Addicted To Murder
(1995)
Reviewed by Jason Coffman
Rating: 8.5 Beans

ce in a while, in the video store, I see a movie with
stills on the back that look like they were taken from a
home video. Usually, the footage used in the film is better
than VHS. Such is not the case with "Addicted to Murder," a
more-than-straight to video film. See, it was shot on a video
camera.

Stop snickering. I'm serious.

Being shot on video tape isn't the only problem with the film.
Oh no. The plot involves a young man named Joel (Mick
McCleery) who has some problems, the most glaring of
which is the fact that his only friend in his childhood was a
vampire named Rachel (Laura McLauchlin). Joel is awkward
socially, which is pretty much par for the course as far as
kids who hang out with vampires are concerned. Anyway, he
moves to New York and has trouble fitting in. Things happen,
he runs into another vampire named Angie (Sasha Graham)
who turns out to be Rachel's sister or something. It really
doesn't matter.

The scene in which Joel talks to a prostitute on the street in
New York sets the tone for the movie fairly well. The dialogue
is drowned out by the sounds of the street around the actors
(video cameras have one microphone, and it's usually
mounted on the camera). Plus, the acting isn't very good. Of
course, that's something that a lot of terrible movies have in
common. What raises "Addicted to Murder" above the rest is
the ridiculously ambitious framework: the action of the story
(which jumps back and forth in time) is framed by "interview"
footage with people involved in the story. "Ambitious," you
realize, is a relative term, and films on this small a budget
need to take it easy.

"Addicted to Murder" has a lot going for it: It looks horrible, it
sounds much worse, and the acting and dialogue just isn't
right. Maybe with a bigger budget and such, this could have
been a different film; as it is, however, it's definitely good for
an evening's entertainment. And see if you aren't tempted to
look into mirrors and say "Why do you feel so damn much,
Joel?" when the movie's over.

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