Released: May 2018(Greece)
Director: Ezra Tsegaye
Not Rated
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Distributor: Botchco Films
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Cast:
Nicolas Artajo: Daniel Jebsen
Nicolas Szent: Ben Jebsen
Barbara Prakopenka: Sasha Blue
Dieter Landuris: Prediger
Thomas Schmuckert: Lederkalle
When it comes to horror films, one of my favorite subjects is the supernatural. You know: Demons, possession, Satanic rituals, witches, all that jazz. I don’t consider myself a believer in such things, but there is something inherently compelling about what lies beyond the mortal world. Is there a Heaven? Is there a Hell? Nobody knows, but I still find the subject to be very interesting. So, when a film comes out that deals with the supernatural and the end of the world, I tend to pay attention a little bit. There have been a lot of great supernatural films over the decades: Warlock, The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, The Witch, and Hellraiser just to name a few. The part of the supernatural genre that seems to get the short end of the stick these days is demonic possession. It’s a terrifying idea that you lose all control when an evil force takes over your body. It’s spooky, when done right. I’ve seen a lot of movies, however, that weren’t done right. There’s a movie that came out of Germany about a year ago that’s trying to rejuvenate interest in the sub-genre: Skin Creepers. Does it succeed? Let’s find out.
Skin Creepers follows two bumbling film-makers as they attempt to make their own pornographic film. Failing at nearly every turn, Dan and Ben Jebsen turn to a local pimp to hire out some prostitutes to act in their….”film.” Meanwhile, they retain the services of an American actress, Sasha Blue. When they bring her to a hotel, she becomes possessed by a demon. Apparently, the room she was staying in, had a history with failed exorcisms. After witnessing Sasha Blue attack one of the prostitutes, they drag her back to the hotel and tie her up whilst trying to figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, the pimp is not happy with what’s been going on, and decides to take matters into his own hands. On paper, the story isn’t actually half-bad. In fact, aspects of the story are pretty amusing. A demon-possessed porn star? Why not. A bizarre priest with a holy chicken bone? Count me in. However, the execution of the story is problematic. First of all, the tone of the film is all over the place. Schizophrenic, if you will. Sometimes, it’s trying to be a comedy and other times it’s trying to be horror film, but the two tones are constantly clashing with each other that makes for a very inconsistent experience. I’m not going to lie: I’m not a big fan of comedy. I don’t mind comedic elements, but when a film tries to be a comedy, it often fails for me, because it tends to be forced, and that’s part of my problem with Skin Creepers. The horror elements, however, are actually pretty good, but I’ll talk about those a bit later. For the most part, the film kind of knows what it is and it goes with it, I just think the tone needed to be a little bit more on point and more consistent. Also, there’s a whole lot of back and forth between 1976 and present day. It feels pretty jarring at times, and it often doesn’t quite work.
This film is from Germany, so I can forgive certain issues with translation with some of the writing and dialogue. However, I can’t really get behind some of the writing because it often doesn’t feel natural, at least not to me. Then again, that also might be an issue with the translation. So, the writing doesn’t quite work for me. The same thing can be said of the acting. I just wasn’t buying the two leads as wannabe film-makers. There doesn’t seem to be any chemistry between the actors. I’m not necessarily blaming Artajo and Szent, but they didn’t really work for me. Barbara Prakopenka plays Sasha Blue, the demon-possessed porn star. I’ve gotta give it this gal for going all in with the whole spoiled/possessed porn star angle. She was clearly willing to do a lot of her own stunts, some of which look very uncomfortable, so I have to give credit where it’s due. She was fantastic. Dieter Landuris plays Prediger, a disgraced priest. This guy’s great. He does lend a bit of humor to the film, but the character does feel genuine, so that was pretty good. Thomas Schmuckert plays Lederkalle, the pimp who let the Jebsen brothers hire his girls for their film. The character is definitely a sleazebag, but Schmuckert does a pretty good job with it. For the most part, the acting is pretty good for a film with this small of a budget.
While I can’t say that I’m impressed with the comedic elements of the film, what definitely DOES work are the horror elements. It does get pretty spooky at times. While some of the CG effects are kind of sketchy, they aren’t really that bad for a film like this and they seem fairly appropriate. The practical effects, though, are very impressive. The gore and the blood are all practical. Some of the make-up effects are out of this world. The possessed Sasha Blue is really creepy with those blood-red eyes. The whole head-exploding thing is actually pretty cool, even though I’m not entire sure that being possessed would cause your head to explode? Strange, but I can go with it. The last 20 or so minutes of the film are straight horror madness and I loved it. It’s bizarre, gruesome, and just totally bonkers.
Don’t go in to Skin Creepers expecting The Exorcist. It’s nowhere near the same league. However, if you approach this film with a certain mindset, i.e. looking for some goofy supernatural fun, you’re probably going to walk away from this one pretty satisfied. In all honesty, though, I can’t give the film my full recommendation because of some of the issues that I mentioned. I’m not necessarily blaming the film-makers for some of these issues. They weren’t working with a whole lot, and I’m actually rather impressed with what they’ve managed to accomplish here. It’s just that the competing tones and disjointed story-telling get in the way a little bit. That being said, there are worse way to spend 90 minutes.
My Final Recommendation: Whenever you exorcise demons, make sure you bring your Holy Chicken Bone. 6.5/10
You can check out the film at the following locations:
Tubi TV(USA,Canada,Australia; watch for free with advertising breaks)
Vimeo USA, Canada, Australia, UK and Ireland(rent and buy)