Review: Weirdsville (2007)

Director: Allan Moyle | 90 minutes | drama, comedy, crime | Actors: Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley, Taryn Manning, Matt Frewer, Greg Bryk, Maggie Castle, Raoul Bhaneja, Joe Dinicol, Jordan Prentice, Dax Ravina, Elizabeth Lennie, James McQuade, Shayne Wyler, Joey Beck, Allan Redford, Mark Parr, Stephen Jackson, Derek Gilroy, Stephen Jackson, Randy Butcher

Two befriended junkies, Royce (Wes Bentley) and Dexter (Scott Speedman), are in trouble and well. They owe money to the local, dangerous, thumb-cutting, drug dealer Omar (fun role by Raoul Bhaneja). Fortunately for them, Omar has a backup plan: when they start selling drugs for him, they get a respite. Unfortunately, the solution doesn’t take long: their girlfriend, the lovable prostitute Matilda (Taryn Manning), overdoses on the drugs they should have sold and dies. In panic, the duo decides to bury her. Royce worked in a drive-in cinema for a while, until he was kicked out, but it is the middle of winter and the chance is of course minimal that they will be disturbed there. Let the drive in be the setting for a satanic ritual …

With this crazy fact you can of course still go in all directions. The Canadian black comedy “Weirdsville” lives up to its name: it is an utterly crazy adventure that has to be seen to be believed. One unexpected event after another presents itself, so that the audience is always stimulated. Not only do the two drug addicts in their twenties have to deal with a satanic cult group, who have their own reasons for doing a ritual slaughter, they also have to collect money to pay off Omar and thus keep their thumbs. Royce and Dexter want to break into something for this, but thanks to their drug-obscured brains, they keep making the wrong decisions. This makes for hilarious situations, in which a garden gnome, a crazy nephew and a very special security officer from a shopping center comes to the aid of the duo, or sometimes works against them. Over-the-top? Yes, absolutely, but the film doesn’t take itself seriously at all.

The screenplay is by Willem Wennekers, who previously wrote the relatively unknown “Night Class” with Sean Young. The film is a bit unbalanced, especially in the beginning of the film everyone seems to have to get into it. “Weirdsville” is directed by the director of “Pump Up the Volume” and “Empire Records”, Allan Moyle, who once again portrays the youth in a small town in an unparalleled visual style. The wonderfully silly dialogues are strong, extremely funny and memorable. Chances are that you will recite parts of the conversations to people who have not seen the film. The actors do their work with a hint of improvisation and the fun they had in making this production radiates from the screen. With the soundtrack, which is also worthwhile, the filmmakers have also stayed close to home, with a number of Canadian bands such as Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, The Dears and Shout Out Out Out Out.

“Weirdsville” is like a feel-good variation of “Pulp Fiction” and “Shallow Grave”. Admittedly, the humor here and there is so lackluster that you really have to be in the right mood for the movie to hit the right note, but if it does, you’re in the right place!