Oh, and don't forget Satan.
Satan is the overarching, unseen presence in Gothkill that controls every character's destiny -- somewhat like Marlon Brando's spirit in The Godfather, Part II. The Devil cuts a deal with an overbearing priest, Nick Dread, a well-meaning fathead who tries to prevent unnecessary executions during the Spanish Inquisition and ends up being burned at the stake himself. As the flames get higher, he cuts a deal with Beelzebub guaranteeing Dread his own kingdom in Hell if he can slaughter 100,000 souls through the course of several lifetimes. Played by NYC underground performer and fire eater Flambeaux, who overacts like a road company Alan Cumming, Dread is taken to spouting out declarations like 'I WILL HAVE A KINGDOM TO RULE OVER IN HELL!' and 'I WILL HAVE 100,000 SOULS AT MY COMMAND.' The poor schmuck is so sure of it all, you know he'll get screwed.
Into this mix comes two young and luscious New York bubbleheads -- Kate (Eve Blackwater) and her best friend Annie (Erica Giovinazzo). The gals are out for a good Goth time in the Big City. Kate pathetically remarks, 'Instead of going to country fairs and church socials, we'll be rock n' rollin' in New York City.' Unfortunately, they choose The Scorpion Society (a collection of vampires looking like out-of-work Coney island sideshow employees) for their kicks -- a get together also chosen by Dread for a slaughter of Vamp/Goths. Soon enough, Kate and Annie find themselves at the party knocked out from a date rape drug, passed out on slabs, and Annie, possessed by Dread, goes on a killing spree.
Sadly for the film, it is all in good clean fun. Connelly is eager to please but just as eager not to offend. And there is nothing worse than a pre-planned cult film afraid of its own shadow. Sure there are a few quick shots of topless women being whipped, but the whacked out carnality stops there. Blood spurts a-plenty but the blood splatters appears as if shot out through off-screen Krazy Straws. The most inept sequence of all is a kung fu kick-off between Annie and a toughie-dyke DJ, their kicks and slaps missing by miles in their slow motion Tai Chi moves. Cult films need to be dirty and nasty and socially irredeemable. Gothkill is not that by a long shot. It is just cheap, cute, and precious.
The DVD features an interesting audio commentary by Connelly, Flambeaux, and Blackwater, and post-screening Q&A with Connelly, trailers, publicity and production stills and a 'Gothkill Live Performance Chronicle.'
Aka Gothkill: The Soul Collector.
First, kill all the lawyers. Then the Goths.
