Stag (1997)

Well that's 90 minutes of my life I'll never see again...the idea was fine, cheap to shoot, could have covered some real ground, but in the end took the easy route through every choice it had to make.When the strippers were doing their stripping, right upto the pallid sex scene, I was convinced one of them was a transvestite! I see now it was the lighting, and stronger physique of the actress combined with awkward-looking boobs, but by golly it would have made such a better film if it had been. If you can bear watching it again, see if I'm right, then if it would have been a worse film for it...Scores 3 for the fact the production was so economically planned...I have to wonder if they shot this in less than a week, single location, etc. Must have been cheap as chips. It'll have made it's money back many times over above a big expensive blockbuster! :-)

I was up late the other night and this was on HBO. I only started to watch it because of John Henson, who I liked watching on "Talk Soup". Boy, was this a stretch for him!"Stag"'s premise is simple enough, but the writing and cinematography were complex. As I was watching, I was reminded of another engrossing film... "Suicide Kings". Both take place in one location (mostly), and both involve a group of guys dealing with their recent actions, and a hostage. Both also have a known comedic actor (in this case Henson) doing a dramatic turn. And VERY well, I might add.Unlike most movies, this one doesn't quite turn out like you think it will, not completely. For mostly B Actors, I was very impressed with the quality of the work. I'm also surprised more impressive talents didn't sign on after Jerry Stiller got attached to the movie! But nonetheless... if you liked "Suicide Kings" you should like "Stag" as well.

Although a good cast, Stag (terrible title) is a good example of a bad script. All the way through the movie, the actors fight and scream nearly all the time you cannot hear what is going on. The main death scene is laughable stuff (Sloooow mooooow deaths never work) and the dialoge is a scrawl of "kill her" or "shut up". The acting is also bad , using Mario Van Peebles was a stupid idea-he looks like he wanted to run out of there.A waste of time.

I actually saw this after "Very Bad Things" and realised where "Very Bad Things" may have gained the basic ideas from. This is actually a more superior film than "Very Bad Things" as it does take the issue seriously and making it seems like it could happen to anyone.The large cast, unfortunately, makes it difficult for specific character developments to arise. Even though at the end of the film we do feel sorry for Taylor Dayne's and Kevin Dillon's character. The acting in the film is quite decent too with Dayne holding herself quite well among the other performer. Kevin Dillon comes close second for his portrayal as a man who painfully tries to do the right thing. The ending, while a little dark, could not have been better executed. Overall, 7.5 out of 10.