Director – Christopher Bickel (Bad Girls, Boo Hag: Hokus Pokus)
Starring – Victoria Elizabeth Donofrio (Teenage Caligula, The Battle of Aiken), Shane Silman (Bad Girls, Teenage Caligula), and Dove Dupree (Choices Slipping Away, Bad Girls)
Release Date – 2017
Rating – 4/5
Over the years I’ve accumulated some seriously amazing horror, sci-fi, and exploitation flicks but the downside to collecting is I never have time to watch everything I’ve collected. Between work, family life, and watching movies sent over for review I rarely get time to pick out something for myself to watch. However, sometimes I force myself to make time for movies because I’m just too excited to see it.
Sometime ago I bought The Theta Girl from Christopher Bickel on blu because I heard a lot of good things about it. Bickel recently finished his newest film Bad Girls and sent me a digital copy to review. Before I dug into it I decided I needed to check out The Theta Girl.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows drug pusher Grayce (Donofrio) who deals a new drug called Theta. As her friends are brutally murdered she suspects a rival drug dealer of the heinous crimes but soon realizes that the ones responsible for the carnage is a group of religious fanatics that was slipped Theta. **Spoiler Alert**
I had heard nothing but great things about The Theta Girl but I was not expecting the movie to be as entertaining as it was. I don’t need to see Bad Girls to be a fan of Christopher Bickel. Hell, if you want my honest opinion of him after seeing The Theta Girl then it’s he’s one of the best indie filmmakers in the game right now. This one blends genres and does not slow down.
The acting in this one is brilliant. Victoria Elizabeth Donofrio is amazing as Grayce. She’s strong, intense, beautiful, and deadly. I was absolutely shocked when I saw that her imdb had limited credits. She really needs to be in more indie productions because she absolutely kills it. The supporting cast is just as great. The cast had fun and entertaining characters written for them and they do an amazing job bringing them to life.
The story for this one is fun mesh of action, crime, horror, and a dash of trippy sci-fi. It’s a unique looking film and the story doesn’t hold any punches. I’m a fan of any movie that features drug use, religious fanatics killing people, and beautiful women that can kick my ass. The dialogue is fun, the scenes don’t drag on, and the pacing is smooth. With that being said, if you are looking for a straight forward horror story you will be very disappointed.
Finally, this one has some seriously fun effects and great scenes for the deaths. The kills themselves may not always take place on camera but Bickel still lets us see the bloody aftermath. It’s bloody and gorgeously gory. Overall, The Theta Girl is a female lead violent exploitation film that pays tribute to movies like Thriller and Coffy. This is a must see for cult movie fans. I highly recommend it.
