Sixteen Tongues

This is a step up from Shatter-Dead, but if you're expecting high production values, classy acting, and expensive CGI, go away.

If you enjoy nudity (quite a bit, and weird nudity, things that make you double-check your own body), a good action sequence at the end, and transgressive atmosphere, this is your movie.

Imagine all hell breaking loose at a hotel that hosts porno, whores, and crazy sex acts, and it all taking place in the future on a low budget. It's awesome, but more subtle in its scares rather than in your face.

A good second movie...worth the long seven-year wait.

Though SHATTER DEAD was certainly flawed, I did enjoy the early 90's effort from director Scooter McCrae. It was inventive and daring enough to overcome the weak script, poor fx, and hit-and-miss acting. SHATTER DEAD was not perfect, but it was cool and entertaining.

Also cool and entertaining is McCrae's follow-up, SIXTEEN TONGUES. However, we have been waiting for Mr. McCrae to unleash this follow-up for a decade. Does 16T look like a ten year masterpiece? Absolutely not... and that's why I'm disappointed.

The positives:

The story is - again - inventive and daring. 16T is a much better written movie compared to SHATTER DEAD. The plot is very interesting, the characters are excellent, and the dialog is, with an exception here and there, quite good.

The special effects are good, especially for an indie digital video no-budget flick. Some stuff sticks out as being fake looking, but for the most part, the fx get the job done, usually in a spectacular fashion.

The acting is very good. Strong performances from all involved keep you hooked in throughout the movie... despite the movie's flaws...

The negatives:

The movie simply looks cheap. Not in a gritty, cool indie cinema way... but in a weak high school drama club way. Production design was a constant distraction as it held not a shred of realism. I'm supposed to believe we are in a seedy, run down porno hotel... though the building looks like it got a fresh coat of paint last year... and the porno posters on the walls look like they were printed out and hung up with scotch tape earlier that morning. The hotel is a main character in the movie, making this amateur production design a huge failing in the production.

Another flaw to the movie is the lighting. It looks like little to no care was taken in lighting any single shot in the movie. Either the lighting is flat and bland, or it is non-existent. Many shots in the movie zip by in nearly total darkness, increasing the amateur vibe of the flick.

A final (somewhat odd) complaint I have is the lack of actual porno in the movie. Pornography is a major current in the storyline. Entire montages are devoted to pornographic imagery. Yet, everything naughty is blurred out. I would have preferred to actually see this imagery that is so important in the movie... or I would have liked to see it stay off screen entirely.

To sum up SIXTEEN TONGUES, the positives are slightly outweighed by the negatives. If Scooter had put 16T out a year or two after SHATTER DEAD, I might think this new flick was a positive progression for the indie director. Instead, 16T made me think "what the heck has this filmmaker been DOING for the past decade?!?!?" ...probably not working hard on 16T. Maybe it took him 10 years to print all those porno posters out on his home computer?

Man, did I waste my money on this stink bomb. I can appreciate sick, twisted and bizarre cinema, but this was just boring. The horrible acting and cheap production was the worst I have seen in a long while. Don't say you haven't been warned.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  2.7 out of 5 stars