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Saturday, January 28, 2012

MARTY JENKINS AND THE VAMPIRE BITCHES (2006)



Marty Jenkins (Shawn A. Green) has it all; a beautiful girlfriend, Sandy (Lisa Clarke), a great job at a video store and he lives in Dayton, Ohio.
One problem.
His girlfriend is dumping him, the other guy at the video store hates Marty's guts and Dayton, Ohio is about to get inundated with vampire bitches. No, really! Look at the title of the movie for crying out loud!
When Ginger (Plexi Starr) takes his best friend, Tyler McDonald (Henrique Couto) away from him and the others turn Sandy, Marty has no recourse. Especially since he runs over the vampire killer, Deacon Sloane (Nic Pesante), who was on his way to take care of the bloodsucker problem.
Now, armed with a black bag of weapons and some words of wisdom from vampire killer, Hummer (Bob Hinton), MArty must face off against these vampire bitches to avenge his friend, save the girl and try not to get any blood on his treasured sweater vest.
On the surface, MARTY JENKINS AND THE VAMPIRE BITCHES, is a horror comedy. Pure and simple. Director Henrique Couto brings his wacky form of humor to the film and it works.
But this movie is so much more than that. We are with Marty from his painful birth, through his break up with Sandy and the loss of his buddy, Tyler. To Marty, this is his own, tiny world. This is emphasized by the size of the video store he works in. It may be a vast warehouse of movies, but Couto makes it appear diminutive in size, creating an insular existence for Marty. The vampire bitches could have been any form of destructive change and it would have worked as the catalyst to force Marty to go through a change.
Tyler sees the vampire bitches as a way out of his miserable existence even though he's not ready for the vampiric change that occurs he seems to revel in his new found powers.
I want to mention Plexi Starr again in her role as Ginger. While she is probably not everyone's cup of tea I found her infinitely more attractive than the two blonde bimbos she was saddled with as her cohorts. Added to the fact that she was the only one willing to give us our boobie fix in the flick, I would have to say that she was my favorite part of the movie. That and the crazy, mumbling antics of Bob Hinton. He comes across as if Ernest P. Worrell had a drug addled brother. Excellent!

Now, for a Spoiler Alert. I'll place the trailer for the film here for you to watch and then the spoiler.










SPOILER ALERT! (You have been warned!Stew, this means you. Don't read any farther until after you watch it.)
At the end of the film Marty realizes that Sandy is a bitch and has no chance for redemption. He decides to save Ellen (River Watson) instead. In any traditional film this would have been Marty's in for some sweet loving. In Couto's universe, Ellen is grateful, but she's gonna bang the other guy at the video store instead. It ends the film on such a poignant, tragic note. Marty has saved Dayton and there is nothing for him at the end. No tangible reward.
This is how micro budget cinema needs to be and I'm glad to recommend this to anyone. Go find your copy today.
You'll be glad you did.

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