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THE ITEM
Produced by Don Asher
Written and Directed by Dan Clark
Photographed and Edited by Michael MayhewLauren - Dawn Marie Velasquez
Rita - Judy Jean Kwon
Alex - Dan Clark
Fatty - Dan Lake
Martin - Dave PresslerTrying to figure out ways to describe Dan Clark's THE ITEM makes me feel like a Hollywood Pitchman doing my damnedest to give the hardsell to anyone in Development willing to lend me an ear.
Consider the following:
RESIVOIRE DOGS meets ALIEN.
PULP FICTION meets THE THING.
MEAN STREETS meets THE MUPPETS.
All three come close to describing the strange blend of crime, science fiction, and horror, but none captures the utter weirdness of THE ITEM like that last one. It's like THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER if done by Scorsese - without Joe Pesci's Shakespearian use of the f-word and vice clamps, of course.
Somehow, "blockbuster meets blockbuster" seems so wrong when discussing low-budget, shot-on-video work like this. It's not that there's a lack of craftsmanship or talent, exactly the opposite. The fact of the matter is there's probably more imagination and heart put into THE ITEM than the current summer line-up at the multiplexes. I just don't want anyone thinking this is a standard formula picture with delusions of JEEPERS CREEPERS rental-dollar grandeur.
THE ITEM could start a new trend, mixing the most profitable straight-to-video genres to create something new. It isn't so much a crime film with sci-fi plot points or horror overtones included to appease the various different fanbases, as it is a fully-integrated blending of genres that should appeal to the different fanbases and leave them satisfied. Clark's vision is singularly unique, but it's surprising no one has come up with something similar before now.
The set-up is simple. Four life-long gangster pals are hired to pick up and babysit a recently developed lifeform before it can be delivered to a black-market profiteer. The creature itself looks like a cross between Fozzie Bear and a maggot, decked out in black leather bondage gear. In the safehouse biding their time, the foursome succumb to claustrophobic-like tensions and psychologically tear each other apart.
There's a particularly noteworth break from the action where the foursome do battle with ninja drag queens in a back alley where the action is all bullets and backflips. After the impressive opening, I was saddened that Clark would halt the taunt story with action-oriented padding. As later events unfold, this seemingly unrelated plot diversion is what sets up the emotionally grueling climax. Structurally, this is perfect storytelling where every detail builds upon plot, and more importantly, character.
The character dynamics are built upon layers of backstory, little of which is passed through via exposition. These people have been together for years, possibly since childhood. With such divergent personalities, one would think that the group would have grown apart over the years and moved on through different paths. Events are hinted at which would indicate this might actually be the case, but everyone is holding out for that one big score, or at least that's what they keep telling themselves. It's not just the greed that has kept these people together, it's their need for companionship and acceptance.
Take Alex, the ringleader. A few years to old to have been part of Generation X, he compensates by coveting youth-oriented possessions. He dresses in Chuck Taylor All Stars and jogging suits that were considered retro back in 1993. To accessorize, he's found a barely legal Asian art student girlfriend, who is even more insecure than he. If all this doesn't give him that misplaced sense of identity he's searching for, nothing will.
Then there's Fatty, the group's pincushion. He's the only member of the group who has any known outside relationship, but he's so overweight that even his wife won't have sex with him. His loyalty to Alex borders on the homoerotic. Maybe his wife knows something Fatty doesn't.
The remaining members of the group are as equally fleshed out. It's the character's depth that makes their undoing so unbearably fascinating to watch. The credit there is all Dan Clark's, who has written a screenplay that is as tight as it could be, and still deliver the goods that all horror fans crave. THE ITEM is a twisted morality play where corrupted friendships and examined with a finetooth comb. It's definitely worth a look, and will hopefully be remembered in the years to come as one of the most original horror films to come out of the post-SCREAM era.