Bitch Slap is not only the title to the picture but what one deserves if they were to purchase this atrocious garbage. Initially intended to be a reminder of the girl-power fueled exploitation films of the seventies, the picture will make anyone glad that those days are long gone. However, that is the wrong sentiment to have because those great Pam Grier films are so much more fun than anything in this silly little film.
What made most exploitation films so great was that they took their selves seriously and were honestly trying to cater to a demographic that was largely populated in Times Square. The problem with BITCH SLAP is that it is painfully aware it is a B-movie, and aims for the far-fetched humor that used to come organically in those pictures. It is like what Krusty the Clown said, “It is only funny when the sap has dignity.” A film that knows it has no dignity is quite boring to watch, even when filled with has been celebrities from “Hercules” and “Xena.”
The movie starts out with three sexy women in the desert, Trixie (Julia Voth), Hel (Erin Cummings) and Camero (America Olivo), which all try their best to find the humor in this poor material. We learn about them through flashbacks, which a green screen was used for. They are not bad actresses and great eye-candy but the material they were given has no potential for anything. Everything in the film sort of feels like a tease of the sleaze of the bygone era of grindhouse cinema.
The only connection this film has with “Grindhouse” is the talented and wonderful Zoe Bell was the stunt coordinator. She has usual does a great job and the action sequences do pack a hollow wallop.
Despite the lackluster release of the picture, Twentieth Century Fox provided a wonderful in-depth 100 minute documentary on the DVD entitled “Building a Better B-Movie.” This was far more entertaining then the movie itself and encompasses every layer of making a movie. I recommend you watch it and then skip the movie.
Let’s hope that the future of exploitation is not any more movies like BITCH SLAP and directors need to face the fact those days are long gone and come up with original ideas.
– Anthony Benedetto
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
