MovieChat Forums > One-Eyed Monster (2008) Discussion > Brilliant Premise, poor execution

Brilliant Premise, poor execution


The premise alone made me want to see this film. Brilliant idea for a black comedy that unfortunately came up flaccid.

It's unfortunate "9to5: Days in Porn" came out a year after this film, because the film makers could have used a bit more than an anecdotal knowledge of the porn industry.

It was as though this film had an identity crisis, not knowing whether it was a black comedy or a purposely bad horror flick. The two really don't mesh! It had some good moments of black comedy, but they were too few and far between.

I found the performances surprisingly good from the cast. I guess the early years of Porn trying to legitimize itself benefited Ron Jeremy and Veronica Hart's acting ability. Few in that industry are capable of actual "acting" today.
Laura was a weakly written character and the only thing that kept her from being totally obvious was Amber Benson's performance.
Most of the cast did their best with the dross they were given.

The tragedy from this viewer's point of view was the script. The characters were two dimensional and caricatures of real people. The situations were taken too seriously for a comedy and not serious enough to be a bad film.

A few pet peeves of a movie that could have been so much better than it ultimately was:

1. When Laura gets ravaged by the dick, why wasn't her pants torn or any evidence of the encounter seen?

2. Why did Jonah refer to Veronica's bleeding as a hemorrhage? He wasn't established as any sort of medic, even later on when they "plopped" the pearl that he was a gulf war vet, no mention of any medical training was given. Typically hemorrhages require a little more than tampons to stop...

3. When Rock is buggered to death in the car, how did the dink go from the passenger compartment of the car, through the engine and out the exhaust pipe?

4. Mohtz's recount of a dick that kills 30 soldiers is far too rediculous to be even a little funny or believable. He is saved by the Army "actually" transporting in Vietnamese Whores to appease this possessed dick?? Then after all the hell he survives in Vietnam, he crawls into a bottle over a possessed pecker??? The opposite of funny is stupid, and Mohtz's history tipped over into the stupid!

5. If the camp site was fully stocked for them to hold up for a couple of days until a snow storm passes (as the bus driver said), how was it that they didn't have enough generator fuel for the night?

6. The dick actually keeping up with a full speed snow mobile was stupid enough, but then to split Jim in half? C'mon!! I would have preferred "Little Ron" diving into Jim's sphincter and then blasting out the back of his head at least! That would have redeemed the turbo pecker at least a bit.

7. The panties in the window with Mohtz directly underneath them was one of the nails in the coffin for this film. Who on the production team actually thought that would be funny or did they even think about it at all? I couldn't figure out why the underpants were not draped over the obviously fake plastic vagina thingy. If the thing can smell, then wouldn't it be attracted to the latex hole that way? Instead it bee lined for the machine, ignoring the living people all around it. Why?

8. What happened to the cocooned Wanda? You don't cocoon something you've just killed and vice versa. She was apparently left behind, I guess?

9. At the end, how did Laura NOT know where they were? Did she not just run down the mountain with Jonah shortly before???

Some might want to defend this mess with "You just don't get it". On the contrary, I do get it and I also believe with a premise as fresh as this one, it could have been so much better. "One Eyed Monster's" story was full of loose ends, contradictions and missed opportunities for some really clever dialog exchanges.

So often I kept expecting / hoping to hear some tongue in cheak, double entendre or sub-textual dialog about this situation between characters, but almost nothing. I was so hoping that the drunk trio in the kitchen, waiting for Little Ron, would break out into a fit of laughter over the absurdity of Mohtz's story and their own situation, but denied again. It became more frustrating than amusing by the end. The only redemption was the finale with Veronica and Little Ron in the Comm tower. A fireless explosion actually fit the story, thank God they didn't have the budget for pyrotechnics!

I found the film disappointing based on the fact that it simply failed to live up to its great idea. The premise was prepackaged with dozens of bawdy humor opportunities and so few actually made it into the script.

A great film to see if you want to see how easily it is to *beep* up a great premise...

My 2 pennies....

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um I dont think it was made to be taken that seriously

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Good points, but this sentence here sums it up nicely:

It was as though this film had an identity crisis, not knowing whether it was a black comedy or a purposely bad horror flick.
It should've stuck with one or the other. Preferably a horror COMEDY considering its a movie about a killer penis! There were times it was going for "dramatic" when, given the monster, I simply COULD NOT worry about these guys...it SHOULD'VE been a lot of fun, but instead missed the mark for the most part.

I still gave it a 4.10, just to be fair, its not the worst horror movie in the world, I just think, given the premise, it was executed poorly (how about that, same as the OP's subject line!)

--
One Eyed Monster: 4/10
Boondock Saints 2: 6.5/10
Boondock Saints: 8/10
Donkey Punch: 6/10

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Couple of quick points:

1. When Laura gets ravaged by the dick, why wasn't her pants torn or any evidence of the encounter seen?


Because she wasn't "ravaged". She wanted it.



2. Why did Jonah refer to Veronica's bleeding as a hemorrhage?


Because she was bleeding heavily for a long time? Might not be the actual definition, but it's a good guess...

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I'm not too worried about the plotholes, they can be explained away or it would have been papered over if the film had gone for it and delivered on its potential.

The big problem is: the film needs more cock. Which is possibly the first time that has been said about a movie with Ron Jeremy in. They really need to spend a bit of cash on some decent special effects and a barrel or two of stage blood, and then just go for it.

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