Very Bad Things (R2)

[Hellbilly]

A couple (John Favreau and Cameron Diaz) are planning their wedding. The groom's friends (Christian Slater, Daniel Stern, Leland Orser and Jeremy Piven) wanna throw a Bachelor Party in Las Vegas, hiring a stripper/prostitute to spice things up.
Well, soon they get the party started (drugs & alcohol) and when the prostitute arrives, things get kinda messy ...

The stripper gets killed in a freak accident ("There are two options: go to the police and go to prison, or bury her out in the desert where no one will ever find her.") but before they can decide on anything a hotel security guard enters the room, sees the body and the guys are forced to kill him (with a corkscrew).

Since none of them want to spend the rest of their lives in jail they start sawing and cutting the corpses into little pieces (gruesome!) getting rid of the body parts in the desert.

By the time the five friends return home most of them are overcome with guilt, which ends in even more madness, blood and murder leading to the inevitable wedding from hell (Cameron Diaz has a little "insistent" surprise up her sleeve there).

Wow, this is one hell of a great movie. Talk about a black comedy! I could bite my own ass for not watching this sooner.
This film has definitely "cult" written all over it. Over-the-top all the way (not too annoying though) with a few very brutal murders thrown in; former actor Peter Berg (Shocker) does a fine job directing, good performances (Slater shines), cool soundtrack and very cool scenes throughout. My fave: The Hardware Store sequence (a Reservoir Dogs homage?).
And the ending! Man, that ending made my jaw drop! I've seen some pretty freaky endings but this one .... What a ending heh! Gotta be seen to be believed!

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00003JA6A.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

How's the DVD? Skip this one!
Splendid Entertainment released two versions of this film on DVD in Germany. One rated "16" (minus sex, blood & violence) and one rated "18" (the one I got) which suppose to have all the sex, blood & violence - but there are still two scenes missing - probably because they used an incomplete master (thanks K').
Sucks.
Nothing wrong with the transfer though (full screen, blech!): sharp image but not very colorful. Audio (English) is 2.0 Surround (I heard better) and extras include about 1000 Theatrical trailers (not kidding), interviews and behind-the scenes stuff.

For those who haven't seen this film, it's highly recommended but DON'T pick up this incomplete pal disc. PolyGram's (R1) DVD is still available out there ("uncut" and 16:9 enhanced).

Film: My rating ***** out of *****

[Shannafey]

For some reason, this movie disturbed me more than most "horror" films I've seen. Maybe because it seems like it starts as a situation any red blooded American male can get themselves into. That scene with the prostitute was cringe inducing!!!

[dwatts]

Huh - I saw this and thought it sucked. The write-up sounds WAY better than the film itself, imho. Maybe the murders are okay - but the rest of the film was a bit of a snoozefest. Look who's in it, how good could it be?

[Hellbilly]

Originally posted by Shannafey
For some reason, this movie disturbed me more than most "horror" films I've seen.
Weird but so true! I felt the exact same way.

[dwatts]

One of the fun parts of being a member of a board like this for such a long time is that you can trace your opinions of films over time. Of course, that sometimes means eating crow - but hey, if it's not okay to change our minds then where would we be?

I wanted to watch something new tonight, and looking through my DVD's I found that I'd purchased a scratched up, beat up, and dirty copy of this for $5 goodness knows how long ago. Given my views above, one wonders what possessed me. Must have been bored.

Anyway, I watched it again tonight. I'm not going to say this is a brilliant film, because you know, it's wildly unbalanced and far too nasty in places (was I supposed to laugh as the security guard was locked in the bathroom and screamed while he bled out? It was on a par with the bathroom death in "I Spit on Your Grave" for goodness sakes). but I don't know, overall I *did* enjoy it. And what's more, I'm going to go back for more at some point.

Very strange movie. And yeah, you know, crow don't taste so bad on occasion ;)

[Egg_Shen]

And the ending! Man, that ending made my jaw drop! I've seen some pretty freaky endings but this one .... What a ending heh! Gotta be seen to be believed!

I saw this when it was in theaters. It was an odd little bird. Anyway, that being said, I can't remember the ending at all. What went down man? Refresh my memory.

[tobaccoman]

Didn't everybody either die or become crippled and Cameron Diaz' character was forced to take care of them I've only seen it once, but that's what I remember of the ending.

[dwatts]

Correct, Tobaccoman ;)

[patmcgahern]

For those who haven't seen this film, it's highly recommended but DON'T pick up this incomplete pal disc. PolyGram's (R1) DVD is still available out there ("uncut" and 16:9 enhanced).

Funny you should mention it, but I have an old issue of either Total Film or Empire where Peter Berg talks about how the film was taken out of his hands and shorn of most of the violence as well as the final 20 minutes in which they kill Cameron Diaz and maybe one or two other folks as well.

[Hellbilly]

That's some interesting info there pat. Thanks for sharing.
Did a little research and it looks like Germany's Splendid Entertainment re-released Very Bad Things:

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0002PZ9P4.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

The missing scenes are back and apparently German censors thought this film ain't a threat to German youth anymore. The complete "uncut" (R-Rated) version is now rated "16" instead of "18".
Oh yeah, this reissue is also anamorphic now.