Skin Crawl

Skin Crawl
Written and Directed by Justin Wingenfeld
Starring Julian Wells, Kevin G. Shinnick, Armand Anthony Mazza, Debbie Rochon
76 mins
DVD Release: 4/10/2007
Shock-O-Rama Cinema

In this by the numbers “thriller,” Howard (Shinnck) cheats on his wife Margaret (Rochon) with Sadie (played by Julian Wells) who, through promises of anal sex, convinces him to murder his wife for her inheritance. Unfortunately for them, Margaret just happens to be a descendent of a coven of witches who (after being persecuted 300 years earlier) placed a revenge curse on anyone who harms their descendents. The curse leads to Margaret returning from the grave to exact revenge upon those who have wronged her.

Sadly, I can really only recommend this shot-on-video quickie to Shock-O-Rama completists, and those so lonely on a Friday night that the thought of spending a quiet night reading would send them over the edge. Skin Crawl disappoints on many levels, the main one being the departure from the bombastic sleaziness that Shock-O-Rama is known for. Instead Skin Crawl attempts to take itself seriously.

Wingenfeld's script is riddled with cliches dressed up as plot twists. For example, - SPOILER ALERT- one big reveal is that the only reason sexy Sadie has been sleeping with the oafish Howard is so she and her boyfriend can blackmail him out of the windfall he will receive after he has his wife killed.

Despite the low budget and unoriginal script, Wingenfled and Director of Photography John Fedele still manage to make the film visually interesting. But it isn't enough. If you decide to watch Skin Crawl be sure to keep your copy of BOFFOM handy so you'll have something to entertain yourself with while your mind wanders. Even at 76 mins it was a chore to make it through.

The DVD features commentary with Director Justin Wingenfeld, producer Michael Raso, and DP John Fedele, as well as interviews with Actress Debbie Rochon and Director Justin Wingenfeld.

by Robert Scott
reprinted from BOFFM #4 (forthcoming)