DUCK! THE CARBINE HIGH MASSACRE
PLOT-This movie is a re-creation of the real life massacre at Columbine high school.
VIOLENCE-One student is severely beaten, and several are shot. All of it is extremely graphic, bloody, and gory.
SEX/NUDITY-Two hooded topless dancers are seen briefly at a club.
WHY I WATCHED IT-It's been less than 10 years since I graduated high school, and less than 5 since the Columbine incident occurred. The issues are all very fresh in my mind, and are unfortunately ones I can identify with. The fact that someone dramatized this stuff in a low-budget movie is curious enough.
THE DOPE-DUCK! was made in the summer of 1999, a scant 2 months after the real thing happened. Filmmakers Bill Hellfire and Joey Smack (of FACTORY 2000, both of whom can be seen in Seduction Cinema's EROTIC SURVIVOR) claim that TV movies of the massacre were bound to be made sooner or later, so they decided to do their first. One might think that perhaps Hellfire and Smack, being young themselves, could decide to portray the killers as sympathetic. After all, who among us doesn't remember being fucked with by the jocks? Laughed at by the popular girls? To their credit, they do not. This movie takes a serious subject and turns it into the inevitable exploitation film, exposing the absurdity of it all with goofy humor and violence. The killers are dopey and idiotic, angry and stupid warmongers who order a bomb from China over the internet, and set it off in their backyard. Their parents are alcoholics and verbally abusive, negligent and absent for the most part. One kid tells his drunken mom, "I'm gonna shoot all my classmates and then myself", to which his mom replies with a hug, "bye bye dear". As a fan of Seduction Cinema, I was happy they included cameos by John Fedele and John Bacchus, playing two of the many moronic adult characters. The shining star of this film, however, is Misty Mundae, who plays a bible-beating asshole teenager. In almost no makeup and a plain dress, Misty showcases her acting talents in a role unlike any you've seen her in before. She was awesome, definitely the highlight of the film. The people who play the jocks and greasers are appropriately evil, undoubtedly taking inspiration from people who tormented them in school. In fact, my only disappointments were related to the unfortunately very poor sound and picture quality (made it hard to understand the dialogue at times), and the under-used Lilly Tiger (she disappears inexplicably after a somewhat major part in the plot). Otherwise, this is a renegade film that will provoke all kids of reactions, as it should. Watching it served as a reminder that in our current "war-is-good" climate, violence is still portrayed as the only solution to our problems.
MEMORABLE SCENES-After the massacre ends and the cops enter the school, a police officer accidentally shoots a "goth" kid, thinking he was one of the killers. This (among several other events in the films) was of course fictionalized, but reminded me of the end of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
NOTES-The only place to buy this is from those who made it! Go to The Official DUCK! Site for details. Thanks Kristy at GATES OF GORE for her invaluable assistance in making this review possible.
(May 2003)