Yesterday morning while eating breakfast, I flipped through the channels on cable TV. I had an interest in watching a flick that was starting in a few hours, so in the meantime, I settled on watching this movie called Suck.
The film features a small indie band called “The Winners,” who somehow get turned into vampires and shot to rock n’ roll superstardom. Meanwhile, there’s a vampire hunter hot on their trail to bring them down.
I was intrigued by how many rock icons were in the film, which included Alice Cooper, Alex Lifeson, and Iggy Pop. The band was headlined by Jessica Pare, and the hunter was played by Malcolm McDowell. I could only assume these guys had a blast working on film, jamming and getting into some funky makeup and costumes.
My favourite part of the story was the scenes that involved some digital animation. The Winners didn’t travel in the usual rock band van; they went gig to gig in a hearse. It appears to be very comical in the beginning, before they all became vampires, and very fitting by the end. When the film wanted to showcase their travels, the little toy hearse would pop up on a map, and we would hear some music as it move to the next scene for the story to unfold. It was pretty creative.
Before I forget, one of the other best scenes was when Jessica (Pare) needed a drink and stabbed a store clerk with a straw. The sequence was great and gave me a whole new perspective on straws, especially after seeing a vampire drink blood from someone’s neck with one.
The biggest drawback was the whole “kill the queen vampire if you want to be human again” subplot. It was intertwined with the hunter storyline and was only there to show the internal struggle each member faced about being immortal.
Like I mentioned earlier, I want to think the cast and crew had a blast with this movie. I wish I could say the same while watching it. There were a few things that made it entertaining, and I could see how they try to make this a satire of the vampire culture in rock n’ roll. Having said all that thought, I may not be so inclined to give this another try. 3/10
Ten Stars or Less 