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Bit Parts (2006)
Plastic Surgery is an obsession amongst Hollywood celebs, vane housewives and of course the man who thinks sleeping with children is charming himself, Michael Jackson. It seems as of late television is also obsessed with the trend being that there are reality shows like “Dr. 90210”. Also there is the hit FX soap drama “Nip Tuck” that has viewers hooked one episode to the next. Now it seems horror (Particularly “Cinderella” and “The Last Supper”) that have been using the plastic surgery plot line while blending in social commentary on the fear of aging movement.
Is there much social commentary in this film? The answer in an enthusiastic no! This story is about an alcoholic and successful plastic surgeon that will do whatever it takes to fix his daughters disfigured exterior. The tragedy that causes his daughters appearance to be tainted are his fault and the guilt causes him to place adds in newspapers looking for actresses with perfect attributes. From here he takes them to a secluded setting to do all of his drunken medical work.Looking for Hollywood fame, Melissa leaves Phoenix in search for a career in acting. She meets a cabbie named Bobby who takes her to an audition with the delusional Dr. posing as a director searching for the perfect star. Before she goes off to her try-out her and Bobby exchange numbers. He seems to taken a liking to her and genuinely found it strange that her audition was in such a sordid area instead of a glossy Hollywood location. He’s also a struggling actor so he knows the ins and outs of Los Angeles so he’s justified in worrying about Melissa. Brends, Melissa’s sister heads to Hollywood after worrying sick about her runaway sister. Little does she know that she was lured by a newspaper public notice. A taxi driver leads her to Bobby and from here they both work on trying to uncover the mystery to what happened to Melissa.
From here the viewer gets part torture film, part dark comedy that is at times truly intentionally hilarious. His daughter Margaret is more over the top than Sheri Moon Zombie in “House of 1000 Corpses”. She prances around like an innocent sweetheart while acting like a typical youngster. Soon she starts acting more out of control then her unstable father. For more comic relief her image is covered with post surgery bandages and all the mirrors in her house are hidden or covered to protect the secrecy of her scarred facial features. She is also more than willing to take part in her father's psychotic surgeries and these scenes are flat out comical. She and her father interact with love at times but they both go off on each other constantly. It seems that their both bi-polar but they make a great team working on their victims. When she gets out of line her dad always uses her mother against her saying stuff like “Your mother wouldn’t approve of that language”.
The actress that plays Melissa is Molly Fix. She is an attractive lead but she is not a tad bit believable in the torture scenes. This film is high camp so it doesn’t rely on Oscar caliber acting to get by. Also I care about the circumstances she’s in because the baddies are so loony and her sister Brenda (Played by the tall glass of water Sarah Gordon). Director Dave Reda pulls triple duty as the heroic male lead and the film’s director/producer. He isn’t the greatest actor and his lines come off as they were read of cue cards but he has a likable presence and his characters actions were sincere. Bobby and Brenda pose as cops throughout the feature and get leads off pot heads (another hilarious scene) and many other workers around town.
While Melissa is still in trouble the audience is treated to watching arguments between Dr. Cranston and his wife. The two have many weird scenes together and to add to the outlandish elements to this film they call one another Mommy and Daddy. While Margaret is left alone with her father’s patient Melissa she harasses and tries to make friends with her future feature donor. When father shows up she gets excited and ask for new “boobies” but her father disapproves. He opts to gives her a brand new nose instead. So from here they look at headshots of actresses with smiles on their faces ear to ear.
Brenda and Bobby notice more strange ads in the paper looking for flawless faces. They begin to unravel the mystery but must hurry up and rescue Maggy before it’s too late. The scenes between Brenda and Bobby are a much needed break from the raucous humor going on with father and daughter that include sawing limbs off together! From what I understand the actress Michelle Angel has only been in one film. I am glad I’ve seen the one she decided to take part in because she put in one hell of a magnetic and absurdly overboard performance.
The film has some predictable moments of mystery spoiled by the previous foreshadowing. The story came from the mind of Jon Roesenberg who wrote a hilarious screenplay that was utilized well by the maniac father and daughter. The gore isn’t anything to brag to genre fans about but there is plenty of hacked boobs, females in chains and throat slashing that should gratify those with an obsession for on screen sadism. Everyone involved in this film tried to make and entertaining project that requires absolutely no thought. I found the movie to be a funny bone tickling torture film unashamed of its own hilarity. The movie is a simple 72 minute horror film that delivers the goods with a mixture of vulgarity, character insanity and irreverent hammy acting. The movie is low budget and doesn’t offer much special with the soundtrack and there is a shortage of anatomically correct special effects but they still tried! Watch this at least once but if my review has you intrigued order “Bit Parts” now.
Rating - ** ½
-Russ Rutter
Is there much social commentary in this film? The answer in an enthusiastic no! This story is about an alcoholic and successful plastic surgeon that will do whatever it takes to fix his daughters disfigured exterior. The tragedy that causes his daughters appearance to be tainted are his fault and the guilt causes him to place adds in newspapers looking for actresses with perfect attributes. From here he takes them to a secluded setting to do all of his drunken medical work.Looking for Hollywood fame, Melissa leaves Phoenix in search for a career in acting. She meets a cabbie named Bobby who takes her to an audition with the delusional Dr. posing as a director searching for the perfect star. Before she goes off to her try-out her and Bobby exchange numbers. He seems to taken a liking to her and genuinely found it strange that her audition was in such a sordid area instead of a glossy Hollywood location. He’s also a struggling actor so he knows the ins and outs of Los Angeles so he’s justified in worrying about Melissa. Brends, Melissa’s sister heads to Hollywood after worrying sick about her runaway sister. Little does she know that she was lured by a newspaper public notice. A taxi driver leads her to Bobby and from here they both work on trying to uncover the mystery to what happened to Melissa.
From here the viewer gets part torture film, part dark comedy that is at times truly intentionally hilarious. His daughter Margaret is more over the top than Sheri Moon Zombie in “House of 1000 Corpses”. She prances around like an innocent sweetheart while acting like a typical youngster. Soon she starts acting more out of control then her unstable father. For more comic relief her image is covered with post surgery bandages and all the mirrors in her house are hidden or covered to protect the secrecy of her scarred facial features. She is also more than willing to take part in her father's psychotic surgeries and these scenes are flat out comical. She and her father interact with love at times but they both go off on each other constantly. It seems that their both bi-polar but they make a great team working on their victims. When she gets out of line her dad always uses her mother against her saying stuff like “Your mother wouldn’t approve of that language”.
The actress that plays Melissa is Molly Fix. She is an attractive lead but she is not a tad bit believable in the torture scenes. This film is high camp so it doesn’t rely on Oscar caliber acting to get by. Also I care about the circumstances she’s in because the baddies are so loony and her sister Brenda (Played by the tall glass of water Sarah Gordon). Director Dave Reda pulls triple duty as the heroic male lead and the film’s director/producer. He isn’t the greatest actor and his lines come off as they were read of cue cards but he has a likable presence and his characters actions were sincere. Bobby and Brenda pose as cops throughout the feature and get leads off pot heads (another hilarious scene) and many other workers around town.
While Melissa is still in trouble the audience is treated to watching arguments between Dr. Cranston and his wife. The two have many weird scenes together and to add to the outlandish elements to this film they call one another Mommy and Daddy. While Margaret is left alone with her father’s patient Melissa she harasses and tries to make friends with her future feature donor. When father shows up she gets excited and ask for new “boobies” but her father disapproves. He opts to gives her a brand new nose instead. So from here they look at headshots of actresses with smiles on their faces ear to ear.
Brenda and Bobby notice more strange ads in the paper looking for flawless faces. They begin to unravel the mystery but must hurry up and rescue Maggy before it’s too late. The scenes between Brenda and Bobby are a much needed break from the raucous humor going on with father and daughter that include sawing limbs off together! From what I understand the actress Michelle Angel has only been in one film. I am glad I’ve seen the one she decided to take part in because she put in one hell of a magnetic and absurdly overboard performance.
The film has some predictable moments of mystery spoiled by the previous foreshadowing. The story came from the mind of Jon Roesenberg who wrote a hilarious screenplay that was utilized well by the maniac father and daughter. The gore isn’t anything to brag to genre fans about but there is plenty of hacked boobs, females in chains and throat slashing that should gratify those with an obsession for on screen sadism. Everyone involved in this film tried to make and entertaining project that requires absolutely no thought. I found the movie to be a funny bone tickling torture film unashamed of its own hilarity. The movie is a simple 72 minute horror film that delivers the goods with a mixture of vulgarity, character insanity and irreverent hammy acting. The movie is low budget and doesn’t offer much special with the soundtrack and there is a shortage of anatomically correct special effects but they still tried! Watch this at least once but if my review has you intrigued order “Bit Parts” now.
Rating - ** ½
-Russ Rutter
