Now that the 1900s are over and done with, everyone seems to be on the bandwagon to come up with the newest past-ploitation idea covering that era. THE SCENESTERS does this quite consciously with its voice-overs (for instance, it mentions the "Black Dahlia" murder; however, it does not single out or show this victim's residential hotel by name, which is unfortunate, since that site was in the news this week due to the female-corpse-in-the-rooftop-water-tank\black water scandal). It also gets quite complicated, with so many sets of different videographers implausibly crowding serial killer crime scenes that it's not too hard to lose track of who's filming who. But the idea of someone competing with Night Stalker killer Richard Ramirez for the title of L.A.'s most prolific human snuffer also echoes several headlines in this month's news, with citizens being arrested left and right for threatening to make this or that mass murder or serial killing look like "child's play" (and Ramirez also performed some of his deadly handiwork in the rooftop-tank-corpse-water hotel). Just as GONE WITH THE WIND tried to recall the exciting times of the 1800s, THE SCENESTERS tries to echo the mayhem of the 1900s (only in a contemporary setting).

If you borrow this film based on the 18 Film Festival palms listed at the top of the case, as I did, you're apt to be terribly disappointed by way too many minutes of silly pointless meandering nonsensical filmic moments adding up to less than nothing. Yep, it's edited and has a sound track, but it's no more a hip murder mystery than it's an "award winning" production. It has evidently played at a lot of festivals, and occasionally been deemed "interesting" or "well-written," but unless you're entertained by bad actors pretending to do a documentary, you may end up just wondering as I did: "Why did I bother to watch the whole thing?!" I'd rather watch "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" twice than see even half of this movie again. Even "Hank the Cave Peanut" is more entertaining. There are a few laughs in this, but Ouch! they're spread real thin. Do yourself a favor and watch almost anything else. A moment of camp, another of kitch, 8 moments of dreary cliché posing as art.

I loved this film. I saw it first at the Austin Film Festival and then saw it again when it hit the Chicago Film Festival. The second time I saw it, I got even more out of it. It has gotten some critical acclaim including Best Comedy at the Hollywood Film Festival, Best Director at the Edmunton Film Festival, and, I think it got Most Interesting Film at the SlamDance Film Festival. I know it got other awards, too, but I'm not sure of all of them. The deliberate change from black & white to color and back again has significance, and it it fun to see it all played out. The film has been cast well and includes some very funny lines and scenes. If you like mystery and spoofs, you would find this film quite entertaining. I definitely recommend this film.

The phrase "first time film-makers" is usually associated with messy, amateurish affairs. Not so for this movie. A masterwork of "found footage", this film contains a broad range of styles, expert editing, sharp writing, terrific performances, and a killer soundtrack (literally). Hard to believe this is a low-budget, and even harder to believe that it is a feature film debut for this group. And unlike most "comedy troupes" (for example, Twisted Lizard) who make movies, these guys did not just put a comedy sketch writ large or a series of disconnected jokes loosely tied together onto the screen: they made a complete and complex story with various layers intertwined together to form a very satisfying whole.It's a great movie for seasoned pros. It's an amazing accomplishment for first timers (and I say first implying there will be a second and third and...).I can see why it has done so well on the film festival circuit and I wish these guys luck with distribution!