Devil Dared Me To, The
Review: Chris Stapp and Matt Heath launched their super-low budget series Back of the Y Masterpiece Television on to New Zealand TV screens back in 2001, itself an offshoot of the Artswholes segment on TV2's Space. Whilst only intermittently funny, the series gained a cult following with even the joke band from the show, Deja Voodoo (also featuring Stapp and Heath), going on to bona fide commercial success within the country. And so to 2007 and the release of the feature film The Devil Dared Me To, bringing back assorted Back of the Y characters like Cindy Cockburn, Dick Johansonson and of course, daredevil par excellence, Randy Campbell. "The plot is pretty threadbare, but that's hardly the point" The Devil Dared Me To tells the story of Randy Campbell (Stapp), a boy growing up on a South Island dairy farm after the untimely death of his stuntman father, yearning to follow in the family tradition. After witnessing The Timaru Hellriders and their leader, the morally bankrupt Dick Johansonson (Heath), Campbell manages to work his way into the group. The Hellriders struggle with low attendances and tight safety restrictions until they get an offer they cannot refuse from a shady promoter... In reality, the plot is pretty threadbare, but that's hardly the point. It exists solely to hang jokes on - some disgusting, some crass and most extremely violent. And in that respect, you have to say the film is a complete success. This is riotously funny stuff, particularly in the first half, and it is even better if you are the kind of person who thinks a little girl getting her leg cut off by a car is hilarious. Which, of course, it is. "A terrifically good comedy that deserves to be seen with a load of mates and a bigger load of drinks" A lot of the gags are also unapologetically New Zealand-based. Whilst there is plenty for international audiences, lines like, "I hope you boys like big tits and cocaine, 'cos we're taking this show to the North Island!" would surely fall flat on non-Kiwis. Not to mention sight gags like Auckland's "Walk of Fame" with only three stars on it - namely Russell Crowe, Rachel Hunter and The Bushwackers. Naturally, it is all accompanied by a New Zealand rock soundtrack throughout. Violent, often obvious and always in the poorest of taste, The Devil Dared Me To also manages to be a terrifically good comedy that deserves to be seen with a load of mates and a bigger load of drinks.
|
         |
