Suck (2009)

Suck is a 2009 vampire black comedy horror film starring, written and directed by Rob Stefaniuk. Stefaniuk stars alongside Canadian actress Jessica Paré, Nicole de Boer (Stefaniuk's castmate from the TV series Catwalk), Malcolm McDowell and rock artists Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Alex Lifeson of Rush. Production took place in and around Toronto in late 2008.

Plot

The film follows a struggling rock band called the Winners as they tour across Canada and the United States. After band member Jennifer is turned into a vampire, the band quickly gains a following of groupies attracted to her newfound beauty. As their infamy grows, the vampire hunter Eddie Van Helsing learns that Jennifer is a vampire and vows to hunt her down.

While on tour, the band members are each turned into vampires, one by one. Although the band continues to grow in popularity, band member Joey loses interest in the vampire lifestyle after accidentally killing their producer, Victor, and eventually convinces Jennifer that they should become human again. After a brief altercation, Eddie agrees to help the band upon hearing of their plans to become human. They track down Queenie, the vampire who turned Jennifer, intending to kill him. During the fight, Queenie kills Sam and nearly kills Eddie, before he is stabbed in the heart by Joey. The band members become human again as a result of his death, and they happily return home.

Six months later, Joey and Jennifer are shown to have grown bored with their human lives in suburbia. They are approached by a bartender who had previously served at their gigs; he reveals himself to be an entity more powerful even than Queenie (the implication being that the bartender is Satan himself) and he offers them the opportunity to be even more powerful and more famous than they were as vampires. It is implied that Joey and Jennifer accept the offer, despite the chaos caused during their time as vampires.

Cast

Rob Stefaniuk as Joey Winner

Jessica Paré as Jennifer

Paul Anthony as Tyler

Mike Lobel as Sam

Chris Ratz as Hugo

Alice Cooper as Bartender

Malcolm McDowell as Eddie Van Helsing

Dimitri Coats as Queenie

Iggy Pop as Victor

Dave Foley as Jeff

Moby as Beef Bellows

Henry Rollins as Rockin' Roger

Alex Lifeson as Border Guard

Danny Smith as Jerry

Nicole de Boer as Susan

Carole Pope as Club Bouncer

Calico Cooper as Barmaid

Barbara Mamabolo as Danielle

Production

Filming

Filming commenced November 23, 2008 in the Toronto area. It was filmed on location, and many of the clubs throughout the film are underground clubs and bars in Toronto such as The Big Bop (accounting for three of the clubs, each floor representing a different city on the tour). Members of Toronto's goth scene were requested to perform as background extras for some of the club scenes.

The US Customs scenes were shot at Toronto's defunct International Marine Passenger Terminal.

Filming lasted 20 days, on a budget of about $3.5 million (CAD).

In the scene where Danielle sings "Night After Night", Eddie Van Helsing has flashbacks to his younger self. Footage from the 1973 film "O Lucky Man!", which starred Malcolm McDowell, was edited into the scene.

Release

Rights to the film were acquired by Alliance Films. It premiered on September 11, 2009 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was part of the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) 2010 in Austin, Texas. E1 Entertainment holds the rights for the Home video (Blu-ray and DVD), VOD, digital and TV sales.

Reception

The film has a user rating of 6 due to mixed critic reviews on IMDb.

Soundtrack listing

As this is a film about a band many songs are performed on screen. Those songs that are included in a more typical film score manner were often originally performed by the rock icons appearing in the film.

Original Songs

I'm Coming To Get You - The Winners

Going Nowhere - The Winners

The Fool - The Winners

So Close It Hurts - The Winners

Suck - The Winners

Take It - The Winners

This Is Your Brain on Drugs - The Winners

Moonlight Sonata - John Kastner

Night After Night - Barbara Mamabolo

Still Bleeding - Secretaries of Steak

Additional Songs

I Am The Spider - Alice Cooper

Here Comes The Night - David Bowie

Oh! Sweet Nothin' - Velvet Underground

Success - Iggy Pop

Sympathy For the Devil - Styrofoam Bible

T.V.Eye - The Stooges

You Raised A Vampire - The Moog

Crossroads - Robert Johnson

Bright City - Groovy Religion

420 Ganja Song - Kidd Rasta & The Peacemakers

Flesh and Bone - Burning Brides

Goes Further - Burning Brides

Old Emotions - Spoons

Let You Down - Tin Star Orphans

May Go Round - Spiral Beach

Same Old Place - Blue Peter

If One of Us Goes Further - Burning Brides

See also

Slapstick film

Vampire film

References

External links

Suck at IMDb

Suck at Rotten Tomatoes