Model Hunger (DVD)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Lynn Lowry, Tiffany Shepis, Suzi Lorraine
Directed by Debbie Rochon
It takes a scream queen to fully employ the usage of other scream queens to completely satiate the demented needs of fans of said scream queens… there, I think that covers it adequately! Staple of the industry Debbie Rochon heads behind the lens for the first time with her maiden voyage into directorial waters with her gore-tastic film Model Hunger – and believe me when I tell you that it combats the issue of body shaming to a Spartan-like level.
Starring the vivacious Lynn Lowry as Ginny, this “slightly” warped former model and pin-up girl is still dejected over her past issues within the modeling industry. Pigeonholed due to her own body type, her longstanding anger with all those pretty and petite has boiled over time after time, usually resulting in some poor lass getting sliced and diced beyond recognition. New neighbors Debbie and Sal (Shepis and Carmine Capobianco) have just taken up residency next door, and to call this couple dysfunctional would be an insult to the word – why they’re together I don’t fully know, but if it means more screen-time for Miss Tiffany, you’ll NEVER hear me complain. Her character is tiptoeing on the side of mercurial, and her disdain for her husband is on an equal plane with her med intake.
In all honesty, Shepis gets to really flex her acting chops in this one, and she knocks her performance out of the park, giving off the sullen, distant vibe that usually clings tightly to someone in a state such as hers – well done all around.
As time goes by and the victims begin to mount for our lady Ginny, Debbie wonders if the endless stream of victims going in her front door are coming out her back door or becoming an endless rabble of victims… oh, the wonders of psychotropic pharmaceuticals! Genre mainstay Suzi Lorraine buries herself in a cheap fat-suit to portray a public-access-like shopping host (very odd) that has quite the following in town.
All in all, it’s a gory presentation from a mind that’s spent quite a bit of time soaking in all the atmosphere in a career that has spanned hundreds of films, and Rochon uses each and every trick in the book to deliver a fun film, budget notwithstanding. Lowry walks the plank straight off the deep end, and while her performance does come off a bit overdone at times, she is ultimately convincing as the jaded, cast-aside former figure bent on revenge…and does she get it! A bit misdirected in essence, but it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?
Overall, Model Hunger will make gorehounds happy as well as fans of indie shockers, but more so it will make people think twice about shaming individuals for fun. There is a lesson to be learned here, and it is a painful, bloody one at that.
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Film
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