Sociopathia (2015)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

...and even that may be too generous for this ill-conceived, shameless ripoff of/homage to the 80s exploitation classic, "Maniac," never mind that pointless 2012 reboot with Elijah Wood. "Sociopathia" evinces nothing worthy of its sleazy slasher inspiration; tyro co-writer/director Ruby Larocca would be well-advised to stick to being a Scream Queen. I was tempted to slag this off with a "1" vote, but there is at least a small modicum of talent on display besides naked breasts. I'm hard-pressed to say where or what, though. The lead actress makes no significant effort to match Joe Spinell's conflicted psycho; only co-star Asta "Return to Nuke 'Em High" Paredes shows any real screen chops, and the entire pedestrian cast, strewn though it is with multiple nubiles, is pretty much sunk from the get-go by its truly wretched script. From the pedestrian acting to the no-fi production quality, "Sociopathia" simply fails again and again. Small wonder actors reportedly bailed on this nonsense. Absolutely not worth your time or money. You've been warned; Spinell's grave must be blazing hot from uncontrollable rotation.

Deranged and introverted, but still endearing kook Mara (a credible and sympathetic performance by the adorable Tammy Jean) has a job making props for movies. Things seem to pick up for Mara after she meets and falls for perky producer Kat (a winningly spunky portrayal by Asta Parades), but after their heated relationship falters Mara loses her already tenuous grasp on reality and goes off the murderous deep end.Directors Ruby Larocca and Rich Mallery do a sturdy and compelling job of astutely capturing Mara's unhinged state of mind (the scenes with Mara talking to various toys and the rotting bodies of her victims are genuinely creepy and unsettling), ground the macabre premise in a plausible everyday world, and deliver a satisfying smattering of tasty distaff nudity and steamy soft-core sex along with a handy helping of nasty gore. The crackling erotic tension between the attractive and enticing leads provides plenty of extra sizzle. However, this film's key triumph is the remarkable way it depicts Mara as a tragic and troubled person who evokes a complex mix of fear and pity from the viewer. Kudos are also in order for Jared Noe's crisp cinematography and Sean Burnell's shuddery score. A solid little fright flick.

The idea of psycho lady hunting attractive lesbian girls, among others, while performing risqué act might just be presentable enough for horror, although with such weak acting, repetitive plot and shifty production, "Sociopathia" is a lot of tacky cosmetic with any substance. The lead actress simply can't deliver the depth of character needed for a thriller. Meanwhile the supporting cast, in exception of one, looks more convincing as corpses than actual characters.It tries to deliver a perspective of the antagonist as she struggle with mental disorder, it also has the benefit of playing around artificial props which already have inherited creepiness about them. However, the performance from the entire cast can be sum up to either girls throwing tantrum or over zealously and superficially seductive. Things get worse when they scream at each other, it's borderline numbing at this point.It's also far from scary as well. This is nothing more than masked person randomly chopping people without any concrete plan. The chopping itself is utterly ridiculous, using overdose of blood even when she just pushes people or when the movies pulls off horror cliché of stupid victims flailing about at their last moments. This overblown proportion translates into the sensual scenes. Yes, let there be nudity aplenty.Granted, the ladies are admittedly attractive, in fact they are more effective when delivering no dialogue. The notion of living doll itself is sufficiently creepy. Asta Paredes as Kat is the better performer here, she exudes more personality than the rest, and her character is easily identifiable with one or two quirks. Still, the movie tends to revert back to silly style when it looks like it almost gains any momentum.It may have a few glints of horror potential and flashy cosmetics, but "Sociopathia" is simply lacking acting prowess and general presentation to be a decent horror.

Sociopathia is a low budget horror starring a bunch of relatively unknown actors. Other than an interesting if misleading name the movie does not have much to offer. The movie follows the murderous exploits of Mara who is a movie prop maker, lesbian and a murderer. She doesn't want to let go of her lovers and ends up killing them, dressing them up and treating them like dolls and talking to them until she replaces them with someone else. To highlight the level of Mara's insanity her dolls often talk back and get jealous of her other relationships. She sadistically kills a few girls until she meets Kat, an up and coming movie producer who interests her and Mara finds herself falling for the girl. But to her dismay the relationship between her and Kat makes her dolls get more possessive and jealous. Or viewed differently, Mara becomes more unstable and imagines her dolls getting more possessive.The acting is relatively weak and the story never really goes anywhere. There is no real suspense as the identity of the killer is never in question. This might not be a point of contention though as the focus of the film might be Mara's further descent into insanity and possible redemption through a normal relationship with Kat. None of this matters though as the story is not captivating enough to keep the viewer interested to the end. There are scenes which are badly acted and could have been much better. There is a lot of female nudity and gory violence but this is not enough to keep the viewer interested in the thin and stretched story line. Overall a 3.5/10. Had some potential but it was wasted and in the end the movie is not really worth watching.