By 1949, Italian Neo-Realism was just 6 or 7 years old, but it had already taken the world by storm, stunning audiences and winning awards all over. When "Bitter Rice" was made, Neo- Realist principles (i.e. no stars, mix of professional and non-professional actors, location-only shooting, rejection of "beauty"/classicism/romanticism, stressing on "ordinary" people and "real-life" themes) were being stretched: stars were joining in (including international ones, like Ingrid Bergman, or starlets like American Doris Dowling here), productions got bigger and more expensive, crews more professional, equipment more sophisticated, "ordinary" people were being replaced by Olympic beauties (or do ordinary people EVER look like Silvana Mangano or Vittorio Gassman?), "ordinary" characters were getting very complex, and real life was being traded by elaborate, far from realistic drama.

"Bitter Rice" was one of the biggest world-wide box-office hits of Neo-Realism. The reason for its success wasn't exactly in the depiction of the lives of poor peasant women who worked under harsh conditions in rice plantations in rural Italy -- this isn't the theme of "Bitter Rice", it's just its background. The main reason for its success probably lied in the fact that the audience could enjoy a Noir story of doomed love, betrayal and crime while being politically instructed, watching the miserly, semi-literate female workers develop Marxist consciousness while parading their butts and naked thighs in industrial quantities.

Thus, "Bitter Rice" is a sort of titillating Noir with Neo-Realist scenery and Marxist subtext. The big scenes in the rice paddies, the post-war devastation. the poverty and the supporting characters are Neo-Realist all right. But the Noir elements (also prominent in Visconti's 1943 masterpiece "Ossessione", based, after all, on Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice") are strong: the indoor lighting (check out those stylized shadows in the warehouse), the complex camera-work (that amazing opening dolly shot!!), the doomed characters (Silvana is a peasant femme fatale, Gassman is a rotten crook, Raf Vallone is a jaded war veteran, Dowling is the woman born to be mistreated and abused), the perverted violence (Gassman is a sadist, Dowling is a masochist, Silvana is a sado-masochist; the deaths are stylized to the hilt), the uncontrollable sexuality and the inexorability of fate.

But "Bitter Rice" had 7 (!!) writers working on it, and the film suffers from an excess of back stories and conflicting focuses: jewel robbery, rice looting, union rights, clandestine labor, post-war trauma, political manifesto, rape, murder, betrayal, revenge, etc. And it had Dino de Laurentiis producing, who, at 30, already showed his penchant for grandeur: check out those crowd scenes of epic proportions, with hundreds of women in the paddies, on trains, on trucks. Sometimes the screen is so over- crowded you'll be gasping for air.

"Bitter Rice" is a convoluted film, but no one can say it lacks great scenes: the women's chant in the paddies builds up to such tension between the legal and illegal workers it leads to their physical confrontation (it's probably the biggest -- in numbers -- female brawl in film history); or the women going to work even under heavy rain; or the final confrontation in the slaughterhouse; or the electrifying whipping/rape scene between Gassman and Silvana; or Silvana dancing, Silvana reading in bed, Silvana smiling, Silvana crying, Silvana bathing, Silvana walking...

Silvana Mangano gives what's probably one of the 10 most stunning star-making female performances in cinema. With absolutely no training, this former beauty queen and film extra had the luck to resemble Ingrid Bergman when Bergman was Hollywood's #1 star. But that's just the start: she also had the kind of body that makes men drool and babble, a fabulous acting instinct and a stormy temper. The emotional range of her character (also named Silvana) is huge: strong and frail, simple and ambitious, healthy and neurotic, determined and insecure, jealous and indifferent, jaded and naive, compulsive and calculating. All of this while exuding sex through every pore. It's an amazing performance, especially when you consider she was 18 at the time!! Her character reunites Rita Hayworth's sex-driven and tormented Gilda (including the howling- inducing dance numbers), Lana Turner's tragic Cora (from "The Postman...") and Jennifer Jones' stubborn sado-masochist Pearl (from "Duel in the Sun") all in one. She's a mess, but we root for her anyway. In the heart-stopping finale, lucidity, insanity and shame cloud her face as she climbs to her destiny. With "Bitter Rice" (and later with "Anna"), Mangano paved the way to the new, uninhibited, earthy, irrepressible sex divas of the 50s like Sophia, Gina, Ava and Brigitte. She was the anti-Marilyn, the opposite of the fragile, sex-toy doll. Later she changed radically into a refined, slender diva and became the favorite star of Pasolini and Visconti. But here you have the chance to see the early Silvana, in all her teenage glory, talent and temper.

Next to her, the other main stars fade aside: Gassman, then the brightest young star of Italian theater, is devilishly handsome and virile, but tends to overact (but we get a glimpse of what his Stanley Kowalski must have been on stage). Raf Vallone is properly Burt-Lancasterish, but there's little he can do with his weak, inconsistent character. Doris Dowling, who had a wonderful cameo in Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend", has a strong, intelligent face and does her best to overcome her miscasting as an Italian ragazza.

Seen today, "Bitter Rice" is still quite an experience. The script is over-packed, but the imagery is powerful. The main couple's tragic destiny isn't accidental: what happens to the two gum- chewing, boogie-woogie-dancing, America-struck star-crossed lovers in devastated post-war Italy isn't there just for dramatic reasons. It's a political statement from anti-Capitalist artists who, contradictorily, used idiomatic tools of the very system (Hollywood-U.S.A.) they were attacking, and came up with this esthetically schizophrenic but certainly fascinating hybridism of Neo-Realism and the Hollywood B-movie. My vote: 7 out of 10.


First saw Bitter Rice in 1949 and it has haunted me for 51 years. Recently rented it (2000) and it's still compelling. The verrismo genre was new at the time; in 2000 it doesn't have the same impact that it did when Open City, Bicycle Thief, La Strada, et al were all showing at about the same time, and showing us that there was a true, artistic alternative to Hollywood pap.

The then 18-year old Silvana Mangano's earthy performance will endure forever. My only memory from 1949 was of her working and chanting in the rice fields. And her doing a sensual Lindy with Vittorio Gassman. Those scenes were still compelling, half a century later.


In the 1940s -early 1950s Italian Cinema was at it peak. neo-realism was the stlye The Great Italian Directors came of age: De Sica/Fellini/DeSantis & others the italian movie actresses came in to being :Magnani/Lollabridgida/Loren /Martinelli and most especially here SYLVANA MANGANO.. sultry/earthy/sexy/beautiful/tempestuous etc.. she & her directors created images which one cannot forget!!The scene in Bitter Rice where she dances solo has to rate with anything Rita Hayorth or Marilyn Monroe did in Hollywood!!wow exciting, sensuous & memorable; as a film ,Bitter Rice ,is a fine example of Italian films of that era.. an exciting depiction of working class Italy & the problems that they endured@ 1940s....So well done with a fine cast Raf Vallone/Vittorio Gassman & American film actress Doris Dowling in a memorable role as Francesca.. the scenes in the rice field with the working women are most effective for me..The plot gets a bit melodramatic with multiple shootings etc at end, & Manganos great suicide scene.. However her finest moment is in the rice field , in the rain, when she is raped(seduced) by the leacherous Walter (Gassmann) her reaction to that moment is incredible!! Great to see again & again !!


Despite the fact that this film isn't available with English subtitles, (french is the closest!) it isn't so difficult to follow, and it is a satisfying experience. It comes across as a realistic portrayal of life in the rice fields of Italy, and is undoubtedly well-made with a haunting, natural quality about the whole production. Some of the scenes tend to be a bit overdrawn, and samey, but this doesn't detract from the overall intensity which is helped in no small part by the acting. It's quite clear that professional actors were used alongside non-actors, and this adds a certain poignant interest to the proceedings. The best performance is given by that seriously underrated actress from the USA - Doris Dowling, and it makes it all the more difficult to understand why she didn't have a far more high profile career in her own country. For fans of continental cinema in general, this is well worthy of interest.


Along a few weeks in Northern Italy, many women leave their families and jobs and move to the rice fields to work in the harvest of rice. The lovers Francesca (Doris Dowling) and Walter (Vittorio Gassman) has just robbed a valuable jewel from a hotel, and Francesca joins a group of workers while escaping from the police. A silly and sensual worker, Silvana (Silvana Mangano), gets closer to Francesca fascinated by the precious necklace she found hidden in Francesca's mattress. When they arrive to the lodge, they meet Sergeant Marco (Raf Vallone), who is discharging the army and feels attracted by Silvana. A square of love is formed with tragic consequences.

"Riso Amaro" is an original neo-realistic dramatic romance that presented Silvana Mangano to the world, leading her to a position of star. She is extremely beautiful and sexy in the role of the peasant Silvana, especially while dancing with the handsome Vittorio Gassman. Doris Dowling is also excellent, performing the suffering Francesca, a women abused by her scum lover. This movie was presented in the fourth Cannes Festival, without awards. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Arroz Amargo" ("Bitter Rice")


Although its mold of 1949 appears somewhat melodramatic today, the black and white 'Riso Amaro' (= Italian for 'Bitter Rice') surely ranks among the classics in film history.

This very Italian product by Guiseppe de Santis shows a pretty ordinary crime story, excellently interwoven with an impressive decor of harsh season labor in the rice-fields of Northern Italy. The thousands of women, up to their ankles in the water, breaking their backs in the burning sun to earn a few bucks, make a truly great setting.

'Riso Amaro' has been labeled as 'neo-realism'. Another issue worth mentioning is its female lead Silvana Mangano, ex miss Rome. To the standards of 1949 miss Mangano's performance in this film was shocking. This earned 'Riso Amaro' a lot of publicity, in particular in strongly Roman Catholic Italy.


For the first 75% of this film, I wasn't particularly interested in the film. Most of the reason was that I found the female leads to be so stupid, as they debased themselves repeatedly to gain the favor of a horrid petty crook. I guess this realistic, as some women do this, but I felt no connection to the characters, so my attention waned.

Fortunately, I did continue watching, because as the film developed further, so did the characters. And, this was all capped off by a dandy ending that I WON'T elaborate on because this would ruin the film.

This film is a Neo-Realistic Italian film, in that most of the actors were apparently not professionals and the subject matter was rather mundane (this is not meant to be an insult--just a comment about the style of film). While I didn't like it nearly as much as De Sica's films of that era, it was well worth watching and better than many other Neo-Realistic films.

FYI--parents should know that although this is an older film, there is some nudity. It's not super explicit, but does occur in the film.


Imagine a pact being sealed between the late emperor and his commoner friend years ago, being materalised in the modern times.

Adapted from a best-selling comic in Korea and "Princess Hours" as its English translation of the title, it's about the adventures and mis-adventures of a commoner-turned-crown princess. Chae-kyung, a student who takes design at an arts school, has always got her friends around her. And despite her family situation, she takes things in her stride. But it all changed when the current Crown Prince of the royal family 19-year-old Lee Shin is attending the school, leaving the school all in a buzz of excitement.

But Chae-kyung don't let that get into her head till a public confrontation with the Crown Prince happened. At the same time, rumours went around that the Crown Prince has to find a wife in order to continue the royal line.

But Lee Shin longed had a girl he liked, but she rejected his proposal. Then it was know that many years ago, Chae-kyung's late grandfather who is a friend of the late emperor (who happened to be the late grandfather of Crown Prince Lee Shin), had made a pact that their future grandchildren will fall in love and be married. It became interesting because Chae-kyung is the only female in school who dared to go against Lee Shin.

The marriage did went ahead and it even invited worldwide media attention. This is where the former Crown Princess and one-time famous actress Hwa Young and her 19-year-old son Lee Yul come into the scene given they had been staying in the UK for 14 years. Hwa Young had asked her son to return home before she did, in order to stage a comeback into the royal family where she was banished from 14 years ago after the death of her husband. Unfortunately, her son slowly took a liking for his sister-in-law. To make it more complicated, the two of them are classmates.

Along the way, there are many obstacles for the royal family (domestic problems and beyond) and even in the form of Lee Shin's former girlfriend as well. A whole new can of worms had also been opened as well on the royal family's past along the way. But, can Chae-kyung save the day, given she has a happy-go-lucky personality especially in the eyes of the Queen Mother.

The clash of commoner life meets royalty can be quite a hit in the modern era, where royal life can still be seen as a novelty sometimes.


Palace, also known as "Princess Hours", is a Corean television drama, based on a concurrent comic book. Upon its airing, it became one of the most popular dramas to air during its time period. Set in an alternate reality where upon Corea's independence from Japan, its people reinstate its royal family in the form of a constitutional monarchy. What unfolds over the course of the series is an emotionally charged, slowly paced, relationship drama featuring a quartet of principles, combined with courtly intrigue and remarkable production and art design.

This is my second experience with a Corean television drama and I came into it with a lot of skepticism after being disappointed by my previous attempt with Winter Sonata. However, I found Palace a lot more accessible and enjoyable and less contrived. One of its strongest aspects is it's production values and art design. The whole affair glows from the money that's pumped into it, from huge set pieces (the royal wedding parade scene was tremendous) and gorgeous costumes, to high quality video and sets. There's a lot of eye candy in the picture and it's easily one of the prettiest dramas I've seen in a while.

The story essentially follows a spirited high school girl, who by a long-forgotten betrothal, becomes the bride of the Crown Prince of Corea. It follows her entry into the monarchy and the ensuing turmoil as she and the palace itself adapts to their new situation. Throw in some complications with the Crown Prince's original love (who spurns him at first, leading to this marriage) as well as the return of the conniving exiled former Crown Princess and Royal Prince and you have courtly battles for power as well as the development of a tangled web of relationships. Granted, it doesn't take much effort to see how the story's going to play out as it's actually relatively straightforward. Instead of high degrees of "action", we instead follow, very slowly, the development of the characters as their collisions cause them all to react and grow. That said, while I found the characters fairly interesting, the show suffers a little from developing the characters too slowly, often threatening the characters becoming flat. This is especially true of the returned Royal Prince, who becomes fairly stale.

The newlyweds however, retain a lot of chemistry and their bickering on-off relationship helps propel the story forward and fortunately, the crux of Palace rests on that story. The other parts of the story don't lend themselves to much surprise and fail to provide the same dynamism, as such, I often found that many scenes could be trimmed or entire episodes rewritten and cut down to keep the pace of the story afloat. The underlying themes and "substance" to the story are a little weak and as such Palace becomes a little bit more of a confection, often veering into and from soap territory, but it wears its heart on its sleeve and its pleasures are in sharing those up front emotions with its viewers.

Props to the actors, the young unknowns that take the main roles. Although they are sometimes a little stiff, you can tell that they're not just rattling off the performances and the veterans do their jobs as well as you can expect from veterans of the screen. The direction gets a little quirky at times, perhaps thanks to its comic book heritage, with a handful of manic or ridiculous fantasy/daydream sequences, but ultimately, this is a straightforward work and it doesn't really falter where it counts.

I can recommend Palace quite simply because it's easy to get into, has a lot to look at, and has a emotionally hooking central love story. While it does plod at times, I found myself enough enchanted by the principal protagonist and her Cinderella story that it was still easy to watch the whole thing through to the end. I don't think Palace rewrites the book at all when it comes to its medium, genre or format, but I think it's a fun ride. It doesn't hurt that I love its alterna-history imagination as well. It's fun, lightweight (even though it gets heavy for the characters) entertainment and a decent entering place into the world of Corean dramas. 8/10.


well, I'm a PRINCESS HOURS ultimate fan....princess hours fever! hope that there's a volume 2-3...hoping,waiting on it! i hope that the cast of the princess hours can visit Philippines ....hoping!soon! I'm hoping that someday i could see the crown prince in person...of course the princess...this kind of comment! is a big deal for me because i could express how i love PRINCESS HOURS....The cast was doing good in their role....the princess hours writer was very excellent he/she did a very nice/good TV-episode i hope that she will make another or continuation of this TV-episode...and i will wait for it.....but the most is the cast of this princess hours especially the two namely: shin the crown prince,the princess as well...I'm hoping and waiting to see them both in person....thanks


i love this romantic love story soooooooo much!!

the prince is so lonely, so gentle, so generous, so man!!!!!

do u think a man like him can be true in real life? i envy such deep love between he and his lover...

although mixed with pain and doubt, and beginning with a forced wedding, their love is warm and deep and pure.

and the cute teddy bears, adds love air too.

the story gives us a hope for true love.. it reminds me of such feeling which has gone too far away and too long ago in my heart.

love will melt icy lonely heart. love will open your door of heart toward a sunny garden.

u will hope the best moments will never end, when your hands were grasped by your lover and when you sleep so safely in your lover's arms. at least the TV series make me think of that and hope for that.

oh god, give me such a love bah!


That sums up the problem with K-dramas. The producers said that it was hard to make a show based on a graphic novel that hadn't been finished yet. It doesn't seem that they struggled that hard with the challenge since The Palace is just a mindless regurgitation of K-drama clichés that should have been put out to pasture years ago. Here is the premise of this show - Boy loves girl, girl rejects boy so boy gets involved with another girl that he doesn't really like (the only bit of originality in any of these series is why the boy gets involved with the second girl). The first girl then decides that she made a mistake so she tries to get back with the boy. The boy finds himself pulled between his first love and the new girl (because she is cute and good natured). The cute girl leaves the country (to study abroad or for business) and the boy realizes how much he loves her. Sound familiar? It should, it is the exact same plot of every single romantic K-drama that has been released in the last decade (and maybe longer).

When The Palace started I thought it would be different. The costumes and sets are gorgeous and the directing riffs on anime style. But, within a few episodes, the lavish production can't hide the fact that there is nothing new here. Even worse, all the digital trickery of the first few episodes completely disappears.

Here is a breakdown of how a typical episode works. Character meets character and they talk. Next scene of characters sitting and talking. More characters talking while riding in a car. Characters talk while they eat. And finally, characters talk some more. Nothing is ever implied which can be stated. When characters are alone, they talk too. Throw in some tissue thin villains (a vengeful ex-crown princess and her "too pretty to be a boy" ex-prince) and much ado about a retroactive enthronment, and you have a series that would have been long at 12 episodes, but is torturous at 24.

The only person to come through this series looking good is Yoon Eun-Hye who is a Korean Audrey Hepburn. The rest of the cast, especially Kim Jeong-Hoon (boys should be handsome, NOT pretty) and Song Ji-hyo (washed out, mousy, and without an ounce of personality), will leave you reaching for the fast forward button.

And one more thing, if we are supposed to believe that a character spent their entire life in England, the least the producers could do is find an actor that can speak English. Listening to Kim Jeong-Hoon mangle English that he obviously doesn't understand is painful.

Skip this and watch My Name is Kim Sam-Soon. It is the same exact story, too. But at least all the actors are good in that one.


In a Gypsy village, the fathers of Candela and José promise their children to each other. Years later, the unfaithful José (Juan Antonio Jiménez) marries Candela (Cristina Hoyos) but while defending his lover Lucía (Laura del Sol) in a brawl, he is stabbed to death. Carmelo (Antonio Gades), who secretly loves Candela since he was a boy, is arrested while helping José and unfairly sent to prison. Four years later he is released and declares his love for Candela. However, the woman is cursed by a bewitched love and every night she goes to the place where José died to dance with his ghost.

"El Amor Brujo" is the shooting of a magnificent Flamenco ballet and third and last movie of the Carlos Saura's trilogy. The story based on the ancient tradition of promising children to marry each other has love, passion, betrayal, death, lust and redemption, with the lead character tied and being consumed by her unresolved desire for her former husband. The lighting in the set is impressive and the dances and the music score are awesome. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Amor Bruxo" ("Warlock Love")


Formalismo, that school of Hispanic literature that emphasizes form as function, or form over function, has little to do with Saura's EL AMOR BRUJO. This is Saura's final work in his flamenco trilogy that began with BODAS de SANGRE and includes CARMEN. As with those two films, Saura bases this cinematic ballet on a previous work, Manuel de Falla's EL AMOR BRUJO. The other two films in the trilogy were based on Lorca's BODAS de SANGRE and Merimee's and Bizet's novel and opera, CARMEN. These three classical works are not examples of formalismo. Rather, they are prime examples of both the realistic and impressionistic schools of literature which under the creative mastery of Saura become sensual re-creations of love, passion, betrayal, and death. The love stories here supercede form and attain a thematic content worthy of the great literary works they portray. The starkness of the set is for symbolic purposes and not for form nor for function. The dilapidated, dusty set represents the emptiness of the soul that has lost great love, or has been deceived by a bewitching love. The set takes on color when Candela dances the Fire Dance, and again at the end when Lucia sacrifices herself to be the eternal lover of the bewitching ghost of Jose, thus setting Candela free from his cursed memory. Saura never lets us forget the tension between reality and fiction as the dawn rises on a new day over a theatrical set free of obsessions with death and love that bewitches the lover.


This is a brilliant film, one of Carlos Saura's best. It is essentially a ballet, laced with gorgeous music and moving photography. I've seen it three times and have enjoyed it more each time.

This isn't a teen flick, of course, and will not appeal to everyone. But for people serious about music, dance, and drama, this shouldn't be missed.


The music, the colourful settings and the skills of the dancers make this film a must for everyone that loves to see a drama of love and betrayal - and Antonio Gades who plays Carmelo is the God of Flamenco Dancing in this film.

When I first saw the film on a visit to Madrid 1986 it blew my mind completely and after 20 years I'm still in love with this wonderful film. The trilogy by Carlos Saura which consists of Bodas de Sangre, Carmen and El Amor Brujo get 10/10 from me but this film was the first I saw and that's why it's special. If you enjoy Flamenco, Spanish and Latin Culture and fiery ladies and gents - don't miss this trilogy.


Formalismo is an integral part of both Hispanic culture and gypsy/flamenco culture. It is inherent in this dance-drama within a movie. You must willingly suspend disbelief in the realistic sets set on an obvious dance stage with scrimmed and lighted backdrops. Likewise to accept the plot, you must suspend disbelief in phantom lovers, duels for honor, and happy-ever-after endings -- although be forwarned that the ending of this Bewitched Love (a better translation than the usual "Love, the Magician", altho' there are at least three other ways to interpret the ambiguous Spanish title words) can be understood only as a comedy, or comedie noire. The action, singing and dancing are compressed into the lines of flamenco dances as tightly as pure emotion can be condensed into a sonnet, or any other strict form, and yet they transcend with the freedom of the gypsy spirit, if you but open yourself to the experience. The first of Saura's great dance movies.


As an avid fan of classical music, ballet, opera, I am, more often than not, confounded by the poor quality of films based on these genres. If they're not "dumbed down," they are "interpreted," beyond recognition, or simply a vehicle for the director to shout: "look at me! I'm DIRECTING!"

But Carlos Saura has placed the story (full of passion, fire, lust, longing, love, sin and redemption) well ahead of his own ego. He simply allows the story to be told through dance, music and sparse dialogue.

Add to this the quality and nature of the choreography where again, we are simply allowed to experience the story: the dance, and its appropriateness to the subject matter tells us all.

Musically, it is almost, also, perfect. My one reservation lay in some acoustically "awkward" moments that render de Falla's critical orchestration less effective. I will not name them, in the hopes that the reader will not notice them and therefore, not be disappointed.

Nevertheless, the music is brilliant, and these three elements of form work together for a powerful, moving, and thrilling experience. As music with dance creates an experience that is more than both, this creation is much more than a film.

See it with a loved one. Or alone at night with a glass of Fundador...


I'm kind of surprised at the number of mostly negative reviews this film has generated. Of course this is nothing more than a ghost story with an essentially silly plot. (So was Hamlet.) That served as no impediment to the success of "Dona Flor and her Husbands", although in that case Sonya Braga's beauty was a big help. And it didn't stop "Ghost," a shameless ripoff, from being a huge hit either.

The performers here are admittedly overage for their parts. It's disgraceful that they couldn't look like Brad Depp or Angelina Roberts. I hid my eyes when their faces appeared on screen.

What gall the producers had, presenting these splendid artists/athletes in their middle years. I only say that in the certainty that I will never know the meaning of the word "wrinkle." And the sets! Revolting. Clearly a stylized stage setting. The chutzpah! Why couldn't they have made the movie in San Francisco or sunny Miami where everyone has a suntan? No play with so many bare bones as a background can possibly be any good, as "Waiting for Godot" and "Our Town" proved long ago.

Still I find myself enjoying the music and the dancing, even to the point of being swept up in it. A lot of people seem to think that enduring music began in Europe with Bach and ended here with Charles Ives. We don't hear a lot about De Falla, who is much better known in Hispanic America. "El Amor Brujo" contains what I think of, at least, as his most entrancing tunes. Some of them are kind of naughty. (I rather like that.) And I am thrilled when I see people with outstanding, almost unearthly psychomotor skills exercise them, whether on the football field or the dance floor. I understand that what we see here is not "pure" flamenco, whatever that adjective means, but there is a basic difference between, say, Sonny Rollin's or Gene Kelly's or Paul Taylor's approach to music, on the one hand, and that of a flamenco musician or dancer on the other. The former would be tickled pink to be able to play an instrument or move his body in a way that nobody ever had in the history of humankind. A traditional flamenco artist would be perfectly satisfied to play, sing, or dance exactly the way his grandfather had. The singing, yes, sometimes sounds like the wailing of a cat in heat. It's supposed to, I would guess. All that Moorish repression of female sexuality.

I once saw Sugar Ray Leonard at his peak, shadow boxing for a few minutes, and the grace and perfection of his movements gave me goose pimples. So do some of these performances. I wouldn't have missed them.


We all interpret someone else's motivations and actions based upon a variety of subjective factors- our background, interpersonal history, friends/family influences . . . This short film really puts into focus how easily misinterpreted someone else's intentions can be based upon our own vantage point. And in 30 minutes it really makes you think and take stock of where you sit and how you would react to scenarios that the characters found themselves in. Would be really interesting to watch this movie with a group of friends both male/female to discuss our interpretations. Anyhow, highly recommend this film for entertainment value but also for some not too heavy philosophical thinking.


I saw this production in Rochester NY and thoroughly enjoyed it. The subject of the short showed creativity and innovation. It provided a humorous approach to different people's relationships and their perceptions of those relationships. Great idea for a topic and very well directed. This would be a terrific short to show on an airline flight. It would provide a great snippet of entertainment.


Like all screen plays, a writer does his/her best to avoid unnecessary dialog. I'd imagine in short films, this rule of thumb is even more pertinent. Although Cute and Creepy does not answer all your inquiries about love, it definitely raises new questions. How would I react to a secret admirer? Would I be flattered, or would that note left on my doorstep be borderline stalking? While many films are made to entertain, this one will definitely make you think. Highly recommended. Just as satisfying as a 90 minute feature, minus all the popcorn in your teeth. Looking forward to more pieces of work from this brilliant writer/producer...


I saw this film last year and just knew it would be successful! I was very glad to see that it won some awards, it definitely deserves the attention. The storyline is so original, it makes you want to watch it more than once! I have never seen another film showing 2 different points of view to the same situation - very creative! The characters are very believable in each situation, and my favorite scene is when the black woman starts yelling in the parking lot - she is absolutely hysterical!! I laughed so hard I cried and I think I even heard my husband snort, although he denies it. KUDOS to the writer and director on such a wonderful short film! I will keep an eye out for other films done by these writers/directors. Congratulations on a winner.


given this is a short, the viewer is fooled by grasping a lot in a small amount of time. this was made possible by a superb cast and talented writing. since "fine lines" between anything in life prove to always be a more complex and deeper matter that what is seen at the surface, it is truly a feat that this film gives the viewer a chance to see both sides of a very entertaining situation. in the dating game, perceptions of cute and creepy are in the eye of the beholder--and in this case, the eyes and minds of the viewers of the film as they are allowed to draw their own conclusions and create their own definitions of two seemingly different words in our vernacular. i enjoyed this film for its blurring of lines and boundaries and for making me redefine my own perceptions, it only for a short amount of time.


The film was VERY clever. I can definitely see this happening! My friends and I have different views on what to trust in a guy and when we think it is time to run. Being an (untrusting) New Yorker, I would find the whole thing creepy. But plenty of my girlfriends would find it romantic. That's why it works. It was also very funny. The acting was great. I also enjoyed how the director set us all up and how he cut the scenes together. Even the song played on the guitar was cute (and so was the guy). This film was the right length with the right "wow" you're supposed to experience from a short film. I highly recommend this short!


I tend to favor your typical bubble-gum pop and classic movies and had very little interest in INDI films. Those that I HAVE seen were either blatant political propaganda disguised as "art" or had such a narrowly focused target audience that I didn't empathize with the main characters.

This film, however shatters all those preconceived notions! The plight of a romantic man in this day and age is so perfectly laid out in this short foray into irony. I just wish it was available to purchase! I have a number of friends and family members who would get a kick out of the irony, the dry humor, the only-slightly-overplayed stereotyped characters. You're not a fly on the wall in a real scenario, but so very close that it forces you to ask questions of yourself.

This is an exemplary piece of film, and if you get the chance to catch it DO! If you have plans, then set your TIVO... it is completely worth it!


I've seen my share of Lynch, Cronenberg, Tsukamoto, and other Miike films in the past, and I must say for a fact that IZO beats everything else currently out there for extreme bizarreness.

After watching the film for 2 hours, there was still a lot of head scratching from the audience leaving the theater. What did it mean? What exactly happened? What was the purpose? But do you expect any less from Takashi Miike?

As what I gathered, an assassin named IZO is crucified as punishment, from what we don't know, probably a few hundred years ago. His punishment instead goes beyond multiple spearings through his body, but eternal damnation of life, where time, space, and dimension are not clear.

It seems IZO has the capability of traveling through random times and space, but randomly out of nowhere. He kills whoever may be in his path, as they are trying to kill him. The purpose of his eternal damnation is not truly clear and he seeks on a Reason. A Reason in a place where Reason doesn't exist.

Add to the package a Huge body count (not as bloody as you would expect actually), some sex, samurai and cartoonish violence, random old stock footage, zombies, a randomly appearing folk singer giving metaphoric songs on occasion, snakes, caterpillars, and birth itself, it is one unique picture.

Did I get it? Nope. Did I enjoy it? I think I did. A second viewing is what I must give it eventually. 8/10


I was expecting a samurai film, I couldn't have been wronger. It is hard to explain "Izo" with just words, even if I could I don't think it would cover all the things this film has to say.

Before explaining the story of this film I think it is essential to talk about the visual aspect of it. "Izo" looks like another experimental film from the director Takashi Miike, lots of unorthodox camera shots and visual story telling. Acting feels very theatrical... in a Japanese way. There is no stopping in this film, it is a fast ride from start to the end and you have to catch up with it.

As for the story, Izo is the main character in this, a samurai from feudal Japan who apparently had a lot of drama in his life. After his death his tortured soul wanders around modern and old Japan, endlessly taking lives. He denies the existence of God, faces old foes, those who hold grudge against him, sleeps with his mom and kills her, he sees women he had been with, kills them, kills lots of women, kills lots of everything actually. And the whole Japan -modern and old- wants to stop this guy, he is seen as a menace to the system, he doesn't belong to the system. And he travels back and forth in time, fighting and killing everyone that gets in his way, slowly turning into a demon.

There is a lot of defiance in "Izo", against everything human civilization stands for. Its purpose apparently is to question that which made us what we are. Where does religion, law, ethics come from? And it has a very nihilist answer to all of it. While watching this I felt a lot of mythology in it, feels like a Greek or a Persian tragedy.

What I've written might sound non-sense if you haven't yet seen this and have no idea what it is like but this is as much as I can do to explain this film. I think that's what makes good art: It speaks for itself...


The latest chapter in Takeshi Miike's continuing essay on humanity and brutality, IZO is a two-hour experimental mind-trip.

If this film were in any way concerned with making sense, the storyline might resemble something like this: A man is brutally murdered in ancient Japan, but, bearing his vengeance, he returns to the Earth and wanders uncontrollably through time and space, becoming the embodiment of mankind's self-destructive nature. Throughout his wanderings, he encounters all kinds of strange and metaphoric characters, and he proceeds to kill them all with his samurai sword.

This film is an elaborate thesis on mankind, but the exact nature of the message is a matter of debate, as is whether or not Takeshi Miike himself even has a clue. There will no doubt be differing opinions as to what the characters represent, but you better make up your mind during the first hour of film. After that, most of the scenes that obviously point out a social message - like black-and-white footage of war - disappear, and what the resolution is depends on your interpretation of the characters.

For those of you not familiar with the works of Takeshi Miike, suffice it to say that he is determined to mine the human subconscious in search of new and exciting ways to make people throw up sushi and tempura on the carpeted floors of Tokyo multiplexes. Among Japan's pantheon of ultra-violent directors, he is notable for being always ready to address the issue of his own sadism. Ever film he makes is like an expansion of Hitchcock's shower scene, forcibly accusing us of being sadists at the same time as he delivers great images of cinematic violence. More than the social commentary, which is confusing and likely uncertain, the most interesting philosophical study in IZO is Miike's self-examination of his own lust for violence, as well as the main character's and the audience's. Is Izo so brutal because he is inhuman, or because he is too human?

You may not get anything from straining at this befuddled movie, but it is still enjoyable and provoking, if not gut-wrenching, experimental cinema. Any violent philosophical essay that features long shots of a folk singer playing guitar and screaming ballads is worth a look. IZO has elements of Kafka, Lewis Carrol, Terry Gilliam, and Seijun Suzuki, but it is undeniably Takeshi Miike.

You can call Miike sadistic. You can call him demented or depraved. Just don't forget to call him an artist.


If you aren't a thinker, you will probably rate this movie less than 10 and call it a "chick flick". A lot of care and patience went into making this movie and in keeping it true to Asimov's short story. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie due to the questions it raises and the future it foretells.


This is one of those beautiful movies that never get the respect they deserve. Friends weren't exited about the movie some time ago, so I went to see it myself because I finally got to read some Asimov books. It was the first movie in years to actually get my eyes cloudy and all the other things a grown man "shouldn't feel". The movie is heartwarming because of all the beautiful scenes, the great detail in the progress of a robot trying to become a human being and the leaps in the timeline. Everything looks so good, the detail in Andrew, the futuristic backgrounds. Accompanied by the music of James Horner, this movie will be one to remember!


I'm 12, so you can see this review from a pre-teens point-of-view. I also commented on Magnolia, if you want to check it out. Bicentennial Man was an excellent movie, it was great for children and adults (at least in my opinion). It's a movie to watch with your parents, if you're my age (and close to your parents...*smirk*) or younger, and it's a great movie to watch by yourself or with a friend. Just don't watch it with, like, a 4-year-old, because they'll get really really bored. I love the futuristic stuff, always have! Rent it, if you're about 15 or younger, for a sleepover or a small party, or for by yourself. Othwerwise, only rent it if you're hangin with a younger bro, sis, niece, nephew, kid you're babysitting, etc. Parents, don't hesitate to watch it with your kids, though. It's definitely not a baby movie. There's only two parts that I can think of that mention sex, but little kids won't "get" it and it's not bad at all, unless you're *MAJORLY* protective. I mean, it's no "Dirty Dancing", give it a break :). Um, they swear, like, two times in the whole movie, that's why it's rated "PG". There ya go.


I thought this movie came across very well considering that it could've easily landed in the cheese bowl. I could've lived without the 'female' robot; that was a bit silly. But the story was engrossing and the overall feeling of the movie was warm. At times it felt a bit hurried, but I suppose 200 years worth of a robot's life in 2 hours and 10 minutes warrants that. 8 out of 10 vote on this one. Well worth the rental.


I'm surprised to read so few comments about Bugs Bunny, Superstar. So I'll chime in. Besides, it'll give me som'in' positive to say. They're all here - not just Bugs. This nine-cartoon compilation also features Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Silvester, Henry-the-Chicken-Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky, Daffy. It's kind of a "Best of." I thought that it was very, very good. There is some narration by Orson Welles and the difficult-to-pull-off segue from cartoon to cartoon is filled by interesting home-movie-type, black-and-white glimpses of how it was where the comics were created - the people behind the characters - the artists, the musicians, the voice (singular - Mel Blanc). But imagine this: I didn't hear the word "computer" during the entire film! This is one of the few videos that I would actually buy - I could watch it over and over. Must be the kid in me. Speaking of kids, I'll bet there's generations of 'em, the majority of whom have seen Bugs, Elmer, Porky, Daffy, Tweety, Sylvester. But I'll also bet that the majority of CURRENT cartoons are NOT known from generation to generation. Might that be a testament to how deservingly enduring these Looney Toons are?


Documentary on the creators of Looney Tunes and how they created the various characters. Intespersed are some great cartoons--6 Bugs Bunny ones, a Tweety Bird one, a Foghorn Leghorn one and a Porky Pig and Daffy one.

The documentary is narrated by Orson Welles (!!!!). It might have seemed like a good idea but his deep, heavy voice and total inability to tell a joke correctly really dampens it. There are some interesting little tidbits about Looney Tunes--how they were originally made just for adults and how there was a big outcry when people realized Tweety Bird was naked (!!!). But the real reason to see this are the cartoons. They're in great shape in strong, bright colors. Also they show ones that don't usually appear at other retrospectives--I only recognized 2 of the Bugs Bunny ones. All of them are great but "Carny Concereto" and "Rhapsody Rabbit" are exceptional.

Ignore the docu stuff and concentrate on the cartoons. Lots of fun!


A great movie documentary telling of the early days of the Warner Brothers toon studios (think of "Termite Terrace" as you watch), along with nine great toon shorts the family will love for a long time to come.

This movie should be watched for on Showtime (or any of its other channels). Too bad it's not on video now--it should be taped!

I must agree, it's a family film that indeed shall be grater than any others that will proclaim so in future.

So long live BUGS...long live the MERRIE MELODIES...and LONG LIVE THE LOONEY TUNES!!

An agreeable 10\10 effort from the United Artists team.


I am 34 years old and I watched this movie for the first time today with my two boys. It has been a long time since I have laughed this hard at a show. The boys thought I was just as funny because I would tell them about my childhood days while we watched. Family entertainment and quality time together...you cannot beat it!


When I was five, I first saw the documentary "Bugs Bunny Superstar" and my parents made me a tape of it; unfortunately, we accidentally taped over the end. Now that I've seen the whole thing again - and that I'm old enough to understand what it shows - I can accurately comment on it.

It starts with a disembodied voice (actually Orson Welles narrating) showing photographs of the places representing the greatest minds: the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the Parthenon, the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, the White House (well, not currently), Termite Terrace...wait a minute, Termite Terrace? Yes, Termite Terrace. For the uninformed, it's the back-lot on the Warner Bros. studios where they created the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons. So begins a cinematic trip down Memory Lane.

The movie consists of an interview with animator Bob Clampett explaining how they created Bugs, Daffy, Porky, etc. When I was really young, even though I saw the caricatures of Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre and Edward G. Robinson - plus the scenes from "The Jazz Singer" and "It Happened One Night" - I couldn't interpret anything from them, but of course now I can. It was especially neat to hear about the typical days in Termite Terrace; it all sounded really fun! But of course, the best parts are the nine classic cartoons included in the movie to affirm what Clampett says. All released before 1948, they give one a true sense of old-time cinema (especially with Bugs Bunny at the Oscars). As it is, this documentary's 1975 release brings to mind the '50s nostalgia that had swept the country, as displayed by "Happy Days". While the stuff portrayed here is pre-'50s, it still makes one nostalgic for the old times. You're sure to have a real hare-raising time! There's also an interview with Friz Freleng, some footage of Mel Blanc, while Elmer, Sylvester, Tweety, and Foghorn also appear in the cartoons.

One more thing. When MGM released "Bugs Bunny Superstar" on video in 1988, they also released the video collections "BUGS!" (whose cover showed Bugs holding an Oscar), "DAFFY!" (showing Daffy wearing sunglasses), "PORKY!" (showing Porky driving a fancy car), and "ELMER!" (showing Elmer sitting in a director's chair). In keeping with the documentary, they all contained cartoons released before or during 1948 (e.g., "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid", "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", "Baby Bottleneck" and "Good Night, Elmer"). I wonder why MGM released them onto video.


This superb compilation, appropriately narrated by another American cultural giant, Orson Welles, features the best of the 1940s Looney Tunes output, not just Bugs, but Sylvester, Tweetie, Daffy, Porky and Foghorn: 'What's Cookin' Doc', 'A Wild Hare', 'A Corny Concerto', 'Rhapsody Rabbit', 'I Saw A Putty Tat', 'Walky Talky Hawky', 'My Favorite Duck', 'Hair Raising Hare' and ''Old Grey Hare' (see my individual reviews).

As a piece of cultural history, this semi-documentary is inadequate - there is no attempt to explain the subversiveness of these irreverent, flippant, violent, beautiful cartoons in the context of Disney-dominating ick-animation and gloomy, propaganda-laden World War Two - to which many of these cartoons tacitly refer, revealing complicated truths other 'real' films couldn't dare, such as the barbaric effect fighting barbarians can have on 'our' side; there is no analysis of the glorious pretention-pricking of both Hollywood and high culture, or Bugs' androgynous proteanism, or how the cartoons retained a level of fresh invention while seemingly locked in repetitive formulae; of the powerful psychoanalytic premisses of each short, in which a wild, elusive, lawless animal stands in for our stifled desires, especially as World War Two gives on to the post-war world of Joe McCarthy and chums.

Rather, the in-between nostalgic bits celebrate harmless anecdote and japery, putting animation on its proper, neutered level. The cartoons themselves triumphantly bely such a project.


To me, I know what to expect when I see a video box that has a woman on the front cover wearing a bra and holding a machine gun, along with a 4-Star Rating from Joe Bob Briggs. It always amazes me that people rent this stuff, apparently expecting Bergman or something, and THEN decide they have to write negative reviews denouncing the overall silliness, bad acting, cheap production values and amount of nudity and/or violence. To me, HARD TO DIE delivered exactly what it promised on the box...action, blood, babes, machine guns, Corman references (this is, after all, a New Horizons video) and loads of cheesy fun.

Five scantily-clad young women (Gail Harris, Karen Mayo-Chandler, Deborah Dutch, Melissa Moore and Bridget Carney) are hired to work a temp inventory job at "Acme Lingerie" in a closed down for the night high-rise. They all get naked in a touching group shower scene that alludes to the powers of female bonding (HA!), try on the new Fall lineup of underwear, then accidentally open a "soul box" containing the spirit of Hockstetter, the notorious "sorority house killer" (last seen in Wynorski's similar SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 2). Someone in the group becomes possessed by the evil spirit and starts killing the others with a hook. Thankfully there's an armory shop in the same building, so the surviving girls get to defend themselves with high-powered machine guns! Big Peter Spellos returns from SHM2 as hulking Orville Ketchum, who is mistaken for the killer and outlives a dozen or so knees to the crotch, stabbings and gunshots (not to mention a fall off the roof!).

If you decide to take these zany proceedings seriously, that is your choice, but approached in the right state of mind, it's often hilarious. There's B-movie ingenuity at work here in this silly time-waster. It is action, nudity and in-joke packed and the ladies are all all pretty fun and energetic, so it's fine viewing for the audience intended. If you do not like these films, simply do yourself a favor and stop watching them.

Score: 7 out of 10


***SPOILERS, IF I CAN REMEMBER THEM***

A college roommate introduced me to this unforgettable little film, based on my love for laughably bad movies, and it did not disappoint. Purely a vehicle for slasher T&A, the movie makes no excuses and doesn't really take it itself all that seriously - what movie COULD, after having a man fall off a 15-story building and walk away?

To me, the shower scenes were just a softcore running gag, but I suppose some people could be turned-on, by them. It's just funny, for me, thinking about the writers' meeting that must have taken place ('Okay, the story's finished. Now, how do we get all of them into the shower?').

The highlight of the film, for me, was the irrepressible Orville coming back from one death after another, and not seeming to hold all the abuses against anyone, when it's over. Favorite scene: Orville pulls the mail spindle he has been stabbed with out of his heart, and uses a stapler to attach a bandage to his chest.

Worth the 99-cent rental fee.


I loved this movie. It was pure entertainment the entire time. This, and the three other movies Spellos starred in as Orville Ketchum, are some of the greatest films i have ever seen. Anyone who thinks otherwise, should go through the amount of punishment that Orville's body takes.


In the 80's and early 90's, one couldn't do any better for entertaining movie mega-cheese than Jim Wynorski or Fred Olen Ray. Ironically enough after the two collabreated on "Hollywood Scream Queen Hot Tub Party", neither's subsquesent movies were as entertaining. But I Digress, anyway this Wynorski film is about 5 girls doing inventory and stumbling on a puzzle box that contains the spirit of the guy from "Sorority House Massacre 2", but featuring clips from "Slumber Party Massacre" So of course they take turns showering, making insipid comments, running around in lingerie, and getting killed by a maniac. In short, great cheesy goodness.

My Mega-Cheese Grade: B

DVD Extras: Theatrical Trailer; Trailers for "Don't Sleep Alone", "Concealed Weapons", and 1997's "Expose"

Eye Candy: nearly all of the actresses get nude, take showers, or both


You have got to admire a movie that sets and then surpasses its own goals. HtD gets right up in your face and asks you if you want to see a slasher movie with five luscious babes (each with a distinct personality, of course) dressed in lingerie (unless they're in Daisy Dukes or in the shower without any clothes at all) running around a building after-hours and firing automatic weapons. Of course you do! Well, HtD delivers. Throw in Orville Ketchum, some irrelevant filler material shot at a porn filming session, and a bizarre cameo by Forrest J. Ackerman, and you've got a most-excellent B-film!

Keep in mind that Jim Wyrnoski is not shy about using material from other films. In Sorority House Massacre II (which beats out HtD only marginally as the best B-movie, because it actually features a haunted house,) he used lengthy unrelated scenes from Slumber Party Massacre as back-story to SHM II. In HtD, he uses the events of SHM II, as well as the same footage from SPM, as a back-story. What makes this more than mildly amusing is that most of the actors/actresses, and many of the scripted characters, in HtD are the same as in SHM II. HtD acknowledges the events of SHM II with a wink at the fact that most of the characters in that movie died. You owe it to yourself to see SHM II prior to seeing HtD.

I won't spend a lot of time on the plot. Let me just say that, through a series of improbable and illogical events, the five female leads end up wearing virtually nothing as they are stalked through a closed office building one Saturday. Quite a few people die, though usually off-camera and unrealistically, and "Orville Ketchum" lives up to his reputation as one of the funnier and more-difficult-to-kill B-movie actors. (The scene where he staples a bandage to his abdomen is priceless.) One final observation...unlike many of the straight-to-video movies being churned out today, HtD actually has some decent production standards. Cheap, yes, but competent. The film has been correctly exposed and color-compensated. The audio levels and re-recording are quite acceptable. There are no artsy-fartsy camera angles or unnecessary CGI effects. It is simply a better-produced movie than most of the dreck out there today.

And it is a hoot! Either you get it, or you don't. Highly-recommended for nekkid-wimmen-in-slasher-films fans.


This mountain of melted cheddar is dumb, dumb fun. Director/producer Wynorski (who also helmed the raucously cheesy Chopping Mall) proves himself to be the unsung B-movie hero. Wynorski's films win because he creates schlock that believes in itself. This production doesn't have an air of superiority. It carries its ludicrous premise with a conspicuous joie de vivre and at a boisterous pace, all while avoiding the doldrums of self-parody. Wynorski also succeeds in that his intentionally funny and over-the-top ending is actually funny. He thus accomplishes the rather difficult task of creating a film that people will laugh at AND laugh with.

This film is actually the third entry in the Sorority House Massacre series, but stands just fine on its own (I've never seen the two preceding SHMs). It may be the best of the trilogy, downplaying the derivative slasher element that defined the first two films and instead taking an exuberant action-horror-comedy slant (the title, in case it wasn't obvious, is an obvious spoof of Die Hard). Just the image of our trashy-lingerie-wearing, bloody-breasted heroines brandishing automatic firearms is enough to alight the predilections of any cult film fan.


Jim Wynorski knows how to make a movie! He doesn't skip on the T&A and never takes his flicks too serious. If you're familiar with Wynorski you'll love Hard To Die, it has all the same elements of Sorority House Massacre II, pretty much the same story with the same girls running around in lingerie being stocked by the spirit of Hudsacker which has taken over a girls body. Our friend Orville is back too. He's trying to help the scantily clad girls, but they just keep killing him. And much like SHM II, it takes the time out to for the girls to all take showers, God bless you Jim please make more movies! Its perfect for movie night with your friends. Check it out!


ORVILLE KETCHUM WILL NOT DIE!!!!!!!

that is the overall theme of the unsung hero in this movie. ORVILLE KETCHUM RULES!!!!!!!!!! if you want to see plenty of hot chicks showering Goofy violence and the overall awesomeness of Orville check this movie out i first saw it on USA network years ago and have been wanting more Orville ever since Check it out!! and bring back Orville!!!!!! but what this movie is about is basically a serial killer chases around scantly clad women who have the weird urge to take showers while they are running from the killer. Orville is stabbed thrown off the building and other ways that would cause the demise of ordinary men. but not Orville. i think this movie is very underrated and wish that they would bring it back to put it on DVD. a famous quote from Me Ketchum throughout the film is "I Just Got To Tell You..." what does he have to tell the girls..... just watch to find out!!!


"I just want to get my clothes on and get the hell outta here!" shouts Jackie hysterically. It may hide behind the alternate title "Hard to Die," and utilize the stage name "Arch Stanton" (the name on the grave in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) for director Jim Wynorski, but with most of the same cast returning and with reused ideas and recycled flashbacks, Sorority House Massacre III is still very much the same cheesy movie. The character names have changed (except for Orville Ketchum, now the janitor, and through the majority of the film practically a zombie), the goofy synthesized piano music is back, and the cleavage is as prominent as ever. Since the film doesn't take place in a sorority house, the working titles "Hard to Die" or "Tower of Terror" are more appropriate, but the film is practically identical in story and tone to the series the director took over.

Four department store employees (Dawn, played by Robyn Harris; Jackie, played by Deborah Dare; Tess, played by Melissa Moore; and Shayna, played by Bridget Carney) arrive for the yearly inventory at Acme Lingerie and meet up with the newly hired girl Diana Farrow (Lindsay Taylor). While working in the dusty basement, the sprinkler system is accidentally activated, getting the group of seductresses suitably wet (yes, that was a major plot point). After cleaning up in the manager's office, they discover a mis-delivered occult witchcraft soul box that unleashes an evil (and poorly animated) spirit. The mysterious package was intended for Dr. Newton (a man who casually reads from the book "Demonology and You") at the museum, who attempts to warn them of the dangers - until the phone goes dead. Meanwhile, the same two detectives from Sorority House Massacre II decide to investigate the lingerie store and their old pal Orville, who they both finger as a mass murderer. As the five isolated girls wait for a Chinese food delivery, they are quickly slaughtered by a hooded assailant, armed with a diabolically evil metal hook.

It's especially funny to see the desirable vixens talk about the sorority house massacre that happened in the previous film, considering they played the victims, most of whom didn't make it out alive. And that film reused an introductory plot from the Slumber Party Massacre films. It's like a remake of the previous film, shot for shot, but with a new location; it's even more absurd if you've just seen the previous movie. Both of Wynorski's sequels are completely unrelated to the first Sorority House Massacre, rendering that film obsolete for either understanding the inconsequential plot or enjoying the scatterbrained characters and their extremely toned bodies. Even the first fight scene with Orville is choreographed in an identical fashion (the knife to the guts is in the same place, as is the strangulation by handy extension cord). The repetition is just plain obnoxious (except for the copious nudity, which somehow never gets tiresome).

The same girl manages to take a shower first again (Melissa Moore), her spontaneous undressing moderated by remarkably silly saxophone riffs. And the others aimlessly slip into sexy lingerie in short order. Even the creepy janitor eyes the girls in the same way, and once the bloodletting starts, the splattering of blood and gore is all too familiar. The only major difference is the immoderate amount of machinegun fire. Some people consider this to be a softcore parody of Die Hard, but it couldn't be further from it  if anything, it was simply a gimmicky title choice. Ultimately, who cares? There's plenty of flesh on display, and none of it is unappealing (except maybe for the odd food delivery girl dressed like a clown). It's all in the interest of conceding to the target audience's poor tastes.

- Mike Massie


I simply love this film. The five main characters are just gorgeous. Sure this movie is badly acted, but its lots and lots of fun. Rent it and you'll see how the director exploits the babes' bodies. IT HAS LOTS of nudity, some blood, barely dressed chicks shooting each other, a lot of screaming and a really high sense of fun. I am proud to say I own a copy of this film and its one of my favorite slasher movies from the 90's.


I know, you want to see it because the cover shows a hot female body holding a machine gun, and because it's been out of print on DVD for years and now there's a certain level of mystique about it... but I'm telling you, there is absolutely NOTHING here that's worth looking at! I was shocked by how boring the whole thing was. Nothing transpires that is even remotely cool. I went into it knowing that it was a B movie, most likely made for video (perhaps with an ultra-brief theatrical release) and that the title was a play on DIE HARD. Still, with my expectations at their lowest setting, I was disappointed beyond belief.

The acting - or lack thereof - is the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of trash. There's really no action in it, either. The girls weren't even hot enough to grab my attention. That's right... Ugly girls, no action and a hokey horror sub-plot that will have you shaking your head violently.

I have seen this DVD sell for more than $100 on Ebay, simply because it's not being made anymore. People love to track down video rarities. I know, because I'm one of those people. However, HARD TO DIE is not only unworthy of paying to see, it doesn't deserve the 90 minutes of your life required to view it. Utterly worthless.


This movie sucked. The box claimed that it was the female version of Die-Hard, this movie was anything but that. It started out as soft port then a horror flick and finally an action sequence. The only redeeming quality was that it was only 80 mins. I was really disappointed since I thought this movie was similar to Die Hard but I guess not. Grrrrrrrrrr.


A truly awful movie. Amazingly bad from the start to the finish. The Invisible Maniac, Sorority House Massacre 2 and Hard to Die are in a sense a trilogy because they all have Melissa Moore, nudity and bad acting. The other two movies are better than this one. Moore's nude in all three, and all of the other actresses look like they came straight off the corner.


A story about a grown-up pair of Siamese twin brothers - one does wonder. "Twin Falls Idaho" is a quiet yet possibly disturbing film (only if one is uncomfortable with the idea of looking at a pair of conjoined twins' physical features, which was actually only subtly featured). It is thought provoking and calmly sentimental. Well-written, acted, and just the right dosage, I felt.

It's a tender story about brotherly love, man and woman young love, sons and motherly love - full of humanity. The natural delivery of everyone in the movie, including Penny's friend, the doctor who gave a routine check up on the twins - there's a casualness and ease to his brief performance. Michele Hicks somehow fits perfectly into the role of Penny - there's just the enough measure of beauty and heart demonstrated by her acting. There's also her low voice, the way she talks; her lean figure, the way she walks. Along with the ever fascinating to watch Leslie Ann Warren, 'tis blessed casting. The Polish brothers are themselves remarkable. How they delivered such poignant sensitivity about a pair of attached Siamese twins, when they themselves were not, is amazing. Michael Polish directed this script that he wrote with brother Mark.

It's not Hollywood, not action movie. It is independent film flavor. It has no glamour - it does have some artistic camera angles and a dreamlike flashback sequence. But it is an intriguing film to experience, at its own pace, without rushing anything. The tone and mood, and the dim photography might suggest otherwise, but there is suspense and a secret to unfold. It all comes together naturally, with its slow dance. Its ending? Go see for yourself - it's an experience that would worth your while.

Applause to the Polish Brothers and everyone involved in the production of this film.


I have to say this because I almost made the fatal mistake of classifying this movie with the sentimental, depressing, and whiny ones, based on the little I'd heard about it. Call me prejudiced, which I am (and thank goodness, this wonderful film cured me of some of those symptoms), but at first, the idea of watching a movie about a girl and a pair of Siamese twins was not that appealing. It took some recommendation from friends whose opinions I value highly to overcome those inhibitions and to decide to brave whatever disappointment might come out of this venture. I now thank those friends for the good and true word.

The beautiful Penny (Michele Hicks) tells her friend that somehow the Falls twins were not ugly, and I couldn't agree more with her: the Falls brothers, with their neat dress and meek manners, are simply adorable. The strong bond uniting them is another attraction (anyone on especially close terms with their sibling(s) would understand this). I found it shocking that Penny's lawyer should think it rude that the twins should whisper constantly to each other; for me, it showed an intimacy that couldn't be imitated by anyone else, and beyond the reach of any convention.

The Polish brothers have done an inimitable job; some of the details would never have occurred to one who has grown up on her/his own. And it was nice to see quite distinct personalities developed for each of the Falls twins that went beyond their talents/interests.

Focusing on this kind of specific peculiarity might be what gives this story such an expressive power, to make us think about the various kinds of being "different" or relationship in general. On this other hand, it is a shame that the subtler overtones of the story can easily get buried because of this very focus, and scare some "fun"-loving people away.

I later read an interview about the movie and the creators' account of some of the imagery and the design of the movie, but such explicit detailing has taken away some of the charm I had felt for what I had believed were natural/innocent things, rather than improve my opinion of the movie. So take this advice (although it might already be too late if you're reading this) and go see it for yourself, before exposing yourself to anything that could disenchant you! I promise that you won't be disappointed.


I kept holding my breath while watching this movie. Not like being underwater or anything like that but more like kissing the love of your life or holding your own child in your arms for the first time. Like that. I had to remind myself to breathe. Twin Falls is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. Finely crafted to the extreme, delicately directed, with performances that absolutely broke my heart. The Polish brothers have created something truly remarkable here, and Michele Hicks, in her first film performance, is amazingly stunning and talented. Twin Falls is definitely a work of art!


"Twin Falls Idaho" is a dream-haunter of a film! Lovingly and meticulously directed by Michael Polish and written with quiet brilliance by Mark Polish (with help from twin brother Michael), this gentle, soft-spoken film is one of the three best films of 1999. The imagery in the film is often gritty and stark, pointing out subtext to the audience without utilizing masks or shadows. It's a wonderful story about the nature of relationships; about love and marriage and "divorce"; and about the lives of those unfortunates society labels as "different", and the realization that they are not so different as society may have initially supposed. The acting is superb; the Polish brothers are completely believable as the conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls, performing feats like deftly buttoning up each other's shirts or playing the guitar together (Blake strums while Francis manages the fret for chord changes) as if they had, indeed, done it all their lives. As the film rolled on, I found myself loving these two guys as unique and colorful individuals, and empathizing with their plight. And the often-used "Hooker with a Heart" character Penny is given new light and life by Mark Polish's careful crafting of the character and by Michelle Hicks edgy yet warm performance. If you're like me, "Twin Falls Idaho" will leave you awake nights, thinking long and long. I look forward to seeing what the Polish brothers will do next, either collaboratively or on their own.


This film is still haunting me, even long after watching it for the first time. It depicts a rare insight into the exclusivity of sibling relationships and utilises a neutral tone that ironically intensifies every second of the story. Although the movie skims slightly upon cliches, that only helps to familiarise the audience with the plot so that they don't feel too alienated by the mystery of the twins. This most certainly is a treasured oddity in the video store.


I drove sixty five miles one way to see this film and it

would have bargain at twice the distance. This film is

superbly written and acted and I see no flaws. The premise which is cojoined twins played by the Polish brothers, identical twins, is original and delivered with a poignancy that is rare. I spoke to a couple of people after the film who said they thought they would be uncomfortable with the subject and were for a couple of

minutes but then became totally involved and forgot. I

will not go into the storyline as this is a film you should enjoy as it unfolds, but I caution you to pay attention as there is alot to be appreciated in watching

the intimacy between these brothers as well as the dialogue, sometimes almost inaudible between the brothers. The film also offers analogies, puns, metaphors, and an interesting array of supporting characters. There is also alot of "hidden" humor so watch carefully. Although there is alot of sadness in the film, the overall feeling after was uplifting. This film was on my mind for days and I think it was the first thing I brought up in conversations. This is a MUST SEE for anyone that enjoys film that are not standard fare. I am

looking forward to adding it to my video collection. FOUR

STARS!!!!


"Twin Falls, Idaho" is a very well made film with unusual depth and complex emotional content. It is absolutely a must see for anyone wanting more than your usual Hollywood fodder and fluff. A different sort of Love Story and a gritty look at a uniquely off-center topic.

The Characters are often somewhat surreal, but not to the point of being ridiculous or unbelievable, this said same surrealism serves to make the imagery and story all the more powerful. The Hopeful and "Best of Humanity" themes and messages underlying the main story are clear to anyone that watches this fine piece of work.

Casting and Cinematography are exceptional. And the stand out performance without a doubt goes to the lovely Michele Hicks as Penny as well as fine performances by Mark and Michael Polish as the Twins. One of the Best Films I have seen in quite a long time.


Like many of the comments, it will be considered to be in the top five movies I have watched. Living my life as an identical mirror twin, I could sense the incredible love between them. I watched the movie on TV and there was only one commercial so I was riveted to my couch as I did not want to miss one moment. I did not have a sense of where the story was going at the beginning but the writers took us on a believable journey. Perfect pick for the mother. I am lucky to be channel surfing this night or I would have missed a story that I could so strongly relate to. I will have to do some research to see if the Polish brothers have written or directed any movies since. I wish them both huge success with any projects they tackle in the future. Thank you for sharing a love that I have been fortunate to always know.


I'm not sure why people were so venomous about the acting and the storyline of this movie. I thought, given the situation of "Blake and Francis," that if this were a real set of Siamese twins, there would not be a lot to feel giddy about. I liked it. I thought it was original and really makes one stop and evaluate his/her own life. We are darn lucky to be whole and healthy. We'd have no idea what it'd be like to be joined together having to try and live a normal life. My congratulations to the Polish brothers. Outstanding work, boys. If either actor had shown a variety of emotions, it would have been totally unrealistic. I know I'd not be happy if I had to drag someone around knowing she'd die before I. The critics of this film need to stop and think before they make cruel comments. I lost my sister, and she was not a my Siamese twin, but she was my best friend, and since her death, I've been gloomy. But like Francis said, "Every story has a happy ending...it's just been untold." That's my life right now. Good movie, Michael and Mark.


Perhaps only twins like the Polish brothers could have made the quintessential work of art about conjoined twins--one that shows the uniqueness and depth of this bond, while universally hinting at how deeply love is rooted in our very flesh. Often the attempts to delve into these relationships (of conjoined or even identical twins) has been produced by non-twins and has assumed some kind of pathology--something either incestuous, or morbidly dependent. One thinks immediately of Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. What the Polish brothers have given us is nothing short of miraculous, utterly human and as poignant as anything I have ever experienced.


Michael and Mark Polish have created a truly heartwarming film. I sat glued to the TV as I watched this video. My heart sank when ignorant folks would stare or respond to the twins as though they didn't already know they were different than the rest of the world. Or when folks wanted to use them to get rich.

Seeing the love between the two brothers was so touching I had to get out a box of tissues when it came time for the surgeons to separate them.

Michele Hicks, her performance was awesome. She portrayed a true friend to both Blake and Frances, and a beautiful lover to Blake.

Lesley Ann Warren - what can I say - you were magnificent. Your performance as the mother who was haunted by giving up her children was heartbreaking. Making amends is not always easy and in the case of your character, a very difficult scene to act.

To the rest of the cast - I don't have enough room to write - you were all great!

I give this movie a 10. It deserves more, but that's the highest I can vote.

Thank you Michael and Mark Polish and all of the other actors, actresses, producers, directors, special effects, make-up artists, musicians, etc. that created one of the centuries best films.


I admit that the gentle pace of this film may not be for everyone, but I think it is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The acting was solid throughout with wonderful performances by the Polish brothers and a luminous Michele Hicks, but even more striking to my mind was the intelligence and thoughtfulness of the script, the evocation of grief and loneliness and the candor of the film's portrayal of at least a portion of the conjoined twin's experiences. It is a striking and original portrayal of both intimacy and isolation.


Twin Falls Idaho is a haunting, deeply personal story about a relationship that probably turned off a lot of people solely because of its two main characters. It was reminescent of the Broadway musical, 'Side Show', which also dealt with the subject of conjoined twins. The Polish Brothers gently present their characters to the audience baring the essence of all relationships with a directness rarely seen. There is an intense emotional connection between the audience and the characters. And in the end, you cry for the characters, not because they are different, but because we are all so much alike.


I was surprised to find out everyone who's seen this movie thought it was amazing. Because the dialog was BEYOND bad, not to mention the acting sub par.

First, NO conjoined twins have ever looked that good in real life. Second, the dialog was blatantly bad, including one of my favorite lines at a Halloween party, "This is the only day of the year they're normal."

Everything that could stereotypical in your mind go for a couple of conjoined twins, goes wrong in the span of this movie. People taking pictures while they sit in the park, them being approached and the attempt made to make them into freak show superstars.

And at the end, when he was living with the other freaks in the like run down abandoned circus? Come on. There's a STRAY ELEPHANT. I couldn't even tell my friend that ending without laughing.

Not to mention the editing was awful and jumpy from shot to shot. A lot of time scenes lacked cohesiveness.


This film features some of the most mind-numbingly obvious symbollism I have ever seen a film. I just 'loved' how the director made sure to linger forever on a piece of symbollic imagery just to make sure we 'got it'. Then just in case, they would show us the same imagery a few minutes later.

The actress who played the hooker was simply awful and seemed unable to display any range of emotion. The Polish brothers who played the twins seem to think that the more they sleepwalk through their role the more 'artistic' the film will seem.

Overall, I felt that this film was a poseur attempt at making a piece of deep and meaningful art cinema. At the end of it, I was extremely sorry I had spent the whole time watching it.


most astonishing of all is how this project ever attracted the energy and resources to get off the ground, on the page, on set, on the screen, on to dvd (with such lavish treatment from Columbia-TriStar)! Sure, it's sooo intentionaly HIP - the somber, muted, shadowy gungy urbania, a course of visual cult cues and obvious references kept me sighing and rolling my eyes... and wishing for some tension, some engagement, some smart dialog...YIKES! Sadly, almost two hours of this lifetime I'll never recover.


I really wanted to love this movie, but I didn't even like it.

The twins are great characters, and the Polish brothers do a fine job with their portrayal of them. But the rest of the film is nothing but a mishmash of obvious symbolism, bad acting and maudlin happy cripple-ism.

Boo!

For a real piece of art about freaks, check out "Geek Love" by Kathleen Dunn.


Siamese twin brother falls in love with hooker with a heart of gold? Okay, I was willing to go with it. Every part of my being was trying to warn me, but, I really wanted to like this film. And, to the credit of the Polish brothers (writer/director/stars of this opus), they pull it off...for about 20 minutes.

The greatest problem with the indie film movement is, that everybody thinks they're making great art. I wonder if the Polish brothers were sitting in the editing room, thinking to themselves (like I was), "there's no earthly reason for these two people to fall in love! We haven't given either character the opportunity to get to know each other, much less fall in love! But, hey, we're making indie films here! We don't need rhyme or reason!"

Mark and Michael Polish DO deliver halfway decent performances - though I'd rather have seen Michael in the lead. The other performances are marred by chintzy dialogue that was cliche 50 years ago.

All in all, a complete waste of time.


It seems like the writers of Twin Falls had a few ideas that they thought would be "cool" to put into a film and nothing else. The premise of the film is typical cookie cutter Hollywood formula, the hapless love story, the hooker with a heart of gold, the dysfunctional hero, etc. Unfortunately that was not the problem with Twin Falls. The problem was the unbelievably poor and heavy handed symbolism. I knew I was in trouble when the movie started with the hooker receiving a 2 dollar bill as change for her cab ride. She stares at it like it is the strangest thing she has ever seen yet somehow she knows it should mean something. Not five minutes later, she walks past a TV with A Tale of Two Cities on. It only got worse from here. The story was an uninspired, trite mess. All of the subplots involving the hooker were underdeveloped, especially why the hooker cared about these guys at all. There was mention of a child she may have given up for adoption at some time, but it was touched upon once and never mentioned again. The interesting elements, like the preacher who lived next to the twins, were completely wasted in this film. Twin Falls Idaho is an art house film that insults the intelligence of its viewers while boring them all at the same time.


These twins (the writers / directors / stars )want to be shocking, creative and profound, and often seem to wish they were David Lynch. But they don't have his brains or talent. So it's slow without being meaningful, and preachy with no wisdom. Even in a stylized film with bizarre elements, things have to be real on some level, and very little here rings true. As far as the style, it's juvenile and derivative. The model who plays the erstwhile girlfriend is nice to look at, but that only goes so far, especially considering the absence of any nudity to break the monotony. An empty, pretentious, stupid film.


Haunting, taut and dark is this story of conjoined twins played by real life identical twins Michael and Mark Polish. Michael directs and shares writing credit with Mark. These shy conjoined twins temporarily are living in a run down hotel as they summon the courage to reunite with their estranged mother(Lesley Ann Warren). A homeless hooker named Penny(Michele Hick)finds herself befriending the Falls brothers. They wander outside the apartment to attend a Halloween party with Penny pretending to be wearing a "Siamese Twin" costume. Blake(Mark Polish)tends to his sick brother Francis(Michael Polish)and tries to interpret his mixed feelings toward the thought of losing his sibling. Then to complicate matters more is the relationship developing between himself and Penny. Albeit a strange story, it is well acted. Others in the cast: Patrick Bauchau, Garrett Morris, William Katt and Teresa Hill.


For me, ideas are what sell a movie for me (at least for the most part). Given the state of Hollywood today where everything is a remake or rehashed from something else, it's refreshing to see something totally original like "Twin Falls Idaho." But not only does "Twin Falls Idaho" contain some good ideas, it's a well-crafted and utterly fascinating film.

What would happen if you had to go everywhere and do everything with someone else? What would it be like? How would you do it? These are some of the questions that "Twin Falls Idaho" addresses. Blake and Francis Falls (Mark and Michael Polish in their writing and Michael's directing debut) are Siamese twins who have lived their whole lives attached to each other. But Francis is sick, and the brothers are determined to go out of this world together. Enter Penny, a prostitute who grows very close to them, and ends up falling for Blake.

The beauty about this film is how it's constructed. The twins may be the film's focus, but Penny is our eyes. We know as much as she does, and her reactions are instantly relatable. She asks the questions that we want to ask, and the movie never gets ahead of the audience or vice versa. But the Polish brothers know that there is a story here, and they wisely focus on that. But they integrate being a Siamese twin flawlessly, and that's what raises this movie to another level.

The acting by the three leads is outstanding. The Polish brothers are brilliant. They are so good at functioning as Siamese twins that it's almost impossible to believe that they are not really like that. The are used to all the questions, and the looks, and they are used to answering them, but the stares and pointing still hurt, and their desire for privacy is something they hold dear. Newcomer Michele Hicks equals them. A lesser talented actor would overact her emotions, but she understands the use of subtlety, and that's why the audience can relate to her. Everything about her character is real and genuine.

Less impressive are two of the most important supporting characters, Sissy and Tre. Their desire to expose the twins (for shock value/gossip as in Sissy's case, or money and publicity in Tre's case), come off as writer's constructs, and while the actions are genuine, the situations feel contrived (but the performances are good and very effective, especially Ant as Tre). But these missteps are saved by the performances of the other actors. Lesley Ann Warren fares better as Francine, the twins' mother who gave them up for adoption after they were born, but she's still not as good as the three principal characters. The other actors are great, such as Miles, the doctor friend of Penny's who helps her look after the twins. There are an assortment of oddball characters, but the actors keep them real and believable (unlike Wes Anderson or Terry Zwigoff).

Michael Polish has the mark of a terrific director. The film is clearly a low budget indie film, but Polish makes the most of his budget so it doesn't seem like it. The tone is dark, yet strangely warm. This is a quiet movie, almost too quiet, but it helps establish the tone. Polish has respect for his material, and his film is about curiosity, and NEVER exploitative.

"Twin Falls Idaho" isn't perfect, but the good aspects vastly outweigh its flaws. It's impossible to understand why this movie didn't get access to a wider audience, particularly since co-joined twins were, and still are, a slightly hot topic of the day. I can definitely say that this is a must-see film for everyone, especially since its messages of tolerance and respect have many parallels with today's world.


I had seen this movie announced on my cable a couple of times before. The title itself meant nothing to me. Earlier today while browsing through the movie channels I caught the beginning of it. I still had my doubts about seeing it, specially since in a different channel there was a movie about a Gambler in Vegas. I love Vegas, I've been there at least 60 times in my lifetime, so anything related to it, I love. I did go back and forth between the 2 channels a couple of times, but at the end something fascinated me about these siamese twins and their beautiful girlfriend, Penny so I stayed with this one. I could not have made a better decision. I live in Mexico, and was watching the movie with Spanish subtitles. The movie title was translated to Spanish as "Strange fascination". As the story develops, you can go through many different emotions. Love, compassion, sadness, happiness and any other you can think of. You are carried in a strange fascination throughout the development of the plot. The Prostitute, Penny, is simply adorable. They couldn't have chosen a better person to portray this role. I have seen 3 fascinating movies in my life, THE LEGEND OF 1900, SOMEWHERE IN TIME, and this one. This along with the other 2 is the type of movie that you can see several times without ever loosing interest in it. I highly recommend it to all people with sensitivity.


This movie was excellent. I have seen lots of sad movies, and movies to invoke the human spirit, but this was one of the best. The tragedy these boys feel is so powerful. The loss that is felt at the end can be shared by millions of people who have lots someone that close to them. I think they did a great job writing staring and producing this movie. I know it is like 6 years old I have just finished watching and plan to add it to my collection to watch again. If there is anything that I would like is maybe more history, not only on their characters but maybe their mother as well.No matter what any one has to say about this movie I believe it should be a classic for all times.


Saw the film last night on cable and decided to wait until today, October 30th, to post a review, because it happens to be Mark and Michael's birthday. Hope they've been having a decent one, as they deserve.

I've been into the Polish twins since I saw Jackpot and Northfork a couple of years ago, and I'd been waiting to see this film since it was released. I was not disappointed. The subject matter is more than tricky, and it's handled with a truly impressive balance of seriousness and humor; the humor does not come at the expense of the story but rather is intrinsic to Francis' and Blake's lives, as they are seen dealing with their reality of being conjoined from birth. The catalyst of the story, the hooker played by Michele Hicks (who was also with them in Northfork) proves to be the perfect foil for the twins. One of the best scenes is the one where she takes them to a Halloween costume party - the one night of the year, she says, where they can "be normal."

By the end of the movie, the seriousness of the situation comes to the fore, and it's handled beautifully, eloquently and with exactly the proper amount of emotion and just the right touch of Scorpionic restraint, so it never becomes maudlin. Not quite a perfect film - it could have been a little shorter, but a brilliant, original, daring and deeply felt project nonetheless.

IMDb rating - 8 (equivalent to a low ***1/2)


I still don't now if these twins are conjoined or not. Most say they are not. There performances were superb. No matter what, they are not freaks.

They are two sensitive people trapped in the same body. I only wanted the very best for them. An empathy developed.

It is sad that nature plays such downright dirty tricks. They were the nicest people around. It makes you want to help the less fortunate.

I give this film 10 stars. I will see it again.


The premise is too good not to be told in a movie - a couple of siamese twins, who are society outcasts, bump into a girl which falls in love with one of the twins. Just read like this, it could be a comedy, but here the drama takes over. Heavy-written, and heavy in tone, this is no walk on the park. The Polish brothers achieve the illusion of making us believe that they are real siamese twins, and the real triumph of this movie is making us feel the crisis they experience. But it is a strange movie, probably they made it on purpose, and one of its assets is not having a known face (making the story so much believable). Don't expect to come out with a smile after this one, even though it is an interesting experience.


Twin Falls Idaho is kind of like the new "The Elephant Man." Except, Twin falls is superior to Elephant in almost every way. The Polish Bros. debut film is a film of great brilliance and triumph. The film is heartbreaking, but it never milks its tears unfairly. If there are any faults, it's the film's length. Worth seeing.


An unusual and fascinating tale about the lives of conjoined twins Frances and Blake Falls. Both know that Frances is sick and near death, and they have resolved to die together. But an unexpected romance intervenes, as Blake falls in love with Penny, a prostitute who, after her initial revulsion, befriends them both and helps them experience a bit of what life has to offer. This movie is a classic example of people desperately in need of love who enter each other's lives.

I found myself totally wrapped up in this story. It is completely unique - like nothing I have ever seen before. It features strong performances from Michael and Mark Polish as the Falls brothers (Michael also directed, and the brothers together wrote the screenplay) and a marvellous performance by Michele Hicks, in her first major role, as Penny. Hicks exudes compassion and anyone who watches this movie will be completely taken with her. The complexity of the relationship between conjoined twins is sensitively explored, particularly as Frances becomes jealous as he watches Blake's romance with Penny grow.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

I was somewhat put off by what I thought was a weak ending to what had been a superb movie. Setting aside the question of whether it is physically possible to separate conjoined twins in adulthood (I'm not a doctor) I did nevertheless find myself wondering about the psychological impact, and the movie doesn't really address that issue in any detail. It simply happens, and a few minutes later the movie ends. Oh, there's some sensitive sharing between Blake and Penny, but it left me flat. In fact, the entire last 15 minutes or so seemed strangely disconnected from the rest of the movie and I found myself asking, "How did we get here from there?"

Still, this is a very good movie that rates an 8/10.


Twin Falls Idaho is a beautiful film with unforgettable characters. Highly recommend to viewers who appreciate love and understanding. This is a film that one can watch for a second time and value the story line. 10/10


A delightful visual feast and cinematic event that is thoroughly recommended. A stimulating leading role from Marcello Mastroianni and a script peppered with some brilliant gentle comedy. A subtitled film that is a joy to watch.