Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Suck Blu-ray Movie Review

Insert your own title-based joke here.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 29, 2010

They say that branding is everything, especially in this market driven world, so one might question Rob Stefaniuk’s wisdom in naming his vampire rock band film Suck. After all, less redolent titles have become fodder for smart mouthed critics, and in this Twitter obsessed culture in which we find ourselves, one could, if one were predisposed to, use considerably less than 144 characters to disparage a film with this name with a simple: Yes, it does. Except, you know what? Suck manages to avoid the built in calamities at least hinted at by its name to provide an at times really pretty funny rock infused entertainment that may never have the legs, fishnet stockinged or otherwise, of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but which in its own small scale way, offers a few hearty chuckles, a couple of great gross out moments, some appealingly rude and crude tunes, and a bevy of cameos by what could charitably be called an eclectic mix of actors and musicians. As Stefaniuk waxes not exactly eloquently in one of the extras on this Blu-ray, once he started really paying attention to film, he was amazed at how hard decent movies were to make, and was therefore surprised that more releases didn’t “suck.” If he hasn’t exactly made his own Citizen Kane here, he’s to be commended for having avoided the delusion of pretension that dooms a lot of neophyte writer-directors.

Suck follows the exploits of a rock band intentionally ironically called The Winners, which is fronted by a comely bassist-vocalist named Jennifer (Jessica Paré). Jennifer. Sharing the spotlight is guitarist-vocalist Joey (Rob Stefaniuk), who may or may not have a thing for Jennifer. Almost right off the bat (so to speak), Jennifer gets “turned” by a seductive vampire named Queeny (Dimitri Coats), and then the film is off an a sort of crazy quilt series of misadventures as Jennifer’s lust for blood begins to interact inconveniently with Joey’s desperate attempts to get the band noticed. In fact, Jennifer’s vampiristic allure actually starts to attract a larger audience, but she keeps killing people in the wake of this new found success, not exactly a formula for a long lived show business career.

This is a film which wisely refuses to take itself seriously at all, despite a meandering attempt to give Joey a sort of soulful questioning subplot about what his life is really amounting to. Instead we get a series of sometimes extremely funny vignettes, often including some great cameos. Alice Cooper is on hand here as the bartender at the club where Jennifer first meets her vampire friend, and he repeatedly turns up in a series of dreams Joey has which take place at a mysterious intersection. (You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out Stefaniuk’s imagery here). Carole Pope is a bouncer at the same club. Henry Rollins turns in a sort of goofy Wolfman Jack parody as Rockin’ Roger, an all powerful DJ who asks a few too many questions once he gets The Winners in his booth. Iggy Pop plays an engineer at the studio where The Winners record their single. Moby plays a sleazy rocker who has eyes for Jennifer. All of these cameos give Suck the alt-rock credibility it’s obviously striving for, but the good news is, all of these performers are obviously in on the joke and respond with some actually finely comic turns. Cooper’s bit at the end of the film, when he find Jennifer and Joey living a domesticated suburban dream (nightmare?) existence, is hysterically funny.

Also chewing up the scenery here is the iconic Malcolm McDowell as Eddie Van Helsing, a vampire hunter who is on to the fact that Jennifer and then—probably no surprise here—several others have become vampires. While McDowell doesn’t have a bunch to do here other than to look menacing as he chases the band across their tour dates, his presence gives the film a fun edge and an actorly kick in the pants. (Snippets from Lindsay Anderson’s brilliant O Lucky Man are utilized in flashback sequences showing “Eddie” as a young man).

The best thing about Suck is its winning combination of sort of stoner-slacker nonplussed take on what’s happening to the band with the over the top sequences of those very happenings. When Joey discovers Jennifer’s blood sucking proclivities, he’s not ostensibly shocked by that in and of itself. Instead he’s thinking of his future as a musician and screams out at her in an hilarious tantrum, “OK, Jennifer, you’re out of the band!” It’s that kind of weird mishmash of idioms that gives Suck a lot of its off-kilter humor. Chris Ratz delivers some fine laughs as the French roadie Hugo, who becomes Jennifer’s clean up guy after she dispatches several innocents with whom she comes in contact.

It’s really obviously not that much of a stretch to posit Goth rockers as vampires. If that conceit is part of Suck’s ultimate failure to establish itself as the rightful heir to Rocky Horror, there are also a number of bits throughout the film that never really land that well. The song score is acceptably brash and sometimes quite well handled, but it, like some of the jokes, never totally rises to the occasion and establishes itself firmly as a completely memorable enterprise. On the plus side, Stefaniuk has a great eye, has staged the film very well, and elicits some fine comedic turns from the entire cast.

Suck may not live up to its title, but it also never quite attains the campy brilliance it probably was aiming for. Instead it’s good for an occasional laugh, an occasional head banging moment, and a breezy hour and a half or so. Like that old adage about Chinese food, though, these particular vampires may leave you wanting something more substantial an hour later.

Suck Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Stefaniuk and his DP D. Gregor Hagey have a very idiosyncratic look developed for Suck, and this Blu-ray's AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in 1.85:1) may not appeal to some viewers who want blistering color and razor sharp detail. Instead we get a sometimes nicely general bloodless look with brilliant flashes of intense color in discrete areas. In sequences after Jennifer is turned, whole segments are virtually desaturated with the exception of her piercing blue eyes. In fact this technique is utilized again and again as various other people become vampires. That lack of overall color may put off some viewers, but it was obviously done intentionally. In Joey's dreamscape we get sequences where contrast is blown out to the point where detail is obliterated, again on purpose. In naturally lit scenes, there's really a great amount of detail and excellent sharpness, though fleshtones are often anemic (and not just after various people become vampires). The one place where this Blu-ray really doesn't perform overly well is in the many dark (and sometimes post-processed) club shots, where contrast is very low and grain is abundant. Again, this was probably done purposefully, but it gives the film a sort of 16mm ambience that doesn't jive perfectly with the sharper looking non-club elements. Overall this is a respectably sharp and well detailed looking BD if one takes the director's choices into account.

Suck Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Suck's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is quite appealing and has several head banging moments interspersed with quieter dialogue driven fare. Fidelity is top notch throughout this film, and the music sequences sound great, with some wonderfully thumping low end and crystal clarity on the high end. There are some nice moments of immersion, with ooey-gooey sound effects as Jennifer (and, later, her vampire co-horts) go about their dirty business. Dialogue, while pretty much anchored to the front channel, is clear and precise. The best sequences for surround activity are the club and party scenes, where ambient noise and crowd chaos filter into the surrounds with a good deal of activity. Be forewarned that the LPCM 2.0 mix on one of the extras, the "Flesh and Blood" music video, is incredibly loud with overwhelming low end.

Suck Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Suck features the following extras:

• A pretty chatty Commentary by Stefaniuk and DP Hagey gives a lot of background on the project as well as the film's distinctive look;
• Down to the Crossroads (HD; 45:12) is a surprisingly engaging featurette which was originally broadcast on The Movie Channel;
• The aforementioned Flesh and Bone Music Video (SD; 3:52), which is loud, but quite good.

The theatrical trailer rounds out the extras.

Suck Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Suck is often a very funny film that wisely refuses to take itself seriously. Filled with a rather amazing wealth of bizarre cameos, and with an overall penchant for over the top horror mixed with silly stoner humor, this probably is never going to be the next Rocky Horror, but it certainly merits a rental for those who'd like to see something a little different. Recommended.