Eat Your Heart Out (2008) (V)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

James Tucker

Writer:

Joshua Nelson (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Sex will never be safe again...

Plot:

In the heart of New York City, men are dying in very violent ways. They are being torn up and ripped apart...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Prostitute | Finger Cut Off | Bar | Butterfly Knife

Cast

Melissa Bacelar	...	Pandora
Jack Dillon	...	Jeffrey
Joshua Nelson	...	The Stalker
Alan Rowe Kelly	...	Mama
Jeanette Bonner	...	Laura
Greg Depetro	...	Chucky
Ed Avila	...	Tony
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Campana	...	The Hitman
Colleen Divincentis	...	Lisa
Alisha Frank	...	Venus
J. Scott Green	...	Scooter
Sharon Hawk	...	Kitten
Natalie Laspina	...	Nikki
Julissa Lopez	...	Destiny
Orville McCarter	...	Fat John
Gary Muccino	...	Bartender
Sasha Nelson	...	Baby
Natalie Ostapiak	...	Mandy
Chris Rowan	...	Pierced John
Niki Rubin	...	Pamela (as Niki Notarile)
Richard S. Sargent	...	Gus
Erika Smith	...	Passion
JessAnn Smith	...	Dylan, Mama's Head Escort
Peter Stickles	...	Vincent
Anthony Vasquez	...	Junkie

Also Known As:

Skinned Alive (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content, language and nudity.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Company:

Lost Angeles Films

Rock Music, Blood and Prostitution...

A man (Jack Dillon) is lonely, oh so lonely. And when he can't find a friend through the local Jewish singles scene (why they have to be Jewish, I am not sure) he turns to the adult ads to get some women in the other way. One of them, Pandora (Melissa Bacelar) is exactly what he's looking for and he tries to pursue the relationship beyond the customer-prostitute level. But she has a little secret.

I put this DVD in my player and hit play, and was somewhat dismayed by the film quality. Better than home video but not quite professional level, I was afraid that I was in for yet another disaster. Less than five minutes in, however, I changed my mind... when the rocking soundtrack kicked in (presumably performed by Beyond the Shattered Mirror, who also did the score -- this guy (also known as Duane Perry) is amazing). What was lacking in picture quality was made up for in sound quality and I sat back to enjoy the film.

While the plot is simple, it works effectively for what most horror fans are looking for. Blood, more than a fair share of nudity, and some suspense (not only is there a murderer on the loose, but a stalker trying to kill the murderer!). The blood and gore are rather fake, which was a drawback... but here again where the visuals were lacking they found ways to make up for it. "Hey Bob, our blood isn't really that gross." "How about we just let loose with gallons of the stuff, Dave?" "Sounds good."

Melissa Bacelar is a star to be looking out for. While much of the cast is re-used from previous films by the writer and director (and are also in upcoming films), Bacelar seems to be on the edge of breaking into the big time. A Troma veteran -- like Kevin Costner -- she is ready to springboard. Be sure to catch her in this if you want to be the first one on your block to know her name when she's an A-list star.

Overall, the film doesn't have the greatest draw, hence the mediocre ranking. Time better spent would be listening to an album from Beyond the Shattered Mirror, so I thank this film for turning me on to them. But if you can't get enough of prostitutes (and a brief lesbian scene) then this is a film to check out if you can find it in your area. It wasn't perfect, but it had a lot of heart (no pun intended).