Triloquist
Triloquist
R | 15 July 2008 (USA)
Triloquist Trailers

In 1993, in Hollywood, California, a decadent ventriloquist overdoses and dies, leaving her two children to be sent to a foster house with their dummy. Their lives become a nightmare of abuse and murder, to be avenged by a wrathful dummy.

Reviews
Woodyanders

Lovely, but lethal psychotic Angelina (an incredibly fierce, fearless, and foul-mouthed performance by gorgeous blonde stunner Paydin LoPachin) and her meek mute ventriloquist brother Norbert (well played by Rocky Marquette) are a couple of crazy teenagers who embark on a road trip to Las Vegas. Norbert's creepy and evil ventriloquist dummy (robustly voiced with jolly cracked gusto by Bruce Weitz; Belker on "Hill Street Blues") tags along for the loopy ride. Naturally, our merry insane trio commits all sorts of murderous mayhem during their pilgrimage across the country. Writer/director Mark Jones brings a hardcore sick, nasty, and twisted no-holds-barred outrageous sensibility to the gleefully nutty premise that goes way overboard on the tasty female nudity, in-your-face brutal violence, and hilariously warped pitch-black humor with always entertaining and often sidesplitting results. Why, Jones even tosses in some alarming sibling incest into the hysterically offensive mix for good ghastly measure. Yep, this extremely messed-up movie is rude, crude, and vulgar beyond belief -- and that's exactly why it's such a terrifically tasteless riot. The two leads do amazing work in their roles, with LoPachin a particular stand-out throughout. Katie Chonacas likewise impresses as hapless hostage Robin. "Magnum P.I." TV series regular Larry Manetti has a funny cameo as himself. Mark Melville's stylish cinematography neatly alternates between bright color and grainy black and white. Kudos are also in order for the cool eclectic soundtrack and Geoff Levin's lively whimsical score. An absolute unhinged hoot.

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Scarecrow-88

Seriously warped horror comedy about an unlikely trio, a demented family of weirdos driving across the desert wreaking havoc on whoever they meet. A mute, seemingly autistic brother, Norbert who communicates through his ventriloquist dummy, Dummy(..voiced by Bruce Weitz)and psychotic foul-mouthed sister Angelina(Paydin LoPachin, a real blond babe with things that come out of her mouth that make a ghetto gangster blush)were left to fend for themselves after their mother overdosed on heroine. Sent to live with an uncle, who would sexually abuse Angelina(..perhaps shaping the monster she would become)while Norbert closed his eyes in horror, they would soon murder him, winding up in a foster home before chopping the fingers off a kid who insulted them. Blaming Norbert, Angelina and Dummy concoct a plan to break him free from his asylum, hitting the road to Vegas, often killing various victims for their vehicles, and kidnapping a female traveler, Robin(Katie Chonacas)who is to carry their family's seed. Angelina is quite a cold-hearted sociopath always scheming while tormenting Robin (..who tries endlessly to find ways to escape), while constantly at odds with Dummy who begs Norbert to leave her behind. A running gag has Dummy a isolated entity who can speak and move on his own away from Norbert..hell, he even has fantasies of naked chicks! We watch as Angelina's trail-blazing psychopathic ways leads to a countryside manhunt for her and Norbert as Robin attempts to get away before she is killed.A great deal of the film shows the crazy antics of a demented family, but the film is more or less a gore-less, colorful send-up of killer-clans-on-the-road thrillers. This movie is built around the often very obscene dialogue, particularly the nasty mouth of Angelina who often blatantly asks strangers if they are looking at her tits(..or telling them that they would love to do sexual acts towards her). Rocky Marquette is really a tight-lipped innocent with the misfortune of growing up with a sicko sister and dummy he too attached to. Dummy is a vessel to communicate, and Norbert is very dependent on it, as a crutch you could say. The trio as a unit are seemingly unstoppable, until the cracks start to show and Angelina's violent streak(..along with Dummy's desire to break free from her hold on Norbert)gets out of hand. It's only a matter of time before their "happy" union sours, and Robin pleas towards Nobert and Dummy begin to work. I can understand why many hated this film. It doesn't really have a plot, but is a series of comic vignettes showcasing Angelina's unpredictable nature and her manipulative hold over her brother and dummy. And, the way the film embraces Dummy as a vehicle for humor(..and he is one ugly wooden creation)and the twisted acts performed by Angelina so that she and her posse can continue their quest for Vegas won't always appeal to everyone(..or even most people). I found it entertaining and sick in equal measure. The film doesn't know when to quit and is always bizarre. The director includes several B&W sequences featuring the trio at times. Paydin LoPachin is a knockout and the director often loves to focus on her face with the camera. She rarely cracks a smile when delivering her profane zingers. Plenty of time is spent showing how Angelina keeps Dummy in check by threatening his livelihood with matches. There's incest played out with Angelina initiating contact with her brother, and this might be the first time I've ever seen a dummy giving head.

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Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake)

From the writer/director of Leprechaun, we're brought another pint-sized horror. After Norbert, the son of a dead ventriloquist, is locked up in an asylum for attacking a young child, his sister, Angelina, and their Dummy break him out and hit the road towards Vegas to put Norbert and Dummy where they belong: onstage.Where to begin. . . well, I've certainly never seen a film like this. Oh, wait, yes I have, just split up among four (or more) other films. Triloquist plays like a lower-quality mix of Pin..., The Devil's Rejects, Child's Play, and Dead Silence. . . only less funny and a lot worse. It tried to be quirky and cute, but it failed. It tried to be shocking and scary, but it failed. I'm sure it also tried to be well made. Guess what? Failed there too. Other than nervous laughs from my "Oh, it really can't be this bad" thoughts, this film was not funny at all. The plot was erratic and stupid, never settling to get its bearings before moving on to another weak plot turn. The acting was dreadful, except by the mute who did a good job of, um, not talking and looking creepy. The puppet effects were ridiculously bad, and the dummy looked like it had been melted and stuck down a garbage disposal at some point. Dummy didn't have any of the charm, wit, or brutality of Mark Jones's other creation Leprechaun. . . instead, Dummy was just a nuisance. Ugh. There really isn't much good to say, except. . . well. . . it's only eighty minutes.Final verdict: 3/10.

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druquzdog

Pretty much from the start it's clear where this movie is coming from and what you should expect from it. If you are looking for an even vaguely serious, linear movie that tells a story that all hangs together and makes sense then you better look elsewhere. This is straight up silly escapism and fun, and I enjoyed pretty much every minute. I thought all the parts were well cast, especially the brother who looks perfect with his sealed lip expression. The female lead does a good job, though unfortunately we don't get to see her sans clothes. There's a good smattering of silicone free nudity however, so the director clearly knows what people who watch this kind of stuff want. The script was decent, and most of the lines that were meant to pull a laugh worked for me. Some really funny set-pieces too, one in particular out the back of the strip club near the start was insanely funny, but I'm not going to spoil it for you. If you've seen the movie then you'll know the scene. You have to pretty much totally suspend disbelief to enjoy this film, as quite frankly it doesn't really make much sense or try to explain itself at all. It's just a trippy ride with some boobs and crude jokes, but hey, I can dig that. The plot, what of it there is, seems pretty much to be a vehicle to carry the crazy ideas of the writer, and he sure has plenty of crazy ideas. I liked this movie a lot, but it's only worth a 7, because it could have been better and there were a few times that it didn't quite hold it together. Still very good for those of you who like trash cheesy "horror" comedy. Would have been better with some gore as well. Forgot to mention, it's pretty minimal on that front.

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