Curdled

Plot synopsis:
Gabriela (Jones) is a Colombian immigrant living in Miami who has been fascinated with violent death ever since she saw a falling corpse pass by her mother's bakery window as a child. With many television shows and films feeding her obsession, she believes that after someone is decapitated, they still talk for a short while afterwards.
Having quit her job at a bakery, she begins work for a cleaning service, headed by a man named Lodger (Barry Corbin), who specializes in mopping up what is left behind at crime scenes after she sees a television commercial advertising it. She goes to the office, inquires about a job and later is (to the dismay of Elena (Mel Gorham), her cleaning partner) offered the opportunity to clean up after an execution by her favorite at-large serial killer, The Blue Blood Killer (William Baldwin) (so named because his victims are all wealthy women).
The two women go to the scene of the crime and begin cleaning up the mess. Elena diligently works away, trying to get out of there as soon as possible; meanwhile Gabriela discovers what she believes to be the name of the serial killer - "Paul Guell" - beneath a pool of blood, but covers it up so that Elena won't see and think she is weird. Due to the amount of blood, they have to leave and come back the next day.
While out on a date with ex-colleague Eduardo (Bruce Ramsay), Gabriela reveals to him what she found out and after failing to clearly explain, convinces him to go to the house that same night, before it all gets cleaned up.
Unbeknown to Gabriela and Eduardo, the killer is still in the building after accidentally locking himself in the wine cellar while trying to escape. Gabriela opens the door to the cellar, when Eduardo freaks out and decides he wants to go, leaving the door ajar and the killer an escape route. Eduardo leaves when Gabriela refuses to go with him, and she picks up a knife, dancing around the house where the blood is, acting out what she thinks happened - all while the killer watches.
When Eduardo returns after a second thought, the killer hits him over the head and hides him in the wine cellar. He soon stops Gabriela and forces her to walk him through what happened, checking that she knows the full story, and when they come to the end, they briefly argue about Gabriela's theory of heads talking after decapitation. The killer then decides it's time for Gabriela to die, but in a struggle, he slips and is knocked out on the tiled floor.
When he begins to come to, Gabriela, out of sheer curiosity, picks up the knife and cuts his head off. She slowly lifts up his head and he mumbles her name, to which Gabriela smiles with satisfaction. In a post-credits scene Gabriela and Eduardo are driving in a car and Gabriela plays the tape which recorded the killers last word after beheading.

Tags: violence, comedy, satire, murder

Review:
Tarantino presents this little gem, which he caught at an Italian genre festival while promoting Reservoir Dogs (he relates the fateful anecdote in an epilogue after the movie on video.) It shares with that director the nervy, hip black-comedy attitude, an absolute command of cinematic techniques, and a post-modern approach steeped in b-movie history.
Gabriella (Angela Jones), a Colombian immigrant, is obsessed with understanding violent crime.
She lands a job with a post-murder cleaning service and during a Blue-Blood clean-up job, discovers evidence that police have overlooked.While this is not a perfect film, it is a fun dark comedy that should appeal to "gore hounds" and fans of Robert Rodriguez.
That is pretty sweet.I would need to see this a second time to really get a handle on it, but I think I was pleasantly surprised and hope this film somehow makes a resurgence on people's to-see lists..
In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated movies of the 90s, featuring one of my all-time favorite performances by the enchanting Angela Jones.
It is based on a short made in 1991, about a childlike murder-obsessed Colombian-American who takes a job as a maid...who cleans up after violent murders.
Apparently, Tarantino liked the short so much that he cast Jones in Pulp Fiction and produced a full length version of "Curdled" with Jones and William Baldwin (who is surprisingly great.) This is one of my favorite black comedies and easily the funniest serial killer thriller ever.
Angela Jones lights up the screen with her animated facial expressions (think Audrey Tautou) and quirky delivery.
The recently released DVD is a blessing and surprisingly chockful of extras (including the original short film) for a movie that is apparently so reviled.
The worst thing I can say about "Curdled" is that Braddock didn't go on to make another film and Jones went on to do a freakin "Children of the Corn" sequel.
Recommend to all fans of serial killer movies and dark comedies.
This film was originally a 20 minute short by Reb Braddock.
Angela Jones' character is mesmerized by murder scenes and gets a job with a company that cleans up after murders.
Great performance by Angela Jones and a brilliant story and dialogue provided by Braddock..
It was really cool linking the similarities between her and Esmerelda Villa Lobos from Pulp Fiction-besides both had Tarantino having some role in them- both characters exhibited an almost childish facination with death and murder.
It also has a few scenes that b\c of the conversational build up during the movie about what it's like to see a crime scene for the first time, and the casual way that the gore is treated, it may not be suitable for everyone.
Just follow my advice: if you loved Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs don't miss it, Curdled it's even better!.
Curdled succeeds in it: it's a hilarious film about a girl obsessed with murder, with a nicely twisted vision of the world.
Yes, it has it's faults, but there are some irresistibly funny moments in it as well.Jones does an excellent job in this black comedy, it really is a shame we haven't heard more of her.
Braddock has extended this from a short film, and unfortunately it shows in some places.
A few scenes feel, well, boring, and dialogue isn't as sharp as it could be.Tarantino is often linked to this film, although he was only the producer and wrote a very little piece of script.
I thought it was intriguing, this woman wants to know "what it would feel like to kill a man."Imagine my surprise when I turned on this movie, CURDLED; starring Esmeralda herself, Angela Jones.
I also wondered if he could've been ballsy enough to keep Angela Jones as the same character as in Pulp Fiction, instead of the ditzy not-all-there Gabriela.
Stylish, Dark and a must-see for fans of black comedy.
Unlike most Tarantino flicks this movie has a less than 90 minute run-time, which could leave a certain fan unfulfilled and unsatisfied by the end.
That being said, the film is fantastic in the time it's given, it's full of details, style and a soundtrack that honestly made me stand up and dance.The main character is a young Columbian woman, Gabriella, who has an obsession for gore and a serial killer "The Blue Blood Killer" who specializes in murdering and cutting off the heads of rich women, clean cut with a Tanto.
Gabriella begins working for a forensic clean up crew, but finds more interest with the scene of the crime than the cleaning.
The ending may come a bit sooner than you would think, but it feels very similar to the ending of Inglorious Basterds, and will leave you smiling and satisfied if you see the film for what it is and is trying to be.
Excruciatingly slow-paced, over-scripted black comedy with a too-clever premise and bad acting.Maybe this would have worked as a Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt episode, but by the last half, you just want it to get to its predictable ending and be done with it already..
This movie had the potential to be a great black comedy with the idea behind it, but it falls very short.
It's like a black comedy without the black (the film tried to be violent and gory, but looked little more than ridiculous) or the comedy.
The film is about a woman (Angela Jones) who quits her job and decided to go work for a company called PFCS (Post Forensic Cleaning Service) when she becomes fascinated with a serial killer known as the "Blue Blood Killer", a psychopath who goes around Miami beheading rich women.
The premise for a company like this is funny (one of the only moments in the film that caused me to laugh was their T.V Commercial), but the end result is not.I can see why Quentin Tarantino was attracted to a project like this.
Word on the street is that this was originally a funny short film that was shown at Sundance in the early 90's and after the success of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", Tarantino bankrolled this full length version of the movie and released it later on video with his "Rolling Thunder Pictures".
He surely watched Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" many times in the later stages of his video store clerk days and used the idea of "Victor the cleaner" for his Winston Wolf character in "Pulp Fiction".
The rest of the movie is boring and pointless and the acting, apart from Angela Jones, is pretty stale.
If you want to see real black comedy that will make you laugh (and cringe, that's another thing this film was missing), I would suggest seeking out the early works of Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting", "Shallow Grave") and the Coen Brother's "Fargo" over a boring film like this.
By far Billy Baldwin's best work, Angela Jones shines in this quirky dark comedy expanded from a film school thesis short.
In a movie world that exists just a few degrees of deviation from our own world, Reb Braddock has lovingly crafted a dangerous innocent - Gabriella, who is so fascinated by violent crime that she takes a job as a maid for the Post-Forensic Cleaning Service.The only true flaw in this film is the 'question' that Gabriella so sweetly seeks an answer to, but the fantastic soundtrack and hauntingly choreographed 'final dance' make it all worthwhile..
Quentin Tarantino produced this film and put it under his now failed Rolling Thunder Pictures.
The film in its essence had a lot of potential and really had a great leading actress, but it had its share of problems.
From it's uninspiring title to the flat acting performances, Curdled is very much an unremarkable film throughout.
The film has gained some fans by way of the fact that Quentin Tarantino's name is attached to it, and the silly and out of place nod to the Rodriguez/Tarantino flick 'From Dusk till Dawn'.
These things do not make a great movie, however, and this is more than evident all the way through 'Curdled'.
The Mexican music score that accompanies many of the sequences in the film is obviously meant to be cool, but it's becomes annoying very quickly; especially as aside from the fact that the lead character is Mexican, it doesn't fit with the tone of the movie.
The film's plot is typically offbeat and it follows a gorehound who, because of her obsession with grisly murders, takes a job with a firm that cleans up murder scenes.
Angela Jones, or rather; the taxi driver from Pulp Fiction, takes the lead role as the murder obsessed young woman, and it is always clear that it's her involvement with Pulp Fiction that won her this role, not her acting ability.
She may have been good enough in her small role in Tarantino's masterpiece, but she doesn't have the talent to lead a film by herself.
Whether you're a Tarantino fan, William Baldwin fan, horror fan or just a movie buff; this is one to miss..
Frankly for anything like this to work it would need some basis in reality and the fact that William Baldwin kills women without using gloves avoiding touching things or even getting rid of his fingerprints immediately annoyed me.
The director poars on the stage blood but every murder is done in a clean emotionless tarantino type of way and all the crime scenes just contain neat little pool of blood.
After reading that this was a short I could believe it because the entire film feels like it was very thinly stretched..
This very black and bloody horror comedy is a real favorite of mine, ever since I first saw it on cable several years ago.
Tarantino saw the original short film while promoting his Reservior Dogs at an Italian film festival, and suggested the filmmakers to expand it to a feature film, and he would produce it.
They did of course, and to me, this is a work of art, with a film score that fits about as perfect to the scenes as any I have seen.
Angela Jones plays Gabriela, a Columbian beauty that has moved to Miami, and has an obsession with bloody crime scenes.
She gets a job with a company that cleans up crime scenes, and she starts following the news accounts of a serial killer played by William Baldwin.
After his recent murder, she gets assigned the job of cleaning up the bloody mess, and doesn't know it, but the killer is locked in the wine closet because he left a clue to his identity.
This is black comedy at it's darkest and most fun, and the DVD is loaded with features including an intro and outro by Tarantino.
It also contains the original 30 minute short version of the movie.
It's no wonder Reb Braddock hasn't directed anything else since - anyone who has a chance to make his first film on his own rules, based on his own script, with the help of Quentin Tarantino himself, and creates something like THIS, anyone who feels that THIS was a story worth telling to the world, doesn't deserve a second break.
It is about a woman with a fascination of death who gets a job cleaning up after crime scenes, Angela Jones is unconvincing in this role, William Baldwin is better as the Serial Killer who keeps Jones in employment!.
William Baldwin & Angela Jones are perfect in their roles as a serial killer and a woman who cleans up in his victim's homes after the police have gone.
Angela Jones delivers a great performance and I easily understand why Quentin Tarantino wanted to keep her in the feature film version.
i do think it is comedy and the idea behind it is black.
Just like gabriela does not think it is sick to be obsessed with the idea.
The photography was also great with the wide shots, especially for a movie with so little pretensions.And what about the end?
When anyone asks me my vote for my all-time favorite film, I immediately reply with "Curdled", which leaves them all staring vacantly with a not-so-bright look on their faces.
It's not just that the heroine becomes enthralled in this murder madness, but because of Angela Jones excellent job, so do we.
The naive Gabreila, played by Angela Jones, is obsessed with a head-hunting serial killer for reasons that go back to her childhood in Colombia.
(That part is a little forced but excusable.) Except for Jones and Billy Baldwin, the acting ranges from so-so (Daisy Fuentes and Barry Corbin) to poor (just about everyone else), and the script is adequate without being too inspired.
What really drives this film is the morbid fascination and curiosity that most of Quentin Tarantino's fans were born with for some reason.
Tarantino was the executive producer on the film, but apparently did little more than shell out some money and guide Reb Braddock, the movie's writer and director, through his first and only feature to date.
Tarantino saw Braddock's 1991 20-minute short upon which Curdled is based and encouraged him to turn it into a feature and to make sure he used the same actress in the lead.
Tarantino also cast Jones as Bruce Willis' cab driver in Pulp Fiction.
In some ways, it does work, depending on what kind of film you are looking for.
Unfortunately, she's more obsessed on what happened, why it happened, and where it happened, rather then focusing on cleaning up the crime scene.
She eventually ends up talking to a serial killer himself, and there's quite an interesting discussion on weather the head talks after it's been removed from the rest of the body ( If that doesn't steer you away from this, then what will?) Again, black comedy, SUPERB!
In this elongated version though, it seems as though Red Braddock was not quite sure what to work in to expand the film.
It turns out to be a watered down, meandering script and a rare good performance by William Baldwin and the serviceable Angela Jones are somewhat left adrift.
It's just my personal opinion, but Quentin Tarantino should have listened to Red Braddock when he was hesitant about expanding it into a feature.
I must admit though that it was interesting to see the "blue blood" killer developed a little more (however minute that expansion onto the original character was).
Nice little Black Comedy.
Angela Jones did a great job, I thought, and her naive manner in the role was just dreadfully cute, which made the movie horribly funny.
I love the scene where she's talking to Billy Baldwin about his killings and the disgusting cartoons she draws.
Definitely Baldwin's best movie.
Billy Baldwin hasn't had much success in acting in great films.
Curdled is probably the best story Billy ever worked on.
Angela Jones did great, and Daisy Fuentes' cameo was awesome.
). Wickedly enjoyable, Angela Jones is great!.
Angela Jones is a delight to watch.
Don't turn the video off at the end, fast forward through the credits and watch Quentin Tarantino explain how he discovered this film at an Italian Film Festival..
This black comedy was a little too dark for my tastes; but I loved the opening tune and the graphics.
Quentin Tarantino, aglow with the buzz-borne light from the soon-to-be-released "Pulp Fiction," was sitting in a darkened theater with his producer/pal Lawrence Bender, enjoying a short-film festival.
The short being screened was called "Curdled," and it was about a Latin woman working for a housekeeping service that specialized in cleaning up crime scenes for murderers and killers.
We're gonna take your short film and make it into a feature, okaaaaaaaaay?
Watch the immediately-attractive Angela Jones (Butch's cabbie in Pulp Fiction) become less and less adorable as sheer boredom numbs your senses.
Laugh at a one-joke black comedy that manages to kill the joke after twenty minutes.
We learned that short films don't necessarily translate into feature-length.
Although there is some blood, don't expect a bloodbath, and there's no nudity (which DOES suck...) but this one is good on it's own merits as a fun and pretty original film...Gabriella is a sweet young girl, who has been obsessed with murder and death since an early age.
To satisfy this obsession, she takes a job with a cleaning agency that specializes in cleaning up murder/accident scenes.
CURDLED truly is an enjoyable and original film.
There are a ton of people you'll "recognize" in this one, in both large and small roles - William Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Daisy Fuentes, a quick shot of Clooney and Tarantino from DUSK TIL DAWN on a "crime-show", and the guy that plays Gabriella's boss (I forget his name, but he's been in a ton of stuff too - he was the one big "boss" in WAR GAMES...) - and all the performances are pretty top-notch.
This always quirky, sometimes funny, sometimes dark, and sometimes misses film isn't a masterpiece.
The exchange between Baldwin and Jones is one of those scenes.
When she sees an ad on TV from a crime scene cleaning company she quickly contacts them to get a job with them.
As mentioned before his exchange with Jones, was well worth watching the movie.
A young woman fascinated with murders gets a job cleaning up murder sites..
As an adult she lives in Miami and ends up working at a place that cleans up after murders (suicides).
What makes this movie so great is Jones, who plays the young woman, and her somewhat warped sense of killings.
In the Special Features Quentin Tarantino explains why this actress was so perfect for the part, and he's spot on, as even while watching her (prior to watching the SF) you could just tell.
Everyone else, even Baldwin (as the killer), does not come close, though he did a fairly good job, especially in their scene where they are together dancing.