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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: dcjohnson on July 23, 2006, 04:51:03 AM



Title: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: dcjohnson on July 23, 2006, 04:51:03 AM
Just watched this movie today, which stars Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz, and Jon Favreau. It was nice to see Christian Slater in another homicidal role after Heathers, which in my opinion was a great movie, but this movie has one fatal flaw, the tremendous amount of deaths that it has. While body count may be an important factor for a slasher to have or in the case of the previously mentioned  Heathers to show just how ridiculous all the deaths that are occuring are, in this film it simply does not work. Never really going far from reality violent homicides and accidents happen throughout the film, causing them to become less and less significant as the movie becomes less and less interesting. Still worth a watch, especially for fans of Heathers.


Title: Very Bad Things Vs. Heathers
Post by: Ash on July 23, 2006, 05:52:50 AM
You're right.
Heathers & Very Bad Things are both black comedies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy).
Heathers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathers) was better because of the wonderfully twisted dialogue and it killed off its characters somewhat differently.

The dialogue is the clincher here.
You'll never hear, "f**k me gently with a chainsaw!" or, "Did you have a brain tumor for beakfast?" in VBT.

Nevertheless, VBT did have a few good moments.
The scene where the hotel security guard is stabbed with a very long corkscrew and is left in the bathroom to die while the main cast holds the door shut listening to his screams is truly disturbing.
Or the scene where Jeremy Piven's character bangs a chick so hard he slams the back of her head into a clotheshook.

And watching the guilt gnaw at the perpetrators afterwards is satisfying.
Daniel Stern is fantastic here as the father who slowly loses his mind with overwhelming paranoia & guilt.
"They didn't have any f**king Whizzers!"

I give Very Bad Things 3 out of 4 stars.
I give Heathers 4 stars.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: nobody on July 23, 2006, 12:16:53 PM
I remember seeing "Very Bad Things" on opening day with my roommate. The theater was only half full- and when the hotel security guard was corkscrewed and left to "bleed out" in the bathroom almost everyone left the theater except for us. We loved the movie... until (SPOILER ALERT) Cameron Dias goes crazy and tries to kill Christian Slater. Her character was way too over the top and very unbelievable, even for a bizarre comedy like this one. And the very end was a bit retarded, too, when we see the aftermath of Favreau's car crash. Overall, though, the movie is very entertaining and I'd recommend it to others. I bought a copy on DVD myself, so my minor grievances with the film can't be all that bad.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: Mr_Vindictive on July 24, 2006, 07:46:04 AM
VBT isn't too bad of a film.  I haven't seen it in a while, but I rather enjoyed it.  It's twisted, sick, and is pretty damn funny considering the amount of violence in it.

As for Heaters...another great film.  "I love my dead gay son!" is one of the most memorable lines of all time, in my opinion.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: Texdar on July 24, 2006, 11:17:11 AM
Hehehe.....whenever I hear Heathers mentioned, that the exact line I think about.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: Shadowphile on July 24, 2006, 10:54:58 PM
I didn't find Very Bad Things all that funny.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: loyal1 on July 26, 2006, 06:51:39 PM
You know where you get your sense of humor when your parents are laughing their asses off to this very movie.  I actually thought it would be "too much" for them and think I was sick for liking it.  Nope...far from it.  You see the reason it may seem over the top is because it's suppose to be unrealistic and ridiculous.  I liked it a lot but Heathers definately is above this one.  What I like about this is instead of twisted high school students...you take normal average suburbinates and put them in a bad situation where their "true colors" shine forth...and then the fun and games begin!

I think it was great!


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: BoyScoutKevin on July 27, 2006, 12:52:59 PM
And what other black comedy was released only six weeks before this film was released? Yes, it was "Happiness." And as I understand it, which of the two films got the better critical reception? Yes, again, it was "Happiness." And while I have never seen "Very Bad Things," considering how much I thought "Happiness" was critically overrated,  this film can't be much worse than that one.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: loyal1 on July 27, 2006, 01:27:27 PM
Two very different movies.  You really can't compare the two...just as you can't compare Dr. Strangelove a black comedy to something from that time.  not a good argument.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: dcjohnson on July 28, 2006, 05:38:06 AM
Kind of off topic, but I just wanted to state that I very much liked happiness. I even made a ytmnd of it here, http://dylanbaker.ytmnd.com/


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: BoyScoutKevin on August 03, 2006, 08:42:51 AM
By your way of thinking loyal1, they may be different films, but they are still both black comedies. And the black comedy "Happiness" got a better critical reception, then the black comedy "Very Bad Things." And that was whart I was stating in my previous post.


Title: Re: Very Bad Things (1998)- Overkill Literally
Post by: loyal1 on August 05, 2006, 07:56:48 PM
But that just doesn't make any sense.  It's like saying because one horror movie you saw that got a better review than another you didn't like you will not give the other a chance and judge it before you see it yourself.  

The ironic part is you are judging this from a critical review you did not agree with, but somehow will take the word of yet another critic that didn't give it as good a review.

See what I mean.  It may be just me, but I will not say anything is bad or sucks unless I see it myself.  There have been far too many that have pleasantly surprised me.