Product Details

• Actors: Audrey Reid, Carl Davis, Paul Campbell, Mark Danvers, Cherine Anderson
• Directors: Don Letts, Rick Elgood
• Writers: Don Letts, Ed Wallace, Suzanne Fenn
• Producers: Carl Bradshaw, Carolyn Pfeiffer, Chris Blackwell
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
• DVD Release Date: September 22, 1998
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305003904
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,769 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Dancehall Queen" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A Cinderella story from the mean streets of Kingston, Jamaica, the alternately comic and gritty Dancehall Queen is an intriguingly dark crowd pleaser. Marcia (Audrey Reid) is a single mom and street vendor barely scraping by even with a financial assist from the seemingly avuncular Larry (Carl Davis), a gun-toting strongman with a twisted desire for Marcia's teenage daughter. Complicating things is Priest (Paul Campbell), a murderous hood who killed Marcia's friend and now is terrorizing the defenseless woman. Facing three big problems--Larry, Priest, and a lack of money---Marcia arrives at an inspired solution: develop an alter ego, a dancing celebrity called the Mystery Lady who can compete in a cash-prize contest and pit both of the men against one another. Which is exactly what she does, and it's great fun watching Marcia instigate her complicated plan with a little help from sympathetic friends. Colorful, rowdy, funny, and dangerous, Dancehall Queen is a clever and ceaselessy energetic movie steeped in Kingston street life and the desire to keep body and soul together at home. Reid is a delight as the everyday figure who transforms into an icon in the evenings, and the dance scenes are amazingly bawdy. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jamaican Street Vendor Makes Good, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dancehall Queen [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Marcia has problems. She's barely surviving as a Kingston higgler, her 15 year old daughter, Tanya, is fending off advances from lecherous, 40-something year old "Uncle Larry," and she hasn't had a good man in a long, long time.

When a seemingly unrelated incident sets off a tragic chain of events that leaves her good friend Sonny dead and her brother Junior scared for his life, Marcia realizes that she must take matters into her own hands.

Set in the fascinating world of the Kingston dancehall scene (with a side trip into the go-go racket), the movie is truly a girl-power fairytale with a West Indian edge.

Remember, walk an' live. Talk an' bumbaclot dead!

Note: If you are not fluent in Jamaican patois, watch this movie with a friend from the islands. Or watch it over and over, until you get it. It is worth it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a dancehall ting!!!!, July 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dancehall Queen (DVD)

Wow, dancehall Queen is not just one of the best jamaican films i ever saw, but one the best ever. I am a Jamaican, so i could relate to the things in this movie. The acting was great and so was the music. It is about a strong Jamaican woman, who tries to make ends meet by becoming a dancer. She is also very loud,she's doesn't let any man disrespects her and if you "Come too close you might get burn". There is a lot of obstacles in her way to overcome. I ain't saying no more, bottom line this is a really good dancehall film. "She's a dancehall queen for life,got her explode like dynamite"!!!!!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jamaican Street Vendor Makes Good, June 5, 2000

By 

whatevery (go brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dancehall Queen (DVD)

Marcia has problems. She's barely surviving as a Kingston higgler, her 15 year old daughter, Tanya, is fending off avances from lecherous, 40-something year old "Uncle Larry," and she hasn't had a good man in a long, long time.

When a seemingly unrelated incident sets off a tragic chain of events that leaves her good friend Sonny dead and her brother Junior scared for his life, Marcia realizes that she must take matters into her own hands.

Set in the fascinating world of the Kingston ancehall scene (with a side trip into the go-go racket), the movie is truly a girl-power fairytale with a West Indian edge.

Note: If you are not fluent in Jamaican patois, watch this movie with a friend from the islands. Or watch it over and over, until you get it. It is worth it.