Here’s a film where my explanation of why I liked this film and disliked it might confuse some people. TRILOQUIST is a film that at some points its good, other points it’s really bad and then at some points it’s so bad it’s good. Does that make sense to you? Well if you decide to check out this wacky film you’ll understand where I’m coming from. One thing you might want to make a note of is that this film was written and directed by Mark Jones; the same guy who bought the classic horror film Leprechaun.
So here we go, how does one explain the plot of this movie without sounding crazy. Basically the film starts off with a women in a hotel room shooting up while here daughter and son sleep. Next to her is a wooden puppet that simply goes by the name “Dummy”. The mother overdoes and dies and the kids are left homeless and orphans. Yeas later the kids along with the dummy with a mind of its own are off on the streets. Angelica ( Paydin LoPachin) is pretty much trying to follow in her mother footsteps, she drinks a lot and is really sexually active. Her brother Norbert (Rocky Marquette) on the other hand is quiet and does not speak, however many believe he speaks though the puppet, but throughout the film it’s really not revealed if he is or not as it looks like the puppet has a mind of it’s own. Anyway someone gets killed and Angelica blames her brother Norbert for the killing. But she plans of breaking him out of the insane asylum he’s in because she and the dummy are the ones planning the killings. They soon break Norbert out of the asylum and continue there terror across state lines on their way to Las Vegas. Mean while on there way Angelica gets the idea to kidnap a girl for Norbert. She wants to keep the bloodline going, and want Norbert to have sex with a girl so they can have a baby. But things don’t always go as planned and as the story moves on Dummy starts killing more people and the story spins out of control into a wild rollercoaster ride of a movie.
The script for this movie cannot be taken seriously. While the character development is great, the story suffers and tends to split off into different directions. It’s a funny and clever script, but it’s all over the place and does have many major twists and plot holes which at times make no sense at all. So it’s one of those scripts that’s nothing great, but it does thrive on its development of the stories main characters.
The acting in this film as silly and odd as this movie may be; the acting is actually pretty decent. For the most part it’s good with the stories main two characters Angelica played by the beautiful Paydin LoPachin whom is the real star of the film and Norbert played by Rocky Marquette whom didn’t have many lines in the film but mainly had to use facial expression to act like a dumbass kid who in a sense looks up to dummy who was voiced by Bruce Weitz. Dummy is very funny in the film as; (and this is a credit to the script.) his lines are memorable and very funny. There are also cameo appearances by Brian Krause (Sleepwalkers) and Larry Manetti (Magnum, P.I.)
The movie’s production value is alright. I kind of found the look of the film to look very similar to that of a Fullmoon or A-Pix film release in the nineteen nineties when digital video was becoming popular to shoot direct to video horror films on. It has a shape digital look to it, but it does not have that flat feel. The colors are very vibrant and stand out. Some of the sets and locations were very colorful and some of them reminded me of the crazy sets that dawned Rob Zombies HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. However not all of the sets and location were that great. Some of the scenes that took place in the woods were poorly lit, and looked very much like they were shot on a sound stage rather than on location. The editing was also pretty bad and while you can tell that the editor was trying not to pull his hair out during the editing process; he/she managed to do their best by using fades and wipes to compensate for what might of been a lot of jump cuts. The effects in the film were decent, but nothing special, gore fans may be disappointed as there really is not a lot of original kill scenes. The movie does have a decent soundtrack though, but it does kind of take away from any frights this movie tries to pull off.
Overall, TRILOQUIST is a movie that you really cannot take seriously as a masterful film. It’s poorly made, but it’s also a blast to watch. It’s a fun movie to watch if you can look beyond the many problems the movie has with it’s production value. The acting is pretty good and the dummy in the film has some great one liners that are sure to make you laugh. It’s one of those films that’s so bad it’s good. It is however a blast to watch and have a good time with.
– Horror Bob
- 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
