Review by Chris Rennirt

Yes! I admit it.  I just got around to watching Dead Hooker in a Trunk.  Believe it or not, it’s true.  How could you possibly wait so long, you ask?  Twelve years to be exact?  The answer is, I’m not sure.  I’ve had the movie in my collection for years.  But just last night, it finally happened; I watched it.  And, as the film’s ass-kicker-in-chief and F-bomb-dropping “Badass” (Sylvia Soska) might say, what a f#ck#ng great decision it finally was!

Dead Hooker in a Trunk (written and directed by The Twisted Twins, Jen & Sylvia Soska), chronicles what could happen, in a most extreme scenario, if friends find a dead hooker in the trunk of their car, on an otherwise routine day running errands.  While most of us would immediately call the police, not so fast here.  Why?  Reporting it could implicate someone who found it…maybe…or maybe not.  So why take chances?  Known only as Badass (Sylvia Soska), Geek (Jen Soska), Goody Two Shoes (C.J. Wallis), and Junkie (Rikki Gagne), they’re a motley crew of over-the-top characters, in a Tarantino-style tale of serendipitous chaos and ever-deepening danger.  Some reviewers have called them archetypes, but I disagree.  Archetypes are “very typical examples of certain types of people.”  While their generic names in the credits suggest it (and real names are never mentioned in the movie), they are actually anything but “typical.”  And a great thing that is!   As uniquely quirky examples of their “type,” they’re a powerhouse of energy for the movie’s ironic, dark comedy and original story.

A whole paragraph must go to the copious badassery of THE Badass herself, Sylvia Soska (so well done that I’d swear it’s part of Sylvia’s natural personality…or at least her capability.)  After being beaten, roped, punched in the face, drug through dirt and more, she’s up again (jumping up, actually), ready for more.  Ready to kick ass she is, taunting her foes, pissed off more than before, saying, ever-defiantly, “Is that all you got?”  A leaner, meaner, more deadly-beautiful, “f#ck you” source of female power and vengeance may never walk the streets of “Your Ass Is Mine,” again.  And the fact that Sylvia does her own stunts makes it all the more gritty and realistic; watching Dead Hooker made me realize how much of a difference it really makes.  Here, there are no cuts to someone who could be a stunt double.  It’s Sylvia every time!

Another paragraph must go to the wrench (a giant monkey wrench, actually) thrown into the mix of mayhem and immoral deeds–the Geek (Jen Soska).  As a twin, identical in looks only (a geek with glasses and morals to match), she’s the initial superego of Badass’ unchecked id, and the catalyst for making things worse…in just the direction the movie needs to go to get better!  But, can a geek survive to the bloody end in a movie like Dead Hooker in a Trunk?  Jen Soska, with subtleties and overtness of acting, gives us a “Geek” that’s transformative, adaptive, and believable, with a full spectrum of extremes.

As a bonus (or ethereal personification), there’s a cameo with Carlos Gallardo (El Mariachi) as God himself, in a come to Jesus moment with Goody Two Shoes!  With Gillardo, a great genre icon is added for fan service (much like Stan Lee in a Marvel movie)!  To avoid a possibly divine spoiler, I’ll stop here; I wouldn’t dare reveal a man’s conversation with God (aka Gillardo)!

Dead Hooker in a Trunk is ingeniously-written dark comedy, certainly among the best I’ve seen. The greatest lines (which are many) come out of nowhere, even after we think nothing else could surprise us; whenever the seriousness of the moment distracts us, we are given something else to laugh at.  The unexpected, contrary result is humor that’s all the more effective, with much of it from (or directed at) the most ironic character of the four, Goody Two Shoes.  As the consummate, hymn-singing church boy, reluctantly complicit in the movies debauchery, his potential is well used.  C.J. Wallis (who also edited, shot, sound tracked, marketed, and post-produced) makes Goody Two Shoes a standout, more of a caricature of himself, adding one of the movie’s most-effective sources of irony and humor.  His habit of throwing up (at least a little in his mouth, if not profusely and repeatedly), at the sight of blood or dead bodies, in a movie that constantly provokes the response, is funny, just as much every time.  His sudden bouts of anger and profanity, followed by calm compliance, meekness, and sometimes uncontrolled laughter, are priceless.  Powerfully funny also is the mostly casual attitude characters have about deadly serious things—catastrophic bodily injury, murder, death, torture, loss of limbs and organs, and whatever else.

As for humor, selections of the movie’s music emphasized it even more.  I loved the combination of extreme violence with classical, operatic, and Japanese-language metal music; even a soft-toned song akin to something from the 60s.  All accentuate the horror of the events, amplifying them exponentially.  The movie’s music is the “cherry on top,” the piece de resistance of mood-forming elements, with comedy as the ironic, wicked entrée–that is, if you already have a taste for it served darkly.  With this, Dead Hooker‘s cinematic confections are a feast of experience for the ears, as much as the eyes!

Is there romance in Dead Hooker in a Trunk?  While mixing the word “romance” with the movie’s title seems to create an oxymoron, the answer is yes.  There is a shy, slow-burning love between Geek and Goody Two Shoes that never interferes with the movie’s more visceral core.  And, interestingly, the two have more than just chemistry in common.  Both have the same ability, or perhaps the same affliction–one that allows them to assume (or be cursed with) different extremes of personality as a means of coping or succumbing…perhaps.  In any case, I love how such possibilities for analysis are added for those looking for more.

Is there blood, gore, and profanity?  (Does a bear sh#t in the woods?  Is Sylvia Soska a badass?  And are there F-bombs in a Soska film?)  Hell yes, hell yes, and hell yes again!  And lots of it all there is!  This is a Twisted Twins production; I expected no less and got a lot more…much more.  Without naming victims and to avoid spoilers (in true Joe Bob Briggs style with a count), we get one knocked out eye, one torn off arm, one disemboweled drug dealer, one snapped neck, one dismembered body, one mutilated penis (OUCH!), one bat-bludgeoned whore, one punched face, two extracted teeth, the word “fuck” (or some form of it) used 87 times, and one dead hooker in a trunk…of course.  And that’s not all!  This is grindhouse blood and guts, splattering gloriously in your face, red and fresh.  Raw, ironic violence and F-bombs galore served up with gory goodness is, as the late, great Robert Palmer sings, “Simply Irresistible”—and what a great theme song it would have been for “Badass,” walking down the street with vengeance on her mind, shaking her hair from side to side in slow motion, beautifully as she goes.  Yes!  There’s a sequel in my head, and Sylvia is the star…again!

While I never like to consider a movie’s budget in reviewing it, I must do it here.  According to its IMDb trivia page, “the film cost [only] $2500 to make, including $1000 for prosthetics, $80 for the semi-truck, $160 for the hotel room, and the rest was costumes and craft.”  Wow!  Even 12 years ago, that was a tiny (actually microscopic) amount of money for any film, especially one like this.  Countless movies with immensely larger budgets can’t even touch Dead Hooker in a Trunk!  Not only is it a great movie, it’s also a great example of how much can be done with so little.

Also interesting and related to the film’s budget and beginnings is something else from IMDb: “The film came from a fake trailer inspired by Grindhouse during the twins’ disappointing time at a poorly run film school in Vancouver.  When the measly $200 budget was taken away from them for their final project, the twins decided to write, direct, produce, star in, and do the stunt work for their own project out of spite.” Amazing it is also what great things come from thwarted goals, especially those denied by others.  It reminds me of my own way of dealing with such things.  I, like Jen & Sylvia, am always determined not just to succeed ultimately, but to make it all the better for the challenge…in spite of the obstacles.  Indeed, Dead Hooker in a Trunk was the most spiteful result we could hope for.  Perhaps, after all, thanks should go to that “poorly run film school” in Vancouver; perhaps they should be added to Dead Hooker‘s credits!  Just kidding!

Favorite Quotes (not attributed to the characters, to avoid spoilers):

“I reckon you got my whore.”

“Guys I’m really tired.  Maybe we should just have a good night’s sleep, and then meet up to bury the body tomorrow.”

“Well, it looks like you managed to escape in your typical Sylvester and Tweety sort of way.”

“She was acting all weird last night…like acting kind and everything.”

“Most people go to Hell for what you guys did.”

Questions

Were any hookers actually harmed during filming?  Ha, ha!  (According to IMDb, no.)  Will friends ever again have a more dysfunctional bonding experience in a movie?  Can geeks be badasses too?  Will Badass, Geek, Goody Two Shoes, and Junkie go to Hell?  Or, is it really about “the picture,” as Junkie says?  Will the Soska’s ever find another dead hooker in a trunk and return for a sequel?  Keep your trunks open and your hooker’s legs crossed…if not your fingers.  With The Twisted Twins, anything is possible.  Oh, and will my Dead Hooker, Badass-inspired F-bomb utterances and writing ever come to an end?  Only time will tell.

Conclucsion

If somehow you’re like me…if somehow Dead Hooker in a Trunk isn’t already in your collection, or, if you haven’t already bought it on its reputation alone, it’s never too late…and now is a time as good as ever; twelve years late is better than never.  The last I checked, the DVD and bluray were on Amazon.  My DVD copy has deleted scenes, an alternate scene, an interview, a behind-the-scenes featurette with some killer bloopers, and more.  As Badass herself would surely say, “A f#ck@ng awesome deal!”

Chris Rennirt (the author of this review) is a movie critic and writer in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as editor in chief at Space Jockey Reviews.  He has been a judge at many film festivals, including Macabre Faire Film Festival and Crimson Screen Film Fest, and he attends horror and sci-fi conventions often.  Chris’ movie reviews, articles, and interviews are published regularly on Space Jockey Reviews and in Effective Magazine.  His mission statement (describing his goals as a movie critic and philosophy for review writing) can be found on the “Mission” page, here at SJR.  For more information about Chris Rennirt (including contact details, publicity photos, and more), click here.

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