Old Film Threat readers might recognize the name of Dipaolo
form the ads he constantly ran advertising his early movies.
He had a small hit with his shot on film serial killer opus
TRANSGRESSION
and has now delivered this brutal supernatural tale of incest,
rape and murder.
DADDY revolves around a woman Sheriff investigating a series
of savage rapes in a small town. The woman all have dirt and
maggots inside their vaginas, but more importantly all the women
were friends of our heroine. We know right from the beginning
that the rapist is a zombie and probably has familial ties to
the leading lady. But a surprising amount of tie is spent detailing
her personal life and series of emotional issues. In fact the
movie could be very nice metaphor for reliving and dealing with
childhood traumas.
The climax reveals that what we figured was going on is in
fact true. This is not say the movie doesn’t work. The
simplicity of the narrative gives a lot of time for the characters
to interact and create people we’re interested in. Plus
the movie holds plenty shocks and surprises along the way.
The movie is a welcome return to serious horror in the S.O.V.
underground. Where as most these types of movies are content
to trot out some tits and ass or make fun of other hits. Dipaolo
sets out to make something more thoughtful. While always a horror
film, he takes great pains to make it have some depth and character
and based in real life situations. The real horror here is sexual
abuse and incest, but Dipaolo wisely masks it in a horror fantasy
context.
On the downside the lead actress is fairly weak. Her acting
is much too wooden to be entirely convincing. Plus it seems
that English is not her native tongue so her lines are delivered
in a specific monotone that grates after a while. In fact the
entire cast seems to be locked into reciting the lines verbatim,
making sure they get every syllable right, but missing the opportunity
to bring them to life. The girls who play the rape victims are
all surprisingly good though and any one of the three could
have been a better lead.
For all the seriousness on display the film does still dip
into the murky sexploitation pool. The women do undress at the
slightest provocation and the rape scenes tend to end with bared
flesh. Unfortunately this attempt to fit the expectations of
the audience slightly undermines the seriousness of the rest
of the movie. Thankfully the bloodcurdling climax eradicates
all memory of anything before with the barefaced nihilism and
terror. It’s a sucker punch your feel for some time. Well
worth checking out. [ Read
Review ]
Daddy
Reviews