very idea of celebrating trash is the kind of thing that would make the Mastermind mad.
-------------
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Playing: Arena Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood
See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »
Movie Trailers
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
