The Granny

The people who have reviewed THE GRANNY here are obviously NOT horror movie fans, and thus should stick to reviewing films like FREE WILLY, PART 10. Anyway... What an improvement for Luca (GHOULIES, ROCKULA) Bercovici, who wrote, directed and co-stars! THE GRANNY is wonderful, tasteless fun and easily one of the best direct-to-video horror films of the decade.

Stella Stevens is not only the Granny of the title, but the reigning Granny of B-grade direct-to-video flicks. She's terrific chewing the scenery as Anastasia Gargoli, mother to some rather objectionable jerks who (along with their children) are trying to kill her for her inheritance. The only person kind to Granny is her bastard niece Kelly (well played by soft-core queen Shannon Whirry). Before dying, a magical elixir that promises eternal life is injested, and ends up backfiring. Since Kelly is screwed out of an inheritance, Granny returns as a cannibalistic zombie to settle the score.

THE GRANNY is thankfully played out in tongue-in-cheek fashion, so we get a lot of black comedy (such as gags involving incest, decapitation, castration, grave robbing and more). Gore FX are effective and creative, but pretty mediocre. The performances are campy and fun.

On the negative side, the tone of the movie (fluctuating from camp to drama to comedy to horror) may turn some off, and the (open) ending is unnecessary. But in a movie with this much energy and good things going for it, those aspects are quite easy to overlook.

although I will have to admit that "The Granny" was one of the worst films that I have ever seen, I always like to find something positive to say about most things. Unfortunately, there's not much I can say about this movie that would be considered positive. It was cheesy, to say the least. The dialogue was non-existent (I actually think the movie would have been better as a silent flick). The plot was so thin, it was like watching a really bad mentos commercial on acid. Of course, there is one positive thing I can say about the film. Although most of the cast of the film should give up acting (if they can even call what they did in that film acting), there were two actors that made the film bearable. Not surprisingly, it was the two youngest actors of the film. Samantha Hendricks played her part well, since all she had to do was be herself; a little girl in a freaky situation. Ryan Bollman, while a little overly dramatic in his role, shows true acting talent. These two actors would do best to hold out for more decent parts, and not waste their talent on such low-grade "film making". "The Granny" belongs in the waste basket, but save these two actors. I hate seeing talent go to waste.

This is the worst movie I have ever seen, but it made me laugh more than most of the hit comedies coming out of hollywood these days. In fact, I've rented it more than once to share with my lucky friends. You just don't know what you are missing if you haven't seen The Granny!

I went to the video shop to rent a really cheesy horror flick, and boy did I get one. The Granny caught my attention because it stars one-time beauty and decent actress Stella Stevens, and looked like it might be fun. Alas, Stevens is barely recognizable, and the show is not only not fun, it is agonizing to watch. I rate it -**, and recommend it as a candidate for worst movie ever made.

Surprisingly entertaining tongue-in-cheek little horror flick of the mid-90's that is undeservedly obscure and unloved. The film has a relatively original premise – with a few identifiable moments of comedy – about a wealthy grandmother who's offered the chance to gain immortality by a mysterious hermit who shows up at her ; under the condition that she makes peace with her family on Thanksgiving Day. That's easier said than done, however, as her family is a collection of greedy vultures and sleaze scumbags that cannot wait for granny to die so that they can finally sell the parental house and inherit the family fortune. Only the geeky but obviously stunningly beautiful granddaughter Kelly genuinely cares for Granny with all her heart. Granny ignores the condition, drinks the potion and dies at the spot. The family is very happy, of course, especially since they clumsily altered the testament themselves, but granny soon after returns as a vengeful and bloodthirsty demon. The grotesque death sequences benefit from goody gruesome make-up effects (one woman is eaten by her fur coat, another one has his penis bitten off, etc…) and there are quite a lot of tasteless and blackly comical gags on taboo topics like incest. The final act of the film becomes quite ridiculous; especially when all the massacred family members return as demons as well to complete their Thanksgiving diner. The climax battle also definitely outstays its welcome, but hey, certain little flaws are easy to forgive. Last but not least, there's some fantastically gratuitous and more than welcome nudity, provided by the extremely hot female starlets Shannon Whirry (a former soft core actress) and the voluptuous Heather Parkhurst (a former bikini advertisement model).