One-Eyed Monster (2008)

Powerful

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fresh and Exciting

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A hostile alien wreaks havoc on the cast and crew of an adult movie.I think the plot of this film more or less explains why it is such a great horror comedy. Ron Jeremy is taken over by an alien, his penis detaches itself... and then it starts killing people. I guess you could screw this up, but they did not.The film revolves around jokes -- dozens and dozens of jokes. You might think after two or three penis jokes it would get stale, but it never really does. Combined with a fair amount of gore and just a hint of sex, it keeps your attention and your laughter throughout. (For a film about a bunch of born stars, the nudity is very tame -- only one person is even partially naked, and then only for a minute.) Oh, and Charles Napier. Wow. A serious actor, with plenty of solid credits behind him... and he appears in a film where he not only fights a penis, but delivers one of the greatest monologue ever spoken about aliens in Vietnam. Priceless. This speech alone is worth the view.

Seemingly inspired by the Frank Zappa song "Bwana Dik," with its memorable line "My dick is a monster," 2008's "One Eyed Monster" (the lack of a hyphen is annoying) tells a story that must be a first in the history of cinema. In the film, 10 people go to the wintry mountains of northern California to make an adult film, with porn legends Ron Jeremy and Veronica Hart serving as consultants. Problems arise when an alien force possesses Ron and painlessly makes off with his tubesteak, leaving the human tripod emasculated and quite dead. And then matters get even worse, as the alien-possessed wiener starts to attack and slay every one of the cast and crew! Anyway, as you may have gathered, this is probably not the best movie to sit down to watch with Aunt Petunia. Truth to tell, though, the picture looks a lot better than you may expect, its only cheapjack effect being Ron's dismembered member itself. If you were anticipating Ray Harryhausen-like FX as regards this murderous appendage, forget it; what little we see of the darn thing looks like a wriggling dildo, at best. Still, many of the picture's lines are pretty funny, the acting is surprisingly good, and there is even a sweet scene in which Ron and Veronica reflect on getting older and not so spry that is actually kinda touching. Russ Meyer stalwart Charles Napier almost steals this film, especially in the scene in which he tells of his experiences in Nam (practically channeling Robert Shaw in "Jaws"); that is, until Veronica walks away with the picture by demonstrating her superpower in the finale, her Kegel abilities doing for vaginal canals what Xenia Onatopp did for thighs! All in all, painless, goofy fun; like "Night of the Living Dead," but with a killer schlong instead of zombies. Oh...this Liberation DVD looks just fine, and comes loaded with more extras than you could shake a (9 3/4") stick at!

Despite the surprisingly solid performances from all the cast, the script and story failed to deliver on a fresh and unique premise.The film either had a genre identity crisis or was quite simply pushed on to celluloid before the script was properly polished. It's like watching a professional crew film a first draft script.It ran the gamut between clever and stupid and often found its cruising speed on the ridiculous and mundane. A better knowledge of the initial setting would also have been helpful.I was expecting / hoping for a solid dark comedy with horror undertones, but was painfully disappointed. So many obvious comedic dialogue opportunities were missed, plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, and story choices that defied common sense, left me with the impression of a family funded backyard film project, despite the professional production values.I would recommend this film to aspiring screenwriters to see what their 1st draft scripts would look like on screen...

I think this is a very funny, and well executed movie. They did just what they set out to do. The humor of it is not just in actors delivery, which I thought was just right and well directed, but also in and of itself. What I mean is that OEM almost laughs at itself. I think it is unfortunate that some would see it and just not "get it". Perhaps some people are too literal minded or take things at face value, or have never laughed at the sound of someone pouring a tall glass of Kool-Aid just because it sounds funny. I think OEM has a great sense of humor to it. I particularly enjoyed Jenny Guy's performance as Wanda. I think that she was very funny without trying to be. That commitment to the glass onion of a world that Wanda lives in is what was so funny. The role of the bombshell void of complex thoughts is easily and usually ruined by actresses trying to be funny. However, Jenny nailed it. I enjoyed other performances in OEM as well, but Jenny Guy really stood out to me. The pace clips right along and I was entertained from beginning to end wearing a wry smirk that was frequently interrupted with laughter. The whole idea/story is just so silly it's brilliant. bravo!