"Dead Hooker In A Trunk" Review by Cavepearl

It is unfair to bash no-budget horror films for production value. They are a time honored tradition and one I fully support. And it is even cooler that the one I am reviewing now was produced, acted, written and directed by twin sisters from Vancouver, but production value isn’t a problem with this film. When it comes to camerawork, make-up FX, sets, even acting, it is close to being on par with higher budget current grindhouse favorites like HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. So while I would normally give a film like this a pass on production, I don’t have too and that is quite an accomplishment for first time directors the Soska sisters. However because the production value is very high, the flaws that do exist pop out just like the Geek’s eyeball.

DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK has a pretty self explanatory title. In a town, with a serial killer on the loose, two lovely twins after hard night of partying find a dead hooker in the back of their car. Worried that she is involved somehow, the dark impulsive twin convinces her geekier sibling and their two friends to help her get rid of the body instead of calling the police. While in the process of body disposal, they go on an inexplicable drug run. Much mayhem and calamity ensues.

Sure I got what I expected. DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK has tons of outrageous action, but the lack of writing skills is distracting. The script is an absolute mess and is stopping me from giving this film a glowing review. I am not sure exactly where the fault lies. If I was to speculate, I think the Soska sisters were so involved in every aspect of the film that it was hard for them to step back and see that story is still the most important thing, even in grindhouse and horror. You can have broad abstract characters and even have terrible acting and design. But you still have to give your characters things to do that make sense in context to the plot. Here you have individuals that have no idea what to do with themselves and are merely reactive to external stimuli. The lack of character motivation makes the whole piece feel slap dash instead of a romping comedy of errors.

Plot device does not make up for holes in a screenplay, in fact just the opposite. Another reviewer suggested that this film would be a bit tighter if someone else had been a script doctor to it. I tend to agree. This film was one or two drafts away from being really outstanding. I think the Soska sisters should co-write with a third partner. Another set of eyes would have been a tremendous help. When you are working so close with something you often miss the details. That is why even a silly review like this, I always have someone else do my editing. I cannot see my own mistakes and neither can they. But as a film goes, I am excited that women are claiming a genre that is dominated normally by men. There are women out there, like myself, that enjoys this kind of material as much as “one of the guys.” In fact I like this stuff more than my husband. But I cannot quite excuse poor writing. In low budget filmmaking, the script is the one thing you do have complete control over. The gore should be secondary and support the writing not the other way around. If the script is weak then no matter the amount of dead hookers, serial killers and severed limbs there are, the film will merely become an afterthought instead of ground breaking moment in the field. If these lovely Twisted Twins from Canada learn this lesson, then we may have team on par with the Wachowski Brothers. If they can garner this much attention with no budget, I am excited to see their next film AMERICAN MARY, which has a real budget and hopefully a good screenplay. Grade C+