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REVIEWS
EMPIRE CINEMA REVIEW
Reviewed by Adam Smith
Having garnered much critical respectability with Heavenly
Creatures, New Zealand director Peter Jackson makes a welcome return to the world of
hectic horror hokum and delivers a deeply sick, weird and enjoyable romp,
Using his familiararity with threesome of
third-rate ghouls to haunt houses, Frank Bannister (Fox) is running a spook extermination
scam clearing up the mess after the ghouls have scared everyone witless. However, a
series of unexplained deaths - the victims pooping their clogs after massive heart attacks
- draws the laws's attention to Bannister, and makes him wonder if he has anything to do
with with the spiralling mortality rate. In factthe culprit is a 'soultaker', an
expensive looking piece of CGI, who reaches into people's chests to give their tickers a
good squeeze.
Thrown into the brew is a serial killer (Jake
Busey), a nutty FBI agent (Combs), and a love interest in the form of recently widowed
Lucy (Alvarado).
Since Jackson was responsable for Bad Taste and
the majestically sick Meet The Feebles, this may come as shock to people who have only
witnessed Heavenly Creatures. But here he displays his talent for juxtaposing truly
disturbing imagery - particularly in a graphical reconstructed sequence of of a killing
spree in a hospital - with light hearted comedy in the form of the spook threesome.
And anything which contributes to the reinvention of Michael J Fox - who displays a couple
of moments of depth that we've never seen before - is more than welcome. Huge fun.
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