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THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong

THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong

THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong

For those not in the know, The 27 Club is a coincidentally creepy idea that the most influential musicians since the advent of the recording industry died tragically at the age of twenty-seven. A perfect concept for a thriller of sorts, unfortunately, the so-called horror film The 27 Club from director Patrick Fogarty got there first, ruining any chance of this concept being any fun at all.

Where To Begin?

From scene one, I knew what I was in for but stuck it out in hopes of finding something interesting down the road. That was my first mistake. The film starts out like any other tropy horror film. A douche-bag so and so musician, in this case, the new hotness on the music scene named Quinn Scott (Travis Grant), celebrating his, guess what? Twenty-seventh birthday? Because of course, he is. And then he gets pulled through an oily mirror to Hell by an actor in very decent demon make-up who is barely seen ever again throughout this cinematic nightmare. Crazy right? One might think so.

THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong
source: Cleopatra Entertainment

What follows is watching our so-called hero, Jason (Derrick Denicola), an awkward college student who is a music documentarian who ironically happens to be working on a documentary about, drum roll please, The 27 Club. Stumbling upon a shrine put up for Quinn Scott, Jason blabs on and on about the Club and what his documentary is all about.

What are the chances? Seriously!

And here is the problem with this movie, it acts as though everyone knows about The 27 Club and everyone actually cares deeply about it, down to Jason’s college mentor Professor Crawford, played by Todd Rundgren in one of the worst stunt castings ever put to screen. Professor Crawford video chats with Jason several times throughout the narrative, urging him to continue with the (oh, so) important work of documenting the goings on of this lackluster conspiracy theory as if this kid has found the cure for the world’s woes. The dialog is dull and pointless, attempting to build up to something which never pays off in an interesting way at all.

Disrespecting The Dead

One of the most heinously gross bits of this debacle are the completely useless interstitial cuts to the more popular members of The 27 Club, namely Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, and Robert Johnson, played by actors really trying to sell the concept but who come off as zoned out hippies with nothing to add. If their real-life stories weren’t so tragic, one might find themselves chuckling at how chillingly uncomfortable these scenes were.

THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong
source: Cleopatra Entertainment

The rest of the film follows Jason as he becomes the lovesick whipping boy for a substance-abusing never-was named Lily (Maddisyn Carter), who uses Jason to help her join The 27 Club, unbeknownst to him, to become an overnight success. They even went as far as to have her dawn the same tattoos as Amy Winehouse (Rest In Peace) and reference it in the actual movie. If that wasn’t obnoxious enough, did I forget to mention that her drug dealer knows how to conjure dark forces or some such nonsense and becomes a character for a second? No? Well, that happens too.

Lord, help me. I hated this film. Moving on. 

The acting, sets, and direction are all awful. The characters are annoying. The plot is mind-bogglingly predictable. The dialog is by the numbers. Nobody cares. Most of this movie is just talking long enough to draw out the run-time of just over an hour and a half when this could have been a short film, at best, the way the story is structured.

THE 27 CLUB: Modern Folk Lore Done So, So Wrong
source: Cleopatra Entertainment

The 27 Club: Capable Horror Is An Actual Thing

I don’t normally do this when reviewing, but occasionally a movie (I will NOT call this a film) comes along that is so incompetent in its execution it needs to be called out. Listen, sometimes a great idea needs to be put in the hands of someone who knows better. The 27 Club conspiracy is a great idea for a film. The fact that it took this long to be made into a movie is nuts. The thing about a great idea, however, is the need for it to be nurtured and fleshed out. Anyone can write a horror film if all you’re going for is schlock and awe. Fake blood is cheap. But to make a film people are going to respect in the horror community, get your script together first and foremost.

Bottom line, this was a cheaply made streaming title with little to no thought put into it. There was a seed of an idea here and nobody to tend the garden. This isn’t even fun for a bad movie night. Skip it.

Is there a movie you think fell flat on a great idea? Let us know in the comments section below.

The 27 Club was released on disc & streaming on April 23, 2019.

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