QUEUED UP: Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives

Better known for the controversy it engendered rather than, say, stark cinematic genius, Israel Luna's slasher flick follows the standard rape-and-revenge exploitation formula so popular in the '70s.

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QUEUED UP: Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives

POSTED: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 1:00 PM

Filed Under: Movies

Movie critic (and the guy who compiles our weekly repertory film listings) Michael Gold reviews his favorite Netflix Instant flick of the week.

With mega-geek Joss Whedon at the helm, I can guarantee without reading a review that Cabin in the Woods will be hilariously meta (but still, check out CP’s review tomorrow). And why shouldn’t it be? The horror genre is nearly as old as film itself, and yet the tropes haven’t evolved much: A grotesque monster threatens a hot girl until she can either be saved by hunky man-candy or work up the nerve to save herself.

Whether subtle or not, clever lampoons of scary movies are nothing new. But often overlooked is the inherent humor in the low-budget iterations that stretch the genre to its most absurd. Take Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives. Better known for the controversy it engendered rather than, say, stark cinematic genius, Israel Luna’s slasher flick follows the standard rape-and-revenge exploitation formula so popular in the ’70s. Yet Luna channels Roger Corman and Quentin Tarantino rather than Wes Craven, bringing violence and gore to an almost campy level. Even the central transgender trio’s catty dialogue feels like a deliberate maneuver to make the movie seem appropriately inept. While Luna may lack the in-jokes so crucial to Whedon’s oeuvre, Ticked-Off Trannies’ reliance on old standards makes for an entertainingly campy romp.

(michael.gold@citypaper.net) (@migold)

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