DVD Release
Man oh man this has not been a good week for me. Every goddamn movie I put in is about freakin’ bugs! I mean, I watched “Sick Girl” when it originally aired on Showtime but I have just not been in a bug friendly mood lately! With the sun finally coming out and things starting warm up the bugs are just piling out of holes and cracks like a bad night of Mexican food!
So…yeah…yuck.
Well, the half of the Masters of Horror series has seen release on DVD and despite the fact that I disliked a few; the series has grown on me. “Sick Girl” is one of those episodes that you’re either going to love or you’re going to want to tear your hair out watching. Angela Bettis’ character has a voice that’ll pucker your o-ring and Erin Brown (aka Misty Mundae) is twitchier than a meth addict sitting on an ant hill. Personally, I loved it.
Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis) is one strange mamacita; her home is crawling with bugs of all sorts. Course, it comes with the territory as Ida works for the McNaughton (wink wink) Museum of Natural History in the entomology department. The only problem is poor Ida can’t meet a woman that’s cool with the bugs. What’s a lesbian entomologist to do?
When a strange package containing an exotic insect arrives on Ida’s doorstep, things take a turn for the worse when it escapes into the apartment building and the landlady’s dog goes missing.
The one good thing going Ida’s way is that she meets a pretty young woman named Misty (Erin Brown), who sits in the museum every day drawing pictures of pixies. They strike up a conversation and the next day Ida gathers the courage to ask Misty out on a date. Dinner is great, the conversation is fine and soon they’re on their way back to Ida’s apartment to watch a DVD.
During Misty’s stay at Ida’s, she’s bitten by the mysterious insect sent to Ida by an unknown man in Brazil. Ida still isn’t quite sure where the insect may be hiding but Misty begins “meeting” the insect for…shall we say…a “roll in the hay”. Her ear becomes grossly infected and her emotions become dark and violent. The mood swings soon lead Ida to suspect that the insect may have bitten poor Misty and the worst part of all is that a letter showed up explaining to Ida what the insect is and what is does to its prey!
After a brief confrontation with Lana (Marcia Bennett), the landlady, they’re given an eviction notice and told to leave the apartment in 7 days. While Ida worries over Lana’s insults and accusations that Ida is a pedophile, Misty continues to become more and more erratic, even having dreams involving insect sex.
How do you stop this transformation and where is the insect hiding? Who was the mysterious man that sent her the bug and why did he send it? Ida turns to her lab partner Max (Jesse Hlubik) for help but it may be too late for all of them.
Insect sex…proboscis being inserted into orifices…squirting ears…”Sick Girl” was truly a bizarre little entry into this Masters of Horror series! Initially I was hesitant about McKee being a part of the series so early in the game because I just didn’t feel he was a “Master” of horror. Anybody who has ever seen his film May can attest to the man’s talent but the real question was, could his entry stand up to Hooper, Landis and Dante’s episodes? After watching some of the other episodes, I can honestly say that McKee definitely understands horror and incorporates subtext nicely. I enjoyed this far more than “Homecoming”, “Dance of the Dead”, “Deer Woman” and “Chocolate”.
Fans of Carrie (the miniseries), May & The Toolbox Murders are going to just love Angela Bettis’ portrayal of stuffy bug geek Ida. She did a fantastic job and there were times that I actually forgot it was Angela.
Erin Brown, or Misty Mundae, steps out of her softcore horror role and shows people that she’s got the balls to act if somebody would just give her something to work with. Those of you that have ever seen any E.I. Independent / Shock-O-Rama films know exactly what I’m talking about. Her roles in those films aren’t exactly…complicated. Show some nipple here, flash some bush there and presto…you’ve got a new Misty Mundae film. “Sick Girl” is really going to show people that she’s not some one trick pony.
The FX in this is wonderful. Would you expect anything less from Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero?
Bottomline, buy this flick. It’s fun, sexy and gross. Don’t forget, pay close attention to Ida’s pets names and look around for a couple Easter eggs while you’re at it!
