Customer Reviews

Taboo [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Deserves no stars! The cover gives off a Cruel Intentions/Teens sex out of control look but its really a stupid ,pathetic murder motive jelousey movie thats homophobic and just plain offensive on so many levels. Avoid this garbage at all coasts. Shame on Nick Stahl!

Anyone who paid attention to the clues given during the movie could solve this "mystery" way before they wanted to enlighten us. This movie was supposed to be an intelligent thriller, but it isn't much more than a slasher movie in disguise.
Still, it's a fun watch if you're having a horror movie bash.

Ok, here's the thing. I am very good at suspending my disbelief. I do my absolute best not to figure things out before they happen, but instead just let myself go and enjoy the ride.
That is damn nigh impossible with this movie.
Some have criticized the acting in this movie and while it isn't terribly convincing, it didn't bother me too much. Others have commented on the direction, music, etc... and while they may not be great, they're not so terrible as to make a movie unwatchable. This script, however, was woefully inadequate, but let's be honest even that can be overlooked at times. What was absolutely unforgivable with this movie was the sheer predictability of it.
You WILL know what's about to happen quite a while ahead of time and, as a consequence, you will NOT care about the event when it occurs.
I believe the creators of this film had an inkling as to the faults in their work and so tried to make it more unpredictable and twist-laden towards the end. Unfortunately, all they managed to do was dissolve any semblance of realism the film may have had whilst insulting the intelligence of the viewers.
Keep in mind this is from someone who has thoroughly enjoyed many a cheesy horror flick (e.g. Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Scream), drawn out pseudo-suspenseful movies (e.g. The Abyss, Intensity, Catacombs), and even movies about rich people just sitting around talking (e.g. An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest*).
This movie tried to combine the three of these genres and fell well short of them all.
Now, if you've read this review you've wasted enough time on this movie, just move on quietly, and forget this movie ever existed. I'm sure that's what the actors are trying to do. Good luck.
*Ok, I know both of those are Oscar Wilde and brilliant, but the few remaining brain-cells I have left after years of binge drinking have gone catatonic after watching this movie and I couldn't think of any other movies that fit the criteria.

This movie was definitely pretty nasty toward the end. Overall: yes it was a B movie, the effects weren't so hot, and yes, it was like any other teen horror movie of the 90's (scream, I know what..) oh yea and the bad acting and bad music (as mentioned) is there too, so why 4 stars? The ending man!!! Not only is it kind of nasty, it is very Shakespearian, that is in 2 ways: what you find out about the 2 main characters, and how the movie ends. Loved it, hated the rest of it. Probably closer to a 2-3 star movie if you take out those aspects of it. when you watch you will see!

This very well may be one of the top 5 worst films I have ever seen. The reason I gave it leeway with 3 stars is because Amber Benson is in it. I love that woman, and I think she's a fantastic actor. Beyond her portrayal of a drunk, stumbling college girl (she even gets labeled a "lush", that was a funny scene), this movie has nothing. The plot-6 college friends (3 boys, 3 girls) play a game (if you want to call it a game) where they each get a card and answer the question written on it. It's just a series of questions about sexual and social taboos (hence the title! See its all coming together). A year later on New Years Eve they come together once again for a reunion. From there we witness the group get picked off one by one (is there any other way?). The plot itself is boring and not all that original. The greatest problem of the film however is that its so predictable! With each new shot you know exactly what is coming. The ending I suppose is amusing, but it's also very predictable. The actors were terrible (except Mizz Benson), even Eddie Kay Thomas does a bad job. His character is basically Finch from American Pie, only he's a jerk-off and a rapist! So unless you're a fan of one of the cast members I wouldnt recommend seeing this movie.

I thought this movie was a very entertaining movie. It was boring in some parts and didn't make sense in others but overall it was an ok movie. I am a Nick Stahl fan and really like him as an actor. So, if you are also a Nick Stahl fan I do recommend this movie.

This movie is perhaps the worst flawed film I've seen. I found that I really didn't care about any of the characters except to laugh at their foolishness. While I really dislike the film, the few moments that Amber Benson portrays Piper were humourous. I bought the film because I liked Amber Benson. Long Story short - "Taboo" isn't really a well-made film, so I'd only purchase it If you enjoyed the actors' other works.

I'm a big Amber Benson fan and only bought this because she was in it. The story sounded like standard stalker fare but I was game. Although the pacing is a bit slow, I must say I found the movie very enjoyable. The twists just kept coming and I liked that I was using my mind to try to keep up instead of just vegging out.
The actors are good and again my only complaints were slow pacing and not fleshing out the wonderful characters they had.

It starts off with a generaly good premice. 6 kids alone all night in a huge house, forced to reminice about a game that they had played exactly one year ago. A game that, in the year since, had ruined lifes and caused blackmail ext...we don't know what exactly happened between these kids, all we have are their charecterizations to figure it out. And that is precisly where the movie goes wrong. The charecters are lame and unoriginal. The drunk, the rich witch, the spoiled right wing jerk, the loud-mouthed un-PC friend, in fact the only charecter that had any layers to them was the charecter that other reviewers have shunned. Jannuary Jones, with her silent, unemotional eyes, holds the most mystery to her charecter. There is no way of knowing what is going on in her head.
Technicly the film is great. Wonderful shots and an interesting pace. Obvioulsly the film was inspired by April Fools Day, much of the way that Scream was inspired by Happy Birthday to me. But what Taboo lacks is a sharp sence of humor. For subject matter this dark, the humor needs to be dark as well, no slapstick will suffice.
All an all not a total waste of time, but the strait to video aspect is understandable.

Taboo is a very fun, nicely done little thriller starring Laurie Heuring and Eddie Kaye Thomas. It is about this game that six friends all played, concerning different sins that they had commited. One year later, at their one year reunion get-together, cards are delivered to the house, all containing a certain word describing each person's sin (Rapist, Prostitute, etc.). Soon people start to die one by one, with a nice twist near the end. A bit funny at times, very entertaining, and excellently acted. The plot needs a few more complications, but, in the end, pulls through. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is fans of the actors or actresses, or liked movies such as "Cruel Intentions," "The Incrowd"(also starring L
aurie Heuring.), and other sexual thrillers. This movie is a tad bit different than most of it's type. The violence is kept at a fair minimum, the sex is mostly kept in dialouge, and there isn't much adult or disturbing content meant to jolt the audience. Overall, this movie is alot of fun to watch, worth buying.

~SCORE~
OVERALL: 88/100
PLOT: 17/20 B
DIRECTING: 17/20 B
CAST: 18/20 A-
SPECIAL FX: 18/20 A-
FUN: 19/20 A

~CONTENT~
Rated "R" for Language including sexual dialouge, violence, and some sexual situations.

VIOLENCE: 5
SEX: 5
LANGUAGE: 6
DRUGS: 2
ADULT THEMES: 5