Product Details

• Actors: Christian Slater, Daniel Stern, Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Leland Orser
• Directors: Peter Berg
• Producers: Ted Field, Michael A. Helfant
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Polygram Filmed Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: October 5, 1999
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (211 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305363056
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,897 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Peter Berg's dark comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly awry is highly ambitious in its attempts to satirize suburbia, male bonding, and self-help philosophy, and for the most part it does succeed in hitting its targets with a malicious, misanthropic glee. When five buddies arrive in Las Vegas for some pre-wedding shenanigans, things quickly spiral out of control when the requisite prostitute falls victim to a grisly accident, igniting a spark in an already unstable powder keg of personalities. Following the lead of real estate agent and self-help guy Robert (Christian Slater), the men warily agree on a cover-up and covert desert burial. A couple hours and another corpse later, however, they're already at each other's throats, and their escalating breakdowns threaten to disrupt the highly prized wedding of hard-as-nails bride Laura (a stunning Cameron Diaz). Berg, like most actor-turned-directors (this is The Last Seduction star's filmmaking debut) helms the film with a wildly sliding tone and tends to weigh its strengths heavily on its performers. Slater's psycho turn is by far his most inventive yet (he's more in control than ever before), Diaz effectively mixes sunshine with poison, and Jon Favreau is effective and understated as the hapless bridegroom; the rest of the cast, however, tends to play up the histrionics. Be warned, though: Those expecting a sunny-style There's Something About Mary gross-out comedy will probably be shocked by Berg's take-no-prisoners agenda; this is comedy at its absolute blackest, and no one is spared. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably one of the darkest comedies out there..., January 13, 2006

By 

SuperJenn (South Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Bad Things (DVD)

If you don't like dark comedy at all, you'll probably hate this movie like so many of the other reviewers. That's a shame, because Very Bad Things is just wicked, and that's what makes it great. I actually went to see this in the theater when it first came out. I was definitely shocked, and quite pleased, to see something like this as it was different than most shiny, happy people movies out there. I can't even think of another movie to liken it to. A group of guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party. Lots of drugs and partying, and a gorgeous stripper who winds up dead. It's purely an accident, and the group covers things up. Or so they think. But there's a lot of loose ends and loose cannons and the fun in this movie is watching them all get tied. Christian Slater is just wonderful and if you love him, you'll love this movie. I couldn't have been more delighted to find it for $5.50. The ending is probably the most disturbing of all, so for all those dark comedy fans, Very Bad Things is full of all the guilty pleasures that we love.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars definitely dark and at times very humorous, February 25, 2005

By 

DSG "DSG" (Franklin, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Bad Things (DVD)

yes they have done some very bad things. great movie
shocks you, scares you, thrills you, chills you, makes you laugh all at once almost. highly recommend this one. it's different roles for each character. and they play their parts part well. I was definitely shocked after seeing this the first time thru. I shall watch it again and again. the ending is nice. the story is very twisted at times. but I think it helps the viewer think of what might happen next before they show it. I am glad I have this on dvd. a true shocking classic movie. That goes to show you that when you do "very bad things" sooner or later your conscience will eat away at you for them and you'll either beg and confess or something else. quite a shock of a movie they made. but it's worth the watch always

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Bad Indeed (3½ stars), November 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Very Bad Things [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This one was recommended to me by my sister, and I would have liked to say that I really enjoyed, but I didn't. It starts off with the groom-to-be Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau) leaving for Las Vegas with his four buddies (played by Leland Orser, Christian Slater, Daniel Stern, and Jeremy Piven) for a wild stag party. However, things go horribly wrong when the Asian stripper (played by Kobé Tai) is impaled, literally and metaphorically, to the wall. To cover this up, they kill the hotel security guard, then dismember and bury their remains in the desert. Even though they swear to secrecy, the problem doesn't go away, and soon they're killing more people and turning on each other.

A lot of the characters in "Very Bad Things" are very unredeemable and it's hard to feel any sympathy for them (Boyd, for one, played by Slater), save for perhaps Adam (Daniel Stern), who has an overactive conscience. And as for being a comedy--I don't think so. It's very violent. Horror fans might like this--however, being one, I wasn't expecting this; I was expecting a dark comedy. I only laughed a few times when some of the guys got what they deserved, but more than not I was grimacing. So, yeah, in a twisted way it is funny, but this isn't a movie I'd necessarily recommend, unless you're really into black, black--and I mean black--comedies. It's almost an acquired taste.

In summary: as a comedy it was bad, very bad; but as a thriller, it was good. So, the movie averages out to 3½ stars for me.