Suck (2009)

A comedy centered on a rock 'n' roll band that will do anything to become famous.

Director:

Rob Stefaniuk

Writer:

Rob Stefaniuk

Stars:

Rob Stefaniuk, Jessica Paré, Paul Anthony

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rob Stefaniuk	...	Joey
Jessica Paré	...	Jennifer
Paul Anthony	...	Tyler
Mike Lobel	...	Sam
Chris Ratz	...	Hugo
Alice Cooper	...	Bartender
Moby	...	Beef
Henry Rollins	...	Rockin' Roger
Iggy Pop	...	Victor
Dimitri Coats	...	Queeny
Dave Foley	...	Jeff
Alex Lifeson	...	Border Guard
Malcolm McDowell	...	Eddie Van Helsing
Carole Pope	...	Club Bouncer
Barbara Mamabolo	...	Danielle

Storyline

In Montreal, Joey is the lead singer of the struggling band "The Winners", composed by the sexy bass singer Jennifer, the guitarist Tyler, the drummer Sam and the handyman Hugo. Their incompetent and alcoholic manager Jeff is incapable to help them to reach success and they are on the road on tour playing in clubs and bars in Canada and United States of America. After a show in a bar in Montreal, Jennifer, who is also the Joey's former girlfriend, leaves the place with the creepy Queeny, who is a vampire, and they spend the night together. On the next morning, Jennifer does not meet the band and they travel in their hearse to participate in a rock 'n' roll show without her. In the last moment, Jennifer arrives with a different appearance and on the next day they find that their home page had had several hits, all of them with good reviews and compliments to Jennifer. They become famous and Jennifer great audiences to the shows of "The Winners" and one by one, the musicians are turned ...

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | band | van helsing | bartender | guitarist | 

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Taglines:

Sex, blood and rock 'n' roll.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for vampire violence/gore, language and drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 2011 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Suck - Bis(s) zum Erfolg

Filming Locations:

Toronto Film Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capri Films, Capri Vision, Téléfilm Canada

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Various shots in the movie are meant to evoke classic rock album covers. Some examples: A shot of the band crossing the street is an homage to The Beatles "Abbey Road." Another shot of the band using a Union Jack flag as a blanket is based on The Who's "The Kids Are Alright." In the border station, the first shot is a nod to Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA".

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Quotes

Jennifer: Nobody likes a judge.
Joey: Yeah, nobody likes a vampire either.
Jennifer: Screw you, Joey!
Joey: Screw me? Screw me? You're out of the band, Jennifer!
Tyler: She's kind of the best thing about this band right now.
Joey: Tyler!
Tyler: I'm just saying maybe you should sleep on it.
Sam: Oh my God, you really ate beef.

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Connections

References Gremlins (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Still Bleeding"
Written by Scott McCullough
Performed by Scott McCullough, John Kastner, Chris Phillips, Mathias Schneeberger
Courtesy of John Kastner

User Reviews

Suck doesn't suck

That's what the director (and lead actor) was afraid of in the question and answer session after the theater showing at Montreal Fantasia Festival. What if his movie called "Suck" sucked ? Well it doesn't but it's not that great either. I'm not quite sure it's an humorous alternative for Twilight fans either (or people sick of it) as they're two very different beasts. Suck is a rock horror comedy with vampires. The only female of an unsuccessful band gets turned into a vampire and the band then starts gaining success because of her very charismatic presence. We see the band travelling from city to city, trying to deal with their changed band mate while being tempted themselves by the dark side.

Jessica Paré, the actress playing the female band member, is mesmerizing to look at with her white skin, pale blue eyes and red lips. One could understand the fascination she would create. The other highlight of this film are the roles played by famous musicians such as Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop. They're a bit longer and juicier than cameos but although they play well, they basically play themselves and nothing particularly challenging (except for Moby, a pacifist vegan in a surprising performance). I admit the crowd reacted very well to the film but a Fantasia crowd is quite generous with this kind of genre film, especially a Canadian one. I personally found it sometimes amusing but not hilarious except for a few bits (one of them being a visit to a convenience store).

Suck's writing did not impress me as it often felt too easy or cliché. The low-budget production had a Canadian and straight-to-DVD flavor to it. From a technical standpoint, it was quite bland with too many cuts from one head to another in dialogue scenes often making it feel as if the two actors were not even in the same place. The spinning vampire and the crossroads showed a bit more inspiration. The several musical numbers felt as if they were there to pad the thin story. To be fair, the original songs were rather good but it sometimes made this comedy skirt too close to the musical genre, something I'm personally allergic to unless Tim Burton is somewhat involved. I think "Suck" would be a decent rental provided you have a few friends to watch it with interested in the subject material and/or knowing the (in)famous guest stars. I think young Twilight fans, perhaps sucked into renting it because of vampires, might be disappointed because the vampires are lame (they have powers but not really shown) and the little romance there is kinda sucks as either serious or parody.

Rating : 6 out of 10 (good)