VOODOO TAILZ
PLOT-Three college girls go to Mardi Gras and end up getting fucked with by a Voodoo cult.
VIOLENCE-One guy's throat is slashed and blood sprays out. Other than that, you see some chicken blood getting dripped on some people. That's it. Other characters are killed, but we never see how.
SEX/NUDITY-One and a half very brief topless shots. I think there's a lot more nudity going on at Mardi Gras than what this movie shows.
WHY I WATCHED IT-Honestly, I received a press release for the film and felt obligated to lend my undying support to independent filmmaking. Moon Jones of TALES FROM THE HOOD is in it, a film that I really like (what happened to Rusty Cundieff?). And although the cover box wouldn't have compelled me to rent the film cold, I am interested in Voodoo and shit. After all, how cool was THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW? Or how about that Ice-T song "Voodoo" where he says, "My eye! Bitch!"? Or better yet, Alex de la Iglesia's movie DANCE WITH THE DEVIL!!! That wasn't Voodoo, it was Santeria. But still, cool shit.
THE DOPE-The movie opens up with a hokey narration about the origins of Voodoo, then goes on to say something about THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (???) and Mardi Gras, and how college students disappear each year during said festival. After that, we're treated to the first of several lengthy shots of cemeteries and swamps, filmed all shaky for "thrilling" effect. After that, the movie is off to a promising start. I liked all the actors, and enjoyed one character's reference to the film ANGEL HEART and to GIRLS GONE WILD of all things. However, nothing too exciting happens for the rest of the film. One of the group of girls goes missing, and the others look all over New Orleans for her, providing for one of the many endless location footage montages that pad out the film's running time. None of the villains are too scary, and it's no big surprise when you see who's in the Voodoo cult (why, those are the creepy guys we saw earlier!). If your story isn't that original and your budget is low, you best have a lot of blood and nudity to make up for it. The makers of VOODOO TAILZ don't agree with me there. The movie doesn't even build to a climax, it just kind of stops without anything exciting having happened. In my opinion, this movie was packaged so that the "urban" audience would rent it: after all, the people on the cover aren't even in the film, and the girl looks a lot like Aaliyah does on the QUEEN OF THE DAMNED box. The one thing that saved VOODOO TAILZ for me was the great soundtrack by a lot of underground rap artists. The songs are cool, and deserved to be in a better film.
MEMORABLE SCENES-Moon Jones runs around with a gun saying, "motherfucker" a lot, which was a nice Pam Grier tribute. Also, a frat boy watches TV while drinking out of a ceramic beer mug that's shaped like a tit.
DVD NOTES-The "Special Edition DVD" contains the trailer and cast information. There is a commentary track, although not marked on the packaging or in the menu screen. I didn't listen to it because by the time I discovered it existed, I had to return the movie.
(November 2002)