Product Details

• Actors: Leslie Andrews, Stephen Geoffreys, John McGarr, Charlie Trepany, Chris W. King
• Directors: Eben McGarr
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Synapse Films
• DVD Release Date: August 25, 2009
• Run Time: 79 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002A00IXW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,995 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Sick Girl (Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 08/25/2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SICK GIRL - A welcome breath of fresh, bloody air in modern horror., August 1, 2009

By 

Logan Crow "www.mondocelluloid.com" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sick Girl (Special Edition) (DVD)

Imagine sitting through the most gloriously depraved mutilation/rape scene you've ever seen - I won't give away the gory details here, but I honestly think it may have outdone anything to be found in "Der Todesking." Not the most disturbing rape scene, per say - it's going to take a filmmaker with a LOT of balls to take that title from "Irreversible" - but just the most deliciously conceived and executed trasho-horror exploitation ever. Now imagine that scene set to "Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO - such genius would be cause to throw up your hands in thunderous applause! Which I did.

This scene is one of many gems to be found in "Sick Girl," writer-director Eben McGarr's smart, sick, and shockingly good independent horror film, which will be released on DVD August 25. Sick Girl (Special Edition DVD) (...and no, it's not "Mr. Blue Sky," but it may as well be - Aaron Moreland and Dennis Haggerty's "Familiy Tree" is as perfect a throwback to such 70's vocodered summer-fun-in-the-sun classics as one could hope to find). Smarter than your average slasher film, it's the story of Izzy, a somewhat unhinged teenage girl who spends her time slitting throats, splitting heads, and doing unspeakable things to nuns. She also has three victims tied up in her barn, who she occasionally visits to dole out increasingly sadistic acts of mutilation.

That said, where the film transcends is that it also displays, and really centers on, another side of Izzy - a teenage girl who has been forced to raise her little brother Kevin on her own when their big brother is sent to Iraq. We see that Izzy cares deeply for her little brother, and feels affection and appreciation for kind neighbor Barney (played by McGarr's brother John) who consistently steps in to help raise Kevin. I always love movies that present psychos with their own sense of code: it is a credit to McGarr that Izzy does not kill a kindly stranger who comes to her aide halfway through the film, nor that she senselessly kills a rat that comes into her possession. In the hands of a lesser director these would have simply called for more scenes of carnage - despite the bloodbath this girl unleashes, she comes to have a "character," and it's in keeping with her character that she does, or does not do, the things she does throughout the film. That's very impressive for a film which contains a graphic dismemberment.

Credit is also due to actress Leslie Andrews - she gives Sleepaway Camp's Pamela Springsteen a run for her money as cinema's most convincingly cheeky slasher girl. There are so many scenes which have an impact that hinge on her performance, and she nails it every time. In one scene in particular, when she makes full advantage of a young bully's developing sociopathy, it is her control and her understanding of character that keeps the scene from being at all campy - it's an effective and chilling scene, and one of true horror that, at least for me, was totally believable despite its extreme grimness. That she doesn't then set the boy loose to continue down his path is, again, a credit to the filmmakers - she knows that kid is sick, and she uses it to her advantage, but that kid's not going anywhere. He's a bully - bully's are "bad." Again, without the right performance, such nuances in "code" are lost on villains - it's why we're able to quietly feel for Henry in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," and why by the end of "Sick Girl," we kind of don't want to see anything bad happen to Izzy.

There's a humorous subplot in the film involving Kevin's teacher, Mr. Putski, and his missing rat (I can't remember the rat's name right now, but it gave me a chuckle). I am glad for this subplot, if for no other reason that it brought back to horror cinema one of its lost sons, "Fright Night's" Stephen Geoffreys, as the teacher. It was essentially a cameo role, but it was good to see ol' Evil Ed again. And again, it lent for another great character moment - Izzy, despite her brutality, rescues and returns Mr. Putski's rat. How can you hate someone that returns someone's beloved rat?

I really love this movie, and am glad that McGarr is giving a fresh new voice to horror - I look forward with great anticipation to see what he does next.

Logan Crow
[...]

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unflinching glimpse into a heart of darkness, December 6, 2009

By 

James McLennan "Trash City guru" (Scottsdale, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sick Girl (Special Edition) (DVD)

Let's cut to the chase. The creator-provided synopsis goes, "A girl who wants to protect her little brother, f___ her older brother and torture everyone else out in the barn." Any questions? Well, while undeniably accurate, the film isn't quite as simplistic as this would suggest. Izzy (Andrews) is left to bring up her young brother (Trepany) after her older sibling heads off to Iraq with the Marines - both parents are absent, and the reasons for this are, interestingly, never made entirely clear, though we have some evidence for Izzy's involvement. The only one who helps out is Barney (McGarr) a biker who plays Santa Claus at the local hospital, but it's soon made clear that Izzy is entirely capable of fending for herself. Especially when a proto-thug at the local school decides to pick on her kid bro.

Izzy is an intriguing mix, a character somewhere between Juno and Dexter; to those she loves, she is fiercely loyal, yet anyone else had best not cross her, or the results will be horrific, in ways beyond your imagination [certainly, at least one sequence goes well beyond our imagination!] I think it's her sheer cold-blooded approach that is the most chilling thing here, and Andrews is simply phenomenal in the role, possessing a calmness which is completely unnerving. Even when engaging in brutality of the most appalling sort, you suspect her heart-beat rarely goes above 85. She even takes time out to lecture small children on the evils of bullying, where her philosophy is, "There's nothing wrong with hurting things smaller than you - providing you also take on things bigger than you. Then size is irrelevant." Cold: very cold. If you want to peer into the abyss which is the very darkest corner of the human psyche, then this is low-budget cinema at its brilliant best. However, you should be aware that you might see things you will not easily forget.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sick Girl - Breath of fetid air, September 16, 2009

By 

MindGrinder (Toronto, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sick Girl (Special Edition) (DVD)

Sick girl was a pleasant surprise. Its a no hold barred movie that moves at a great pace and definitly has some eye opening\closing moments. Sick Girl runs along the I am a distrurbing type of movie rather than a scary one. So no out of the our seat jumps here. There are also some good laughs along the way but this is by no means a horror comedy. For its budget (not much) it worked well with they could do. Gory scenes are not cheezy effects but rather look honest and believable.

Be prepared to listen intently. The sound is horrible. You can barely make out what they are saying and the sound effects and music are overly loud.

Sick Girl comes recommended for jaded horror fans who need a scene or two to bring a smile to their face as well as the viewer who enjoys the serial killer movies (Gein, Lucas, Gacy etc....)