It’s funny how little film subgenres evolve over time. For instance, slasher flicks have become a specific part of the realm of horror films. Likewise, teen gross-out movies have evolved within the comedy genre. In the case of Lady Jayne – Killer, the subgenre is the fraternity favorite, girls with guns.
There have been quite a few films that fit into this subgenre (the wonderful La Femme Nikita and the horrid To The Limit, just to name a few), and this film follows in that same shamele…s tradition. The point of these films is to show guys everything they like; scantily-clad women, firepower, hot cars and action. They are mindless on purpose. The storylines are not as important as filling the film with as much violence and as many half-naked women as possible.
The problem with this particular foray into low brow entertainment is that they tried to flip the formula. The emphasis is put on the story, while the sex, violence and action is kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, the script is horrid. Characters in the film include a drug dealer, a kid who crosses the wrong people, a single mom, a female mob hit man, a crooked cop, a good cop, a possible turncoat FBI agent, a mob boss, various henchmen and one crooked mechanic. The storyline is unimportant (it involves double-crosses on all sides), and the whole piece has the feel of a TNT Original Movie.
There are a lot of films out there that fit this mold, and most of them do a better job of it. Even for bad films such as this one, I’ve seen others that were much more fun. Check out Anne Heche in Girls in Prison. That is a bad movie that is entertaining because of its low budget. This one is just bad without a good reason.
Audio
Not surprisingly, the only audio option is the ‘ol standby, Dolby Digital 2.0. Also not surprising is the fact that it sucks. Dialog sounds forced and unnatural, and some lines are inexplicably drenched in reverb. Bass tones are unstructured and murky, and there is no spatial imaging whatsoever. Particularly bad are the gunshots, which are more of a random loud noise than an actual definable gunshot. This is a soundtrack that, much like the film itself, gives me the feeling that it was originally made for TV.
Video
As is fitting with the rest of this disc, the picture is presented in a non-threatening full screen format. Colors are washed out throughout the film, resulting in dull picture quality and a bland overall visual experience. I was also disappointed to see how poor the lighting was in the film. Exteriors are sometimes bright and sometimes dark, which leads me to believe that natural lighting was used exclusively on the exteriors to save money. Furthermore, blemishes are apparent on the negative throughout the film, resulting in an overall presentation that is anything but killer.
Special Features
Actually, that “s” should be left off, because there is just one special feature on this disc… the extremely easy to include filmographies. Not even so much as a brief biographical paragraph was included to fill out the profiles. I’m not surprised.
Final Thoughts
Erika Eleniak should not feel too bad about playing second bill in a bad movie. After all, Arnold was Pumping Iron before he made it to superstardom and a possible run for re-election. Michelle Pfeiffer suffered through Grease II before going on to be Catwoman and Harrison Ford’s mysterious wife in What Lies Beneath. And we all know about that infamous Sylvester Stallone porn film.
Don’t feel badly, Erika. There is plenty of hope for you, yet.
Special Features List
- Filmographies
