lesbian vampire killers

When Lesbian Vampire Killers (LVK) came out I seem to remember it got a mauling from the critics.

And if I'm being totally honest I can sort of understand that, but I also think that in time-honoured critic fashion, slating it seems to miss the point somewhat. LVK is, in essence, an exploitation movie very much in the Hammer Horror vein. The clue to this really is in the title.

What makes it work is that it's a very modern take on this genre. How to put this? It never actually breaks the fourth wall, but when the main characters played by Horne and Corden find themselves in the middle of a Hammer Horror film there's a degree of self awareness to it.

I mean, it's not that they behave unrealistically, it's more like they behave as if they expect the late Jeremy Beadle to suddenly pull off his fake beard and for a cameraman to walk out. It's difficult to explain - it's a tonal thing. It's like all the other characters are living in a Hammer Horror film and a couple of outsiders have wandered into it and they're not quite so sure.

The director makes an interesting point in the commentary that at no point did he think he was making a scary film. He was always making a comedy film that just happened to have a horror setting. But not like the Scary Movie films - this isn't a parody, it's more like a comedy homage to Hammer.

The reason that's particularly interesting is that the film presents itself like a straight horror/exploitation movie just like Hammer used to make, but it isn't - it's full of jokes and by playing it straight I think it works.

I'm kind of working this round to saying something fairly simple: I wasn't expecting to, but I quite liked it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was a work of genius, the comedy bowls almost entirely at the lowest common denominator and it doesn't make any bones about its exploitation shtick - the film is veritably dripping in hot chicks in skimpy clothes kissing each other. But what I'm getting at is that there's a degree of self-awareness to it all.

The only thing I think I'd really criticise is it flirts with a degree of misogyny that it doesn't properly acknowledge.

I mean, the film is about a lesbian queen of vampires who, in stereotypical lesbian fashion hates men and, when biting women not only turns them into vampires, but also turns them into lesbians as well. The only way to defeat her is with a special sword. A sword that, if you didn't already pick up the on penis/sword thing, has a cock for a handle.

So the only way to beat a lesbian is with the power of a man. Or, the insinuation is that penis is the only thing that can turn a lesbian.

To some extent I'm over-egging this and such an undertone probably would appear in an exploitation-horror film, my problem is more that it's not really acknowledged in the film. Where you've got an element of that 'knowing wink' to everything else, this isn't really even brought up.