Triloquist

Siblings Angelina (Paydin LoPachin) and Norbert (Rocky Marquette) hit the road with Dummy, their homicidal, foul-mouth ventriloquist puppet who seemingly has a life of his own. But it’s actually Angelina, a psychotic killer with the looks of an angel, who’s calling the shots in this weird trio. Filled with dreams of making it big in Vegas, Angelina takes Dummy and Norbert, a shy type who never speaks a word--except through Dummy--along for the ride, casually killing anybody who crosses their paths, sort of like Natural Born Killers meets Chucky. But writer/director Mark Jones also soon channels Hostel, when Angelina, deciding that the ultra-shy Norbert needs a girlfriend, abducts Robin (Katie Chonacas), so Norbert can inseminate her.

Triloquist is one of those annoyingly cloy films that tries very hard to be a cult movie. But the main fact that the filmmakers miss--other than making a good movie in the first place--is that you can’t deliberately "make" a cult film. The honorific title of "cult movie" is established only by an audience who discovers the film long after its made. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a classic example of this. A bomb when it was originally released, TRHPS went on to become a cult classic through word of mouth thanks to midnight screenings. Triloquist, on the other hand, is just very silly--never knowing whether it wants to be a straight out horror film, or a comedy, the movie just comes across as being extremely uneven.

Paydin LoPachin certainly gives a very spirited performance as the crazed Angelina, but she’s so over the top--as is the entire film at times--that it’s hard to take anything she says or does very seriously. And Rocky Marquette’s performance consists of little more than staring fearfully at either Angelina or Dummy. Actor Bruce Weitz, perhaps best known for his performance as Sgt. Mick Belker on the classic Hill Street Blues, provides the voice of Dummy, and his performance ironically makes Dummy the most realistic character here. While Katie Chonacas, who spends the better part of her screen time tied up, is given very little to do other than act like the hapless victim in a typically bad horror movie.

And like a typically bad horror movie, the villains have extraordinary powers--armed police officers have no defense against them, and they literally pop up out of nowhere when chasing down their prey--without any plausible explanation being given. And yet, if they are so omnipotent, then how is Robin even able to fight back against them at all? There are no special features on the DVD at all--not even a commentary--so we’re denied any sort of behind the scenes explanation regarding this mess. The production values are very high; technically, the film is well-done, but story wise, Triloquist is about as full of sawdust as the puppet. --SF

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