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 erial Killing 4 Dummys" (sic) is listed at
IMDB.com as a 2004 movie, but it's actually a 1999 feature called
"Serial Killing 101". Being able to trick the all-knowing,
all-powerful IMDB.com is quite a feat, and in truth the movie is much
better than it really has any right to be. Fortunately the folks behind
"Dummys" are no dummies, and the script by writer/director Trace
Slobotkin oftentimes manages to ascend beyond the constraints of the
movie.
Billed as a horror/comedy, "Dummys" is
pretty funny, with many of its winning moments coming from its
matter-of-fact approach to serial killing as conducted by Goth posers
Casey (Justin Urich) and Sasha (Lisa Loeb). The movie is essentially about
Casey, a too cool for school slacker who decides he wants to be a serial
killer because, well, he just can't figure out what else to be. Offering
her time and expertise in the macabre world of serial killers is Sasha,
who wants, as a reward, to be Casey's first victim. As the teens go about
transforming Casey into a notorious serial killer, a real serial killer is
going around town claiming high school victims.
"Dummys" is definitely more comedy than
horror, which seems to be the direction low-budget American slasher films
have been headed for the last 10 years or so. Personally, I'm not entirely
sure if the trend works for me, but I have seen some good examples of the
hybrid genre, most recently in the funny and micro budgeted "Silo
Killer". "Dummys" seems to have a slightly bigger
budget than "Killer" (albeit not by much) but the movie is
burdened with uninspired camerawork and much of the film looks grainy for
some reason.
The kid at the head of the class is Justin Urich, who
does a fabulous job as slacker Casey, a smart kid who just can't find it
in himself to be ambitious. Even his foray into serial killing reminds him
of just how unmotivated he is, as he finds himself unable to kill
anything, even his neighbor's annoying dog. The love interest is singer
Lisa Loeb, who will probably still look like a high school geek even when
she's 50. With her signature nerdy glass, it's a little hard to take Loeb
seriously as a Goth wannabe. Although the movie eventually explains
Sasha's real interest in being Casey's first victim, you can't help but
think that another actress would have done better in the role.
In any case, the star is Urich, and he's more than up
to the task, even opposite the absurdly comical Thomas Haden Church (TV's
"Wings"), here playing an ex-military nutjob turned gym coach.
Another funny face is Rick Overton as a career counselor who tries to
communicate with the kids via popular slang. You've seen this guy
wandering your high school hallways, and Overton is dead-on serious as the
dead-on goofy counselor. The movie's funnier scenes involve Overton
"getting down and rapping" with the kids.
Which isn't to say "Dummys" does everything
well. The plot about a real serial killer kidnapping nubile high school
girls get lost in the shuffle of Casey and Sasha's ongoing experiment.
It's not until the final 20 minutes or so that the real serial killer plot
even makes any kind of impact, even though a Detective investigating the
killings suspects Casey of being involved. But the suspicion on Casey
plays out as too random and inconsequential, and as a result Casey is
never really made to feel the heat for his dabbling into serial killers.
The real identity of the serial killer also gets
shortchanged, and like much of the real serial killer plot, seems random
in nature. Casey just realizes that all of his serial killer research fits
one man exactly and -- voila! He's right. It's a little anti-climactic to
say the least. The film tries to throw a red herring into the mix, but I'm
afraid most of the actors are so obvious that it's not even worth
mentioning who the red herring is. In truth, it feels as if the whole
"real serial killer is lurking in the background" plot is almost
a last minute add-on. And if not, then the script fails badly to make it
interesting.
"Serial Killing 4 Dummys" is generally a
well-written movie, if only for its comedic elements. Lead Justin Urich is
superb, and the film is funnier than most comedies out there. Alas there's
no nudity and very little gore to speak off, which will likely turn off
its targeted audience.
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