All About Evil (2010)

Two things attracted me to this film: Natasha Lyonne and a mix of horror and comedy. You can't go wrong with that combination, right? The film starts out as a comedy and even though it remains funny until the end, the second half is very dark and bloody. There are quite graphic killings and the ending is nothing short of a massacre. Yet, it still remains entertaining and keeps you guessing how it will all end.The performances from all the leads are great. Natasha Lyonne totally disappears in her character as a somewhat demented auteur who gets consumed by her newly found fame. Cassandra Peterson puts on a very solid performance as a worried mother and there's even a nice little nod to her Elvira character.If you can enjoy a mix of horror and comedy with a touch of the bizarre and macabre, definitely watch this film. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

In 1984, Deborah Tennis' father ran The Victoria Theatre, a revival house that also featured vaudeville-like mini-shows, especially at the kiddie matinees. One day he made Deborah sing for the kids and she was so nervous she ended up peeing herself on stage and was nearly electrocuted when the stream hit a frayed electrical line.Flash forward to present day: Deborah is now a librarian. She keeps the Victoria Theatre alive at night out of love for all her father had taught her about show business. Then her witch of a mother comes by one night to tell her she's putting the theatre up for sale. Having enough of her mother's abuse (which has been going on since childhood) Deborah Tennis (pronounced, Deb-bore-AH Ten-Niece) takes a pen and jabs it into mom's neck. As rage takes over, she jumps on her body and begins stabbing her multiple times until the lobby floor is covered in blood.Meanwhile, the audience is chanting for the film to start (a revival of BLOOD FEAST). The Victoria's projectionist is out getting something to eat, so Deborah runs upstairs (covered in her mother's blood) and attempts to put the film on. She accidentally hits the security camera button, and the audience is treated to an unusually realistic film: the footage of Deborah killing her mother.With growing insanity and a father-taught love for entertainment, Deborah (along with her trusty projectionist, Mr. Twigs) begins to shoot short films that they show every Friday night before the main feature; the films also serve as Public Service Announcements. A highlight is when one unlucky patron is forced to star in a little ditty they title A TALE OF TWO TITTIES (Deborah bases all her films on literary classics she spends most of the daytime reading).The gruesome twosome eventually recruit a derelict cameraman named Adrian (after watching him beat down an old woman in the street) and sexy Goth-looking twins named Veda and Vera (on they day they're let out of prison). After several shorts the crew plans their first full-length film, GORE AND PEACE, and what they have planned for the audience itself is, in the words of one theatre patron, "So Jonestown!" Thomas Dekker plays Steven, a young film fanatic who is infatuated with Deborah's films until one of his friends (the non-horror fan Judy) goes missing and he believes she's being held hostage at the Theatre. Cassandra Peterson (yes, the legendary Elvira) plays Steve's clueless mother, and cult film icon Mink (Pink Flamingos) Stole plays Deborah's librarian boss (and what happens to her body during the ending is the stuff gore-film fans live for).ALL ABOUT EVIL is the product of Peaches Christ (a.k.a. director Joshua Grannell), he a cult-film fan who has finally delivered his own full-length feature; but unlike the countless films out there that TRY to be something special, this one actually is. Sure, it's a tribute to the films of H.G. Lewis and Ted V. Mikels, bit it doesn't stop there. Grannell has taken what inspired him, and by adding a fantastic cast (especially the hysterical Natasha Lyonne as Deborah) has created what could potentially become a genuine cult hit. The characters are all memorable, the gore scenes are over the top but not done tastelessly, and most surprising, being a horror comedy, the film works quite well. The audience I saw this with laughed when they were supposed to and gasped during the more serious kill scenes. While there are posters of the director's favorite films seen in the background during most of the film, cult-film fans will have a ball when they notice on-screen tributes to everything from BLOOD FEAST to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS to CHAINED HEAT's toilet-stall kill sequence all the way down to the finale's ode to KING KONG.In a nutshell, ALL ABOUT EVIL is a pure blast of comedic cult-horror fun.I was among the lucky few who saw this complete with the "Peaches Christ Experience in 4-D!" which is a Rocky Horror-like pre-show featuring Peaches and a theatre full of monsters and drag queens who sing, dance, and introduce the film (and being Natasha Lyonne is a New Yorker, the NY screening had a wonderful introduction to Natasha's work, right before she came out in character as Deborah Tennis and rocked the place to the ground).But opening stage show aside, ALL ABOUT EVIL (the film itself) is highly recommended if you like horror comedies that are actually funny and if you want to see how a "tribute/homage" film can still go on to become its own thing (hey Rob Zombie…take notes!).With a first feature so well done, Joshua/Peaches has surely set the bar quite high for himself…here's hoping he has another one this cool hiding up his dress…or in his super-bouffant hairdo.

OMG!!! I went to the San Francisco Premier and it was amazing!! I haven't had such a great time at the movies in years! I was totally entertained! I even took my kids ages 12, 13 and 15 and they loved it too! There was nothing I would have changed and nothing that disappointed me from start to finish. There is a fantastic cast! I am a huge Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson fan myself! But now I can add Natasha Lyonne and Jack Donner to that list! They were terrific! And of course Peaches Christ was a DIVA!! The story was original and never a dull moment! Go see it!! I plan on seeing it again and again!

Writer/director Josh Grannell, aka horror hostess Peaches Christ, has created a comedic bloodfest artfully designed to become a camp classic. Grannell pays overt homage to some of his favorite filmmakers, notably John Waters and gore auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis of "Blood Feast" fame, and gifts us with an enthusiastic romp to the dark side of film-making.Natasha Lyonne, as librarian-turned-lunatic Deborah Tennis, channels various Hollywood grand dames to wild-eyed comedic effect; imagine if Bette Davis chewed scenery in one of Roger Corman's legendary Poe adaptations. Thomas Dekker of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" plays the star-struck film fan to boyish perfection. And satisfying cameos from the likes of Waters alumnus Mink Stole and fellow horror hostess Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira) round out a great cast. You're also treated to the best evil twins since "The Shining" played by Jade and Nikita Ramsey. And wildly entertaining turns from Noah Segan as dentally-challenged psycho Adrian, and Jack Donner (who's been in everything from "Buffy" to "Star Trek") as the crusty and overzealously murderous projectionist Mr. Twigs, round out Grannell's fantasy cast.What's often most important to get from a film like this is the sense that cast and crew are enjoying themselves, and the fun shines through in every scene. Part of its delivered joy comes in spotting its numerous in-jokes, which touch on such diverse topics as horror film history or the local San Francisco drag scene. But an insider's knowledge of trivia isn't at all needed to appreciate the over-the-top and violently funny romp that Grannell delivers; instead, bring your love of exploitation and an enthusiasm for camp. Worth the price of admission alone are the parody film titles created by Tennis in the course of her filmicidal spree. And the movie has one of the best opening title sequences I've seen in years.Much of the film was shot inside San Francisco's historic Victoria Theatre, a former vaudeville hall in the city's Mission district. Using such an authentic location is all part of Grannell's desire to create a red-inked love poem to the uniquely thrilling experience of watching horror films in a packed movie house.Hopefully you'll get a chance to see "All About Evil" with its touring live stage show, featuring Peaches and her fright-inducing friends in person. It's a one-of-a-kind, in-your-face experience that's not like anything else you'll see in your local theater -- unless you've been going to Peaches' "Midnight Madness" shows in SF for the last 12 years.Don't miss it -- hopefully coming to a theater near you!