SICKLE
by Bill Pierce “When good Arizonans die they go to heaven; bad Arizonans go to Arizona” First and foremost, let me say how happy I will be when the whole “Grindhouse” fad finally dies and the Arizona filmmakers can get back to some serious movie making. I don’t mind a new genre’ in the least, but these flicks are all the same: the same look, the same story, the same music. Lately they even have the same actors, popping up in an endless cycle of films like some weird D-list rotary club. Most of these films make no effort at originality, happy to join the ranks of endless rip-offs. There can still be some originality when making one of these. Why, back in the day, even the “Jaws” rip offs were still entertaining and brought their own originality to the screen. They just used different critters in a Jaws-like situation to tell their story. Who could forget the dangers of menstruation on a camping trip when a giant “Grizzly” (1976) found your campsite! Or the havoc that is wreaked upon an idyllic wedding when crashed by a giant “Alligator” (1980). Which somehow brings me to the latest, locally made ‘grindhouse’ feature “Sickle,” directed by Robert Conway and starring a host of local favorites including Shane Dean, Tiffany Sheppis and the return of early AZ indie veteran Jose Rosete. ‘Sickle’ begins with bad boys Chino and Pablo (Dean and Rosete) making a drug deal in the desert and ripping off the unsuspecting buyers. After some graphic gut flying gun fighting they head off into the desert, stopping at the creepy, jerk-water town of Red Stone Arizona for fuel. Chino pays for the gas but Pablo robs the gas station, and Sheriff Sickle (Kane Hodder) is summoned by the silent alarm. Arriving in his soupedup squad car complete with an enormous, rocket-powered spear mounted on the hood, the Sheriff administers swift justice the way they do it in Red Stone, dispatching the thieves in graphic and gory fashion. Back in the civilized world, sexy Jenna (Tiffany Sheppis) dances as “Miss Electra” and wins the pole dance marathon as the horseshoe hounds hurl heaps of cash at her. Jenna and three more of the worlds worst employees rob the sleazy strip club, killing every witness to their crime and taking every cent from the Russian mafia-owned establishment before heading for the border. On their way to Mexico, drug dazed Randy (Owen Conway) makes a wrong turn into (gasp!) Red Stone, and this time the Sheriff is ready for the thugs. He chases them down, taking the lovely Tasha (Taryn Maxximillian Dafoe) hostage, and hunting down the remaining thieves. Back in the civilized world again, murderous Russian mobster and club proprietor Yakov (Jason Spisak) is on the hunt for the ne’er do wells, blazing a trail of death and destruction that leads him to (gasp! Again!) Red Stone! There’s more naked girls, flying guts and cannibalistic trailer park law enforcement before psycho Sheriff Sickle can put things back in (law and) order, and return Red Stone to the terrifying and dismal law and disorder town it is supposed to be. It’s a pickle to pick a standout performance in ‘Sickle’ since the entire cast was clearly having a blast with this film. Ms. Sheppis has graduated from Horror University long ago, and is now the Dean Of Students, as the actors around her become energized, playing off of her screen experience and complimenting her performance. Shane Dean is in true form; bringing to the screen the frenetic energy he maintains even when the cameras aren’t rolling. Dustin Leighton plays ruthless ringleader Travis to a T,
MOVIEREVIEW
appearing clean cut and cold blooded in a constant character contrast. It was a tough call, but I gotta give the serious props to Mr. Owen Conway as Randy, who was clearly the fan favorite when ‘Sickle’ screened at Phoenix Comicon 2013. Conway makes no attempt to refine, define or confine his character at any time, hanging loose and enjoying the ride, taking the entire audience with him. He dodges decapitations, survives gun battles and misses his missing drugs more than his dead pals as he floats through the hell of Red Stone in a loose and lazy, hilarious daze. From the beginning, ‘Sickle’ appeared to be (for all intents and purposes) just another one of the locally made ‘grindhouse’ knock-offs everyone is so all-fired up about these days. But there was something about this cheesy, sleazy horror that kept my attention. ‘Sickle’ is a goofy, guts ‘n girls gorefest that never takes itself seriously, inserting glaringly obvious and sometimes, stupidly subtle reminders that this is a dumb horror movie in the tradition of every dumb grindhouse/horror movie. Just when the cartoonish color begins to fade or the exaggerated Dutch angles begin to align, director Conway does something dopey like tossing in a quick shot of a flying saucer from “Plan-9 from Outer Space” complete with UFO sound effects, to remind us that this is just for fun. Conway seems to go so far as to proudly and hilariously exaggerate the fact he is making an AZ indie film, as every single toothless resident of ‘Red Stone Arizona’ stands outside their (trailer) home, firearms in hand and glaring menacingly at strangers. ‘Sickle’ is a very entertaining film that creates its own originality by way of its shameless impersonation. A gory self-satire and fitting homage to the latest craze in filmmaking that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere for a while.
September/October 2013
AZ FILMMAKER 27