Suck - Movie Review

Imagine a film that mixes the melodic rock parody of This is Spinal Tap with the dark comedy chops of Fright Night? Now, make that movie Canadian and add rock legends like Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Alex Lifeson, Carole Pope, and Henry Rollins. Too good to be true, right?

WRONG.

This is SUCK.

Probably the greatest rock n’ roll horror movie ever made. To the guy in the back who’s yelling Black Roses in the back of the room… Go back to your mother’s basement and make better choices. The great thing about Suck is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. It was made to be a fun time. The script by writer/director/star Rob Stefaniuk is clever and witty. and the film is shot and edited with an almost Suspiria level of artistry. Well, budget level Suspiria. That’s not to say the film doesn’t look good. Every scene oozes with that late 2000’s Canadian indie cool that is all but lost in current indie cinema. Rewatching it today, I was taken aback. I didn’t remember how good it was. Of course, my first viewing was under the influence of Ketamine.

Live and Learn.

The other thing I missed was all of the Easter eggs in the film. This is a film for Rock fans and horror fans. If you watch closely you’ll see scenes that reenact Abbey Road, Born in the U.S.A., Beggar’s Banquet, The Kids Are Alright, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and my personal favorite album cover T. Rex’s Electric Warrior. On the horror side, you get homages to Blackula, Fright Night, Suspiria, Nosferatu, and more. Mix that with an addictive musical score and over-the-top special effects and makeup and you get a love letter to both Genres.

Shout out to Malcolm McDowell as the half blind, scared of the dark Van Helsing character and Dimitri Coats as Queeny, the golden voiced master vampire that gets the party started.

Please go out and watch this movie.

Buy copies of it so that we can get a 4k remaster.

I’m looking at you Shout Factory.