Triloquist

2008

Reviewed by D.R. Hesse
7/31/2011

U.S.
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Directed by Mark Jones
Cast: Paydin LoPachin, Rocky Marquette, Katie Chonacas and Bruce Weitz(voice of Dummy)

Synopsis

On the way to make it big in Las Vegas, Angelina and her mute brother Norbert go on a killing spree with a ventriloquist dummy.

DVD Release

Triloquist was released in 2008 on the Dimension Extreme Line from Dimension Home Entertainment. The DVD was actually printed by defunct company Genius Entertainment according to the back of the DVD. The film is presented in widescreen and has a 5.1 English Dolby Soundtrack. The DVD is of the standard fare with some scenes that are a little Grainy.

Extras

Various Trailers play at the beginning of the film for Rogue, Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, Black Sheep and a DVD promo video for Automaton Transfusion. These are not accessible from the DVD menu and only auto play when the DVD is inserted into a DVD player.

Dummy

Thoughts

Mark Jones is perhaps best know for the often cheesy Leprechaun series. I'm a huge fan of the first 3 movies in that series but after that the series becomes probably some of the worst sequels imaginable. He is predominantly a writer but he seems to dabble in directing. He directed the original Leprechaun movie and a few others.

Triloquist seems to be a mashup of several films with Natural Born Killers and The Devil's Rejects being the closest influences. We start the film with white trash siblings who believe they can become rich and famous in Las Vegas with their ventriloquist act. The same act that their mother performed. She ended up overdosing herself in a hotel when she never becomes famous. Alongside them is Dummy, a ventriloquist dummy that can walk and talk on his own. To be honest, you could of gotten rid of Dummy and the film would pretty much been the same film.

First off, Paydin LoPachin was really great as the psycho sister. The character of Angelina was played slightly over the top but when viewed in the context of the film, she nails it. It's obvious to me that she is carrying the film, as the rest of the cast is forgettable including Dummy himself. She comes off as creepy when she insists that her brother Norbert must have kid and that she will find him the perfect girl that he can plant his seed inside.

The Dummy close-up shots were great; however, any pulled back shot with dummy "walking" or doing other stuff was pretty bad. There's a scene where Dummy is riding a bike and he just seems to slouch over the handle bars, nothing really to support himself up with. The gore scenes aren't bad but nothing special. Nudity comes in the form of Dummy's dreams of women touching him for whatever reason.

The movie's ending was a big letdown only because you saw it coming a mile away.

Conclusions

Triloquist isn't a unique film and will never become a cult classic, but there's something in it which makes it pretty good in my opinion. If you're a fan of Rob Zombie's The Devil Rejects you should give this a try. Sleaze factor : High.

Rating

7/10