By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Mark Rucker
Starring: Charles Busch | Frances Conroy | Jason Priestly | Phillip Baker Hall | Stark Sands
Country: united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0322023/combined
Howard says: “Good satire requires an understanding of your subject matter, comic and dramatic timing, good pacing, but most of all bite. Unfortunately, there’s not much bite to Charles Busch newest camp fest, DIE, MOMMIE, DIE! Based on his screen play, Busch parades around in to-die-for costumes doing his best Bette Davis/Divine acting exercises delivering lines that are only slightly amusing and reserved.
“In fact, the entire film feels restricted as if they were afraid to take it to the melodramatic heights it needed to obtain hilarity or
even cult status. As is, it’s a slight study in the films of the Davis/Crawford era. Even an overwrought Max Steiner-esque score would have made it much more fun.
“What is fun about DIE, MOMMIE, DIE is the actors. It’s quite obvious they studied the films of the 40’s and 50’s. Charles Busch with his bitchy slurring of vowels, Jason Priestley’s stilted ‘mystery man’ delivery and Frances Conroy’s south Baptist drawl all make for great ingredients of over-the-top camp, but without dead-on skewering of the subject matter, their performances actually point out the flaws of the film.
“Speaking of performances, there are a couple of great ones. Philip Baker Hall plays Sol Sussman, the husband of Busch’s Angela Arden, with enough conviction he’s believable as the falling producer who is a bad husband and father. The best performances has to be Stark Sands as Angela’s gay son, Lance. His overemotional self-loathing moments are pitch perfect and his come-on lines to Priestley’s character are sexy and funny.
“This isn’t as good as Busch’s ‘Vampire Lesbians Of Sodom’ or ‘Psycho Beach Party,’ and don’t come to the film expecting John Waters or a great spoof of 50’s films. Instead, look at it as melodrama that’s a little too dramatic. Throw in some gratuitous male nudity, some cringe-inducing sexual tension and some great dresses and you’ll have a film that could be a small cult hit, but nothing more.” 2 cats