sideFX (2004)

Why so much hype?

Very Cool!!!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is an okay movie if you find yourself in awe of the local high school drama productions. Otherwise this movie is one you probably want to give a pass. Despite the promise of an ecstasy type drug (Ace), there's very little nudity or sex. Which is one of the plot holes of the movie: the drug seems to give about 30 seconds of sexual bliss, and then people start drinking other people's blood. So you have 30 seconds of great sex and then start killing people: who would take this drug? There's a toss away line about how the drug affects different people differently, but still, it hardly seems worth it.The only decent sex-type scene is with Amanda Phillips solo. She manages to be more erotic with her clothes on (although how erotic can the drug be if you keep your clothes on after taking it?), then the other actresses who go topless. However, she doesn't seem to be hopelessly addicted. Phillips has some talent throughout, doing an amusing Renfield impersonation at some points, and conveying the paranoia of the drug in others. Hopefully she'll move on to bigger and better things.The other actors are execrable. Todd Swift is the worst example, coming across as a poor man's Jake Busey. His character Matt has no redeeming social value whatsoever: moving in with his "friend" Tuesday (how that comes about is never explained), slipping her a drug, leaving her with the tab for delivery pizza, and casually blowing off the deaths of two of his friends. However, nobody else is any better, Ms. Phillips excepted. Swift just gets more screen time.Plot holes abound. Tuesday apparently kills two of her friends, somehow tracking them several miles as they're driving in a car and passing over hundreds of other potential prey. As noted, the sex drug only seems to cause ecstasy for about 30 seconds. The zombie- victims go from bouts of insanity to perfect lucidity. Some of the zombie-vampires wear masks, which prevent them from actually biting people.The movie also provides a near-perfect example of Chekhov's smoking gun maxim: the guys find a functional gun in an abandoned house for no particular reason, and you know they're going to end up using it later.And despite their relatively short run time, the movie is hopelessly padded with scenes of people walking... and walking... and walking... and staring off into the dark trying to see something. And then more walking.Production values are non-existent, and the flashback historical sequences seem to have been mounted by dropouts from the local SCA group.Really not much to recommend for this one other then Scene 6, but you can watch for the unintentional camp value.

This film starts off telling the audience about drug percentages in this country and explains about some university people who created a drug that makes people do way out things. The effects of this drug seem to stimulate the desire for red hot sex which leads to getting thirsty and not for a glass of water, but for something more colorful. In the first scene of the film you see a guy putting a few drops of liquid into a young blonde's cocktail glass and not too long after she takes off her bra and he and she do their thing together. Gals and guys get over heated through out the picture and there is a very stupid explanation as to why this is all happening, it is a date rape drunk that makes you want to do many more things than make love. If this type of film interests you, you had better view a good Christopher Lee film about Vampires, you will enjoy the film and certainly not this ONE !

A good way to describe the plot of Side FX is to say it's a variation of a zombie movie. A new drug that's supposed to be 10 time better than ecstasy has a little side effect. It makes the user lose their normal state of mind and crave blood. By craving blood, I mean bite chunks out of other people's neck, arms, whatever, as a means of getting it, like the zombie films. The difference is that they can be killed just like you could kill a normal human being, but if you wait long enough the drug wears off. It's a nice variation on the living dead theme. This film was very well done for an Independent film company on a low budget. The special effects were good. The acting was OK and in the case of the main character "Tuesday" played by Amanda Phillips I thought it was pretty good. The special effects were effective. The music was good. All around I found it a very enjoyable movie. The second half of the movie definitely has the most action but there's plenty of blood throughout the film to keep the viewer on edge. It's a real blood bath. For horror fans, it's worth a viewing.

Once again at the local Block Buster's previously viewed section. I saw this film. It sounded like a clever vampire story so I gave it a shot. What's there to lose right? ($7.99) thats what. The movies story was alright. The actor's and crew really seemed to try on this one. The movies story wasn't too bad. I think most of the problem came from the budget. The effect's weren't very good but again budget! It looked like everyone's first film and for that I think they did a good job. It was very far from scary but had some nudity. The acting was far from great but again I think it was a lot of people's first film. The only thing that made this movie anything was one actress. She played the lead. She made the movie the best it could be. Her acting was easily the best in the film. Her level of hottness and acting forced me to give this film a 5. If you are bored and in the mood for something a little different then check this one out. All and all I think they did a good job with what they had. Plus there's a hotty in it.