Shot in a hypnotically funky-punky neon 80's New Wave style (y'know, loads of bright lighting and smoke swirling in the corners of the frame throughout), with a bouncy'n'catchy soundtrack, a cool and colorful array of bizarre extraterrestrial creatures, a quirky sensibility, and amusing touches of flaky humor, writer/director Albert Pyon's offbeat tale of an all-female rock group from outer space who aspire to make it big starts out well enough, but alas runs out of gas at the halfway point and stalls prior to kicking back into energetic first gear for a lively climactic musical number. The key problem is that the weak and meandering narrative seriously lacks the necessary cohesion to come together as a satisfying whole, which ensures that this picture never completely realizes the full potential of its inspired and promising central premise. The erratic stop'n'go pacing counts as another major flaw. Fortunately, the zesty acting by the enthusiastic cast keeps the film watchable: Linda Kerridge as the vain Wynzi Krodo, Gina Calabrese as the sweet Bree Syn, Dru-Anne Perry as spunky goody goody two shoes Judy Jetson, Shayne Farris as the snippy Mandoza, Anthony Kentz as smarmy hustler manager Matty Asher, and Mary-Anne Graves as bitchy rock promoter Maxine Mortogo. Moreover, the gaudy make-up and humongous hairdos give this honey a gnarly 80's period charm while the rather primitive (not so) special effects are a hilariously hokey sight to behold. An acceptable outré diversion.
Review of Vicious Lips
