DVD NIGHT IN: CECIL B. DEMENTED (2000)

(In the first of our new 'DVD Night In' series, new writer Samantha Smith gives us a different take on Hollywood).

4/5

18, 87 Minutes. Starring: Melanie Griffith, Stephen Dorff, Alicia Witt
Adrian Grenier, Mink Stole, Ricki Lake & Maggie Gyllenhaal. Director: John Waters



After watching Hairspray the up-beat colourful musical that is John Waters most famous film, I was expecting Cecil B. Demented to be a colourful romance filled with singing and dancing, I couldn’t have been more wrong…

This cult film starring Steven Dorff is about a group of renegade teenage film-makers who kidnap a Hollywood starlet in an attempt to make and underground film that will say a big F**K YOU to mainstream cinema.

A laugh out loud parody of underground film making, which portrays obvious movie mistakes including bad dubbing, cameras being where they shouldn’t and obvious bad acting… some you notice and some you have to look out for! If you are a movie buff I strongly recommend that you watch this film particularly if you have become bored of the same old crap that is being churned out by Hollywood. This film will leave you totally hyped up and feeling rather clever at the fact that you recognised all the film terminology and intertextual references.

A brilliant in your face comedy that doesn’t take its self too seriously but also has a great underlying message that is sure to get you thinking…SAMANTHA SMITH.