Soulkeeper

If you're into horror-comedies, don't judge a movie by its cover (or trailer), like I did for years. Soulkeeper is the story of two small-time thieves (Rodney Rowland, Kevin Patrick Walls) who are hired (by Brad Dourif!) to find and steal an ancient relic that has the power to return dead souls to life. Skeptical of the legend that goes with the relic, the duo are in dire need of cash, so they agree to find it... but they soon find themselves mixed up with an assortment of oddballs and demons.

I'd seen the box and trailer years ago, but the movie looked dumb -- props to the gang at Kindertrauma for making me give this one a chance! Although the plot's been done to death and the effects are pure b-movie cheese (though effective), the film is completely redeemed by the script -- this movie is friggin' hilarious! Walls and Rowland have such great rapport and comic timing that the characters are completely believable (in the face of all the unbelievable stuff that's going on around them), and in minor roles, they've populated the movie with tons of familiar faces (Dorif, Ali Landry, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, '80s pop princess Debbie Gibson, etc.). It almost feels like a throwback to Ghostbusters and those great '80s horror comedies... though the marketing people clearly didn't know what the hell they were doing with it. Soulkeeper is available on DVD.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR

Yep, some spoilers ahead...

*Begins with a cheap and cheesy sequence featuring a corny druid ritual being performed in 1967. The trailer (worst ad campaign ever) made it look like this was the backbone of the film. It's over in a couple minutes.

*Civil War battle re-enactments emceed by Keith Coogan from "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Don't Tell Mom: The Babysitter's Dead." Yep, Uncle Fester's real-life grandson made other movies. Though you wouldn't remember him from this.

*A Charlie's Angels homage. In a horror-comedy.

*Debbie Gibson jokes galore. The only thing tackier than a string of jokes about the 80s pop princess is that she has a cameo in the film. And clearly she was blessed with a sense of humor or she wouldn't have done what she did.

*Holy crap, is that Brad Dourif? Holy crap, his accent is bad! The performance is suitably over-the-top though. And then over-with.

*Makeshift Gothic cemetery. It's the kind you'd see in a Frankenstein homage. Or Friday the 13th part 6. Cool either way.

*Angry hillbilly with a shotgun. One should be required in every movie.

*Tiny Lister's "perfect penis." It's not as gay as it sounds, and you never see it. But it's made up for by...

*Hot, naked girl-on-girl action! When in doubt that you have your audience members' attention, throw in some topless chicks and make em kiss.

*Sex with multiple individual partners in rapid succession, as a chick shapeshifts. Now, one could view it as nightmarish, but there's less chance of getting an STD than with sleeping with that many people. Then again, there's no telling what kind of STD's you could get from a demon chick. I'm thinking Cabin Fever 2. Ech.

*Topless chicks spewing up blood, making out and looking sexy! Now if they were spewing blood from the other end, then not so much. Yep, I went there.

*The Monster. When first viewed he looks cheap and cheesy, but when seen in all his glory later, the film's big Puppet/CGI villain is actually incredibly impressive for the time it was made and the film's budget.

*"Life is like buying a porno movie." Not like a box of chocolates.

*The Goonies Dude! One of the Fratelli brothers playing an angel. Wow, talk about the opposite end of the spectrum. And what's an angel doing in a horror movie?

*Assaulting the elderly with a drum solo. Classic.

*Vampire bats that don't move if you burn them with a torch. They just shit on you.

*Frederic Finch. The kid is convincing as an old man. And he wasn't bad in USA network's criminally underrated and still mostly ignored "Manhattan, AZ" either.

*Pimping out your best friend. Priceless.

*Demon possession! No movie with "soul" in the title is complete without one!

*A black-and-white "Night of the Living Dead" sequence. No horror-comedy is complete without one. Unless they have a "Psycho" sequence.

*A faceless girl! Weird or hot?

*Karen Black as a medium. Who both bears an uncanny similarity to and one-ups Mary Woronov's character in Warlock. Complete with an Exorcist homage. Again, no horror-comedy....

*"Vanity Is Death." A live-action homage to the haunting painting.

*A ballsy climax and surreal finale. Even if you saw this stuff coming, you never see a movie end like this, unless it's from 1973. Or if you're watching the deleted scenes of a more recent studio release. The ending was very well-executed with a lot of heart and soul by everyone involved, and makes the film even more likable and endearing. Or schmaltzy, depending on your perspective. Not gonna spoil it. Watch the movie!