[specious_reasons]

All About Evil (2010)

This started streaming on Shudder today (technically yesterday), I've been excited to watch it since I learned of it.

Young Debora Tennis is going to introduce the movie with a song at her father's theater. Nerves and and abusive mother caused to deliver a poor stage performance, resulting in her accidental electrocution. Her dreams of stardom dashed, we jump forward in time to see she became a timid librarian, played by Natasha Lyonne.

We learn her father has recently died, and she's running the theater in the evening. She's just barely keeping it together. Her mother wants to sell the theater, and tries to pressure Debora to sign, but ends up driving Deb to kill her. In a panic after the kill, she replays the security camera footage of the murder for the crowd, who thinks this is a new short introducing the movie, and the crowd loves it, including her friend and fan Steven.

Debora likes the praise and it rekindles her desire for stardom, but this time, she won't be in the movies, she'll direct too! She recruits the creepy projectionist, teenage murder twin sisters, and an amoral street thug, and they start "recruiting actors" to kill for the next short. The only problem is that Steven suspects something is wrong once his rude date goes missing at the theater.

This was directed by Peaches Christ (who also is featured in the movie), and I've discovered that Peaches and I have similar tastes in genre movies. She also has a fondness for goofy humor and bad puns.

I really enjoyed this, even if it's not objectively a good movie. It successfully blends horror and gore with humor and camp. It's cleverly written and features a lot of "easter eggs" for horror and movie aficionados. Natasha Lyonne is always a delight, and she's having fun with the role.