The fourth film in WB's Raw Feed line of horror films (after Rest Stop, Sublime, and The Believers), Otis is not only easily the best film of the bunch, it's also one of the best horror-comedies in a very long time.
As you might have guessed, the film concerns a guy named Otis (Bostin Christopher). He's a fat schlub with a brother who can't stand him (Kevin Pollak) and parents who have long since died. He lives by himself because his brother won't let him near his own wife and kids ever since Otis was caught smelling his wife's underwear. Yeah, Otis seems odd. He's not just odd though, he's one sick bastard. He wasn't very popular back in high school (shocking, I know). He has a twisted way of rectifying the situation: he kidnaps attractive high school girls, chains them in his basement, calls them "Kim" (for reasons not fully explained) and then makes them "go to prom" with him. What that entails is him recreating a prom-like experience, complete with a disco ball and a dance floor. Oh yeah, he also makes the girls have sex with him, even if they don't want to (which, of course, they don't). Those who don't comply with his demands end up dead and dismembered.
Too bad for Otis then that his latest would-be victim (Ashley Johnson) manages to get away and tell her parents (Illeana Douglas and Daniel Stern) where he lives. Instead of telling the bumbling, completely useless FBI agent in charge of the case (Jere Burns), they decide to take matters into their own hands.
Otis is part of that ever-so-tricky horror-comedy sub-genre. When done right, they are often ingenius (see: "Slither" and "The Evil Dead"). Problem is, they are usually quite awful (too many examples to list). It's very difficult to get the balance of horror and comedy just right so that the film doesn't come across as oddly off-putting and otherwise uninvolving. Thankfully, Director Tony Krantz ("Sublime") gets it right, handling the often bizarrely humorous one-liners and situations of Erik Jendresen and Thomas Schnauz's screenplay incredibly well. It's not easy to make lines like "I was going to blend his fingers and toes into a smoothie and make him drink it" funny but this film manages to do just that. Ditto on the garishly cheap prom setup Otis has ready-made in his basement. One can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it.
A lot of the credit has to go to a game cast led by newcomer Bostin Christopher as Otis. He plays the insecure, insane, and bear-like Otis perfectly, making him at once the monster that we know he is but also strangely identifiable, enough so that his motives make some sense even though they are obviously based in psychosis. As his latest captive Riley, Ashley Johnson is darn near a revelation. She's sweet, intelligent, and endearing; we at once know why Otis was drawn to her and desperately want her to escape for the very same reasons. As her vengeance-minded parents, Illeana Douglas and Daniel Stern have great chemistry. Their scenes of bickering on how best to kill someone come across like they're arguing over who should do the dishes; the contrast between tone and topic creates a jarringly hilarious dichotomy unlike perhaps anything I've ever seen.
All this makes Otis a film to see ASAP. Horror aficionados will love it and those usually not inclined to watching, let alone enjoying such films may also find themselves falling in love with the eccentric charms of Otis.
No comments:
Post a Comment