BITCH SLAP: UNRATED (2009, Blu-ray released June 22, 2010 – MSRP $29.99 CAN)
Imagine the low-budget love-child of Russ Meyer‘s Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys television show and what you’ll most likely end up with is something akin to Bitch Slap. It’s cheap, dirty fun on Blu in this exclusive Canadian release from E1 Films.
There are diamonds hidden in the desert and girly compadres Hel (Erin Cummings), Trixie (Julia Voth) and Camero (America Olivio) are going to find them and dig them up before sleazy club owner Gage (Michael Hurst) or any number of mobbed-up goons roll in to claim them for their own. Things (and by things I mean the plot) get unnecessarily complicated and the girls end up man-bashing all who come between them and their glittering prize. They also end up furiously woman-bashing each other, when they’re not furiously making love with each other or furiously dousing each other in water until their clothing becomes nearly see-through. Yes, Bitch Slap tries its darnedest to hold true to the filmmaking conventions of Meyer and Roger Corman. And it does a pretty decent job.
But ultimately it just tries too damn hard to be everything to everyone. Despite its B-movie origins, Bitch Slap aspires to the higher-art story conventions of a Hitchcock or Nolan film but fails to deliver on that level. The plot is unnecessarily complex for the genre – with a simple A-story following the treasure hunt and ensuing fallout and an ornate B-story told in reverse, Memento-style, that slowly reveals the secrets behind the narrative, attempting to deliver a final twist that turns the film on its head. Sadly, it just comes across as haphazard storytelling, with seemingly random plot points littered between excessive crotch and cleavage shots, fight scenes and moments of comedy.
The plot might not serve the film in finest fashion but if you just approach it as a lite bit of fun you’re bound to enjoy yourself. In true Hercules style (most of the production crew earned their stripes on the series), Bitch Slap never takes itself too seriously. And also in true Hercules style, it features some fun performances from Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless and Renée O’Connor, as well as a truly excellent showing from an almost unrecognizable Michael Hurst, formerly known as Herc’s pal Iolaus!
Essentially an indie-film shot on an incredibly tight budget, Bitch Slap looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray! The film is only available on standard-def DVD in the USA so I feel incredibly privileged that E1 Films has released this nice high-def presentation in Canada. The photography is stylish and well presented throughout, with vivid colours, accurate skin tones and deep blacks. You’ll find the image somewhat inconsistent, however, as cheaply produced effect shots appear quite soft…and extremely fake. If you can get over that, and hold to the spirit of the production you’ll enjoy the over-all look of the disc.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track on the Blu-ray is surprisingly bold and playful, where I expected it to sound cheap and thin. It might not be the most nuanced track around but manages to envelope well enough while giving the LFE a nice booming workout.
Bitch Slap comes to Blu-ray in a fairly feature-rich edition, complete with two entertaining commentary tracks – one with writer/director/producer Rick Jacobson, writer/producer Eric Gruendemann and associate producer Brian Peck and a second with the principal cast – and an excellent, fairly exhaustive feature-length documentary, “Building a Better B-Movie.” Those stellar aspects of the extras department are balanced by the painful on-set tomfoolery of “A Conversation with Mother Superior & Sister Batril” (a couple of minutes listening to Lawless and O’Connor improvise to the camera while in character), “Kinki’s Guide to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace” (actor Minae Noji, again in character, talking to the camera and grabbing crotches) and “Bitch Slap 101” (Michael Hurst analyzing the film in his best David Attenborough impression.) The disc is rounded out with some deleted scenes, promos and trailers.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by theblurayblog. theblurayblog said: CANADIAN EXCLUSIVE – 'Bitch Slap: Unrated' Blu-ray Disc Review http://bit.ly/93zvdq [...]
I already saw Bitch Slap from day one, when I saw it at Stockholm Film Festival, and said , “Huh?” not knowing what to expect at ALL, just the Lucy and Renee were in a cameo, and WHOAH! hold it right there, this film is OMG so Joycean, really, language wise, and edit wise, and script wise, and acting wise, and, and, and
here is the review and waiting for Bitch Slap 2:
Rick Jacobson! Magnifique!
http://www.examiner.com/x-16042-SF-Film-Industry-Examiner~y2010m1d9-Bitch-Slap-is-100-Pure-Fun–Calling-all-Xena-and-Hercules-Fans