A new episode of the Black Sheep video series has just been released, and in this one we’re directing some praise toward an underappreciated entry in Full Moon’s Puppet Master franchise. That entry is the 1993 release Puppet Master 4 (watch it Here), and you can find out why we think it deserves more respect by checking out the video embedded above!
Directed by Jeff Burr from a script crafted by Charles Band, Steven E. Carr, Todd Henschell, Keith S. Payson, Jo Duffy, and Douglas Aarniokoski, Puppet Master 4 was shot back-to-back with the following year’s Puppet Master 5. The synopsis for Part 4 goes like this: The mini-menaces Blade, Tunneler, and Pinhead go toe-to-toe with their most menacing enemy yet – a team of terrifying, gremlin-like creatures known as “Totems” that are sent by the evil Egyptian demon Sutekh to recapture the magic stolen by Toulon. The demons target a young scientist,...
Directed by Jeff Burr from a script crafted by Charles Band, Steven E. Carr, Todd Henschell, Keith S. Payson, Jo Duffy, and Douglas Aarniokoski, Puppet Master 4 was shot back-to-back with the following year’s Puppet Master 5. The synopsis for Part 4 goes like this: The mini-menaces Blade, Tunneler, and Pinhead go toe-to-toe with their most menacing enemy yet – a team of terrifying, gremlin-like creatures known as “Totems” that are sent by the evil Egyptian demon Sutekh to recapture the magic stolen by Toulon. The demons target a young scientist,...
- 1/26/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
This is a warped whodunit with a serial killer whose method of dispatching victims is so nasty it shows hilariously how far one has to go to keep up with big-budget Hollywood thrillers.
"Kiss & Tell" is a winning independent film from writer-director Jordan Alan ("Terminal Bliss", "Love & Happiness") that features a large and entertaining cast, including four Arquette family members (but not Rosanna or Patricia).
A candidate for eventual cult status, the Phaedra Cinema release should generate moderate interest in limited engagements before heading to video. Hip and breezily unconcerned with making sense, the improvisational "Kiss & Tell" feels like a story written by a roomful of people, with everyone taking turns adding a new scene and then passing it on.
"Kiss & Tell" stars Justine Bateman, Heather Graham and Peter Greene, and boasts bit players Traci Lind, Lukas Haas, Assumpta Serna, Alexandra Paul, Rose McGowan, Teresa Hill, Jill Hennessey, Roxana Zal, Mickey Cottrell, Nina Siemaszko and co-producer Pamela Gidley as the dreaded Betty "Beta" Carotene. Throw in Alexis, Richmond, David and father Lewis Arquette, and you have one strange brew.
Imagine Gregg Araki making "L.A. Confidential" and you can get a sense of the atmosphere and general punchiness of "Kiss & Tell," which pits lesbians against detectives against shifty suspects against wigged-out murderers in a willy-nilly noir fable that simultaneously makes use of and mocks many Los Angeles landmarks.
The ratio of good gags to so-so jokes is about 3-to-1 in this feast of up-and-coming stars, which achieves its best results with epiphanous events in many of the comic vignettes, moments when the characters come alive and their conflicts are intriguing.
But overall the wacky plot couldn't be more lurid and loaded with sin-city cliches that have been twisted into amusing satirical elements. Here's a sampling: an armless coroner eating a restaurant meal, a group therapy session attended exclusively by murderers, a hit man from New York named Lollypop Man and a psychopath using poisoned carrots to leave a trail of corpses.
Shocks and twists are frequent, but what's surprising is how well Alan and crew keep control of the project when it easily could have become too incoherent and unfunny. There are even a few scenes that are downright spooky, not an easy thing to pull off when the movie as a whole is impossible to take seriously.
By and large, the performances are on the money. Along with some great tongue-in-cheek moments from Greene and Richmond Arquette as grumpy detectives, Graham is memorable as a witchy friend of the most prominent murder victim (Bateman).
KISS & TELL
Phaedra Cinema
A Terminal Bliss production
in association with
Ron Travisano and Pamela Gidley
Writer-director Jordan Alan
Producers Pamela Gidley,
Ron Travisano, Jordan Alan
Executive producer Adam Fast
Director of photography Ron Travisano
Music Michael Mattioli
Editors Ed Marx, Chris Keenan, Jordan Alan
Color/stereo
Cast:
Molly McMannis Justine Bateman
Suzan Pretsel Heather Graham
Detective Finnigan Peter Greene
Detective Starr Richmond Arquette
Detective Furbal Lewis Arquette
Betty "Beta" Carotene Pamela Gidley
Ivy Roberts Teresa Hill
Jasmine Rose McGowan
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Kiss & Tell" is a winning independent film from writer-director Jordan Alan ("Terminal Bliss", "Love & Happiness") that features a large and entertaining cast, including four Arquette family members (but not Rosanna or Patricia).
A candidate for eventual cult status, the Phaedra Cinema release should generate moderate interest in limited engagements before heading to video. Hip and breezily unconcerned with making sense, the improvisational "Kiss & Tell" feels like a story written by a roomful of people, with everyone taking turns adding a new scene and then passing it on.
"Kiss & Tell" stars Justine Bateman, Heather Graham and Peter Greene, and boasts bit players Traci Lind, Lukas Haas, Assumpta Serna, Alexandra Paul, Rose McGowan, Teresa Hill, Jill Hennessey, Roxana Zal, Mickey Cottrell, Nina Siemaszko and co-producer Pamela Gidley as the dreaded Betty "Beta" Carotene. Throw in Alexis, Richmond, David and father Lewis Arquette, and you have one strange brew.
Imagine Gregg Araki making "L.A. Confidential" and you can get a sense of the atmosphere and general punchiness of "Kiss & Tell," which pits lesbians against detectives against shifty suspects against wigged-out murderers in a willy-nilly noir fable that simultaneously makes use of and mocks many Los Angeles landmarks.
The ratio of good gags to so-so jokes is about 3-to-1 in this feast of up-and-coming stars, which achieves its best results with epiphanous events in many of the comic vignettes, moments when the characters come alive and their conflicts are intriguing.
But overall the wacky plot couldn't be more lurid and loaded with sin-city cliches that have been twisted into amusing satirical elements. Here's a sampling: an armless coroner eating a restaurant meal, a group therapy session attended exclusively by murderers, a hit man from New York named Lollypop Man and a psychopath using poisoned carrots to leave a trail of corpses.
Shocks and twists are frequent, but what's surprising is how well Alan and crew keep control of the project when it easily could have become too incoherent and unfunny. There are even a few scenes that are downright spooky, not an easy thing to pull off when the movie as a whole is impossible to take seriously.
By and large, the performances are on the money. Along with some great tongue-in-cheek moments from Greene and Richmond Arquette as grumpy detectives, Graham is memorable as a witchy friend of the most prominent murder victim (Bateman).
KISS & TELL
Phaedra Cinema
A Terminal Bliss production
in association with
Ron Travisano and Pamela Gidley
Writer-director Jordan Alan
Producers Pamela Gidley,
Ron Travisano, Jordan Alan
Executive producer Adam Fast
Director of photography Ron Travisano
Music Michael Mattioli
Editors Ed Marx, Chris Keenan, Jordan Alan
Color/stereo
Cast:
Molly McMannis Justine Bateman
Suzan Pretsel Heather Graham
Detective Finnigan Peter Greene
Detective Starr Richmond Arquette
Detective Furbal Lewis Arquette
Betty "Beta" Carotene Pamela Gidley
Ivy Roberts Teresa Hill
Jasmine Rose McGowan
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/17/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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