Amityville Vibrator is exactly as advertised!
Greetings from the Underground!
The term “underground film” has changed over the years. Many times it is used interchangeably with the term “cult film”. While both types tend to have overlapping characteristics, underground at its core is subversive, experimental, punk. It is the type of movie that is not going to appeal to everyone and it doesn’t care if it does. Many films out there claim to be underground, but end up being nothing more than a series of edge-lord-look-at-me-I-am-extreme scenes with very little point. Then there are films like Amityville Vibrator that remind us what a true underground film looks like.
First, let’s get something out of the way:
- Does Amityville Vibrator have explicit, rather pornographic scenes? Yes.
- Is there excessive nudity? Yes. (both male and female)
- Is there extreme gore? Yes.
- Is it meant for everyone? No
- Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about the story.
Cathy has broken up with her boyfriend and moved into a new home. To help take her mind off of things, Cathy’s friend Roxi takes her out to take Cathy’s mind off of things. By the end of the day, Cathy is feeling better and also now owns a vibrator. Little does Cathy know that this device is infused with an ancient evil power. Two investigators race to track down this sex toy of evil before it turns Cathy, or anyone else, into sex slaves for Satan.
Normally films like this fail to live up to the wild times the title implies. This is not the case with Amityville Vibrator. Director Nathan Rumler delivers everything you would expect within the first five minutes and never lets the foot off the gas. From the in-your-face genitalia to possessed dolls, to a talking vibrator, this film has it all. Corella Waring plays Cathy and Mallory Maneater plays her friend Roxi. These two actresses have the most screen time and the least amount of wardrobe. Their line delivery is solid and you can tell they know exactly what type of film they are making. Their explicit scenes have humor in them and are directed in a way that is not as titillating as you might think.
The tone of the film changes like the phases of the day. The beginning of the film is dark, with graphic visuals and an impressive gore effect. Then, like the sun rising, the tone gets lighter. The situations and dialog both contain a lot of humor. Beneath the silly sleaziness, you can see that Rumler is poking fun at all of the horror films that use ‘Amityville’ in the title. (Trust me, there are plenty.) Then as you hit midday, the film takes a lunch break from the story as the two investigators trip out. Hard to tell if prop shrooms were used or not. While I found this part entertaining, it definitely slowed the pace of an otherwise fast-moving story. As you head into the evening the tone of the film gets dark again with an ending that was visually striking and disturbing.
To say Amityville Vibrator is not for everyone is an understatement. If you are prudish or offend easily you will want to avoid it. As a movie it has a solid narrative, structure with characters that are entertaining, and fun practical effects. It is a micro budget film and makes the most out of what little funding it had. The music queues they picked were appropriate along with the vocal songs which fit the overall aesthetic of the movie. I can only recommend this to fans of Nathan Rumler’s previous works and consumers of true underground horror. I am interested in seeing what this talented filmmaker comes up with next because Amityville Vibrator is going to be tough to top on the sleaze-o-meter.
Amityville Vibrator will be released soon on DVD and V.O.D.
