Lin Shaye

Born Killers
$2.99

Hoboken Hollow
$24.95
If you just like to see people being tortured and killed, if you want to see close-ups of organs and blood and severed limbs - knock yourself out. If, however, you'd like a modicum of plot, character, story and competent acting to go with it, you might like to take your business elsewhere.

Various transients pitch up at a farm where the owners imprison and enslave their workers, and, in a limping hour or so, with no discernible story-line, are - you guessed it - tortured and killed. The film-makers seem to think their lame, predictable punch-line (I can't dignify it with the word 'twist') makes up for the rotten film preceding it.

What in God's name is the woman playing Lois doing? She seems to think she's playing Widow Twanky at Bognor Playhouse. Is she supposed to be a funny character? Why does the Michael Madsen character show no surprise and ask no questions when he is told the skeleton in the mother's closet is kidnap and murder? What are respectable actors like Dennis Hopper and Madsen doing in this mess anyway - was someone holding their loved ones hostage on a real torture-farm or something?

It's tempting to over-bash a bad film just to be clever, so I will say Madsen, Hopper and Connery are as skilful as the script allows, as for the most part were all the 'victims'. It's mainly the villains who turn in those pantomime performances.

The voiceover says that sometimes people stay in terrible situations because they have nowhere else to go. If that was the case with the real-life events 'inspiring' this cack, it's a pity the movie-makers did not explore that theme and make a more realistic, interesting movie instead of going for the gore-bore option.

Incompetent and lazy and lacking in imagination.

Driftwood
$5.99

Dead End (2003) [VHS]
$44.98