Excellent, a Must See

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

John Waters continues his slow and steady seduction of the mainstream with the first half of the movie, only to reward its arousal by slamming a giant butt plug thru the finale. How many ways can one director demonstrate how much they hate the Hollywood machine, by mimicking it with all the jaded "devotion" of porn parody? The closing sequence at a particularly demented and violent drive-in theater screening rocks in a way not seen since Boris Karloff used his senior Citizen Cane to knock out a drive-in sniper in Targets. Yes, Mr. Waters, we know you love to hate us - you have since you made us sit thru a giant drag queen eating dog poo.But, jeez, won't you ever make a movie that doesn't glorify suicidal sociopaths to the point of murder junkie fetishism?

If it wasn't for Johnny Depp, I'd have to say that Stephen Dorff was the actor inclined towards the most quirky roles. The fact he's not a major star in the same league as Depp is, probably means he's got more freedom to choose his projects. Or maybe he gets the stuff that Depp turns down.I think only Johnny Depp could have done the part of rogue film director Cecil B. Demented for John Waters other than Dorff. In this dark comedy, Waters makes quite a statement about the conformity of the major league film industry. It's driven Dorff quite insane in fact.Dorff as Cecil B. Demented has collected quite a crew of misfits around him in their scheme to make the ultimate cinema verite. In a bow to tradition though they need a name star, so Dorff and his crew capture a visiting Hollywood celebrity to Baltimore in Melanie Griffith to star in their production. The good city fathers of Baltimore have gone to great lengths to convince film people that Baltimore and the state of Maryland in general is a hospitable climate for location shooting. That is something Dorff is determined to wreck and film.Anyone who is expecting the rollicking and unconventional, but essentially good natured product that Waters turns out like CryBaby, Hairspray, or Pecker. Cecil B. DeMented has quite the edge to it. Still it provides Stephen Dorff with one meaty role and a large diet of good tasting furniture to chew. But it's that kind of part.

Hollywood's aging star Honey Whitlock(Melanie Griffith, who seems like she was born to star in a John Waters flick)is kidnapped by "cinema terrorists" with director Cecil B Demented(Stephen Dorff)head honcho behind the whole ordeal. Honey is to star in his underground film which is shot on the streets completely devoid of the studio system. The whole point behind the anarchy of Demented and his group is to pointedly bitch-slap the establishment in the face, by any means necessary. Unfortunately Baltimore will be the target of their crusade and Honey becomes a cult hero as a media circus develops. The police make it their mission to bring down Demented. The crew of this film range from a porn star(who claims she was molested by her entire family underneath the Christmas tree)to a Satanist(who gulps down goat urine), but they are extreme fans of cinema and believe the system Hollywood is backing needs a revolution. Demented's film is aimed as the start of the evolution of a new artform. Soon violence erupts as a result of his raw film-making style(they attack a theater showing the director's cut of PATCH ADAMS;and a stand-off with police during a riot of a Maryland Film Commission luncheon). As the film continues, Honey has a change of heart regarding her captors once she realizes that Cecil is behind her new rise in popularity.Grows more and more absurd as the Waters' film continues(Honey leaps off a building landing on her feet below;Honey sets her hair on fire for Cecil)such as Demented and company raiding the set of a FORREST GUMP sequel starring Kevin Nealon(!)resulting in a gunfight with teamsters! There's an inspired chase into a porno theater where Cherish(Alicia Witt)gets seats for her group in a film starring her as the remaining teamsters find themselves against an army of pervs! There's even a chase into an action flick where Demented calls on the fans of the theater to assist them against a pack of spiteful mothers from a grocery store(!) who hate what the cinema terrorists are doing to their youth. The film is as demented as the title character who is willing to burn himself alive in a wheelchair for his film!

It's not for the average movie fan. Cecil B. Demented is full of hidden clichés and retro-references that appeals to the warped viewer. The viewer who only sees movies with their 'significant other' will not appreciate this artistic production. The characters are almost toonish, but yet they are real. They are people you may have known, or at least viewed on the internet..eh. The colors are vivid as is the imagination. Waters leaves you wondering what he can think of next! Honey Whitlock is seductive, mature and yet willing and submissive to the abductor's plot. This does bring up memories of the Patricia Hearst kidnapping which appropriately she is in the movie. Hearst plays the role of Fidget's mother. And most of us guys can relate to Fidget. If you are a fan of underground movies, you will love this one!! Be careful who you refer this movie to, or they may put you in their prayers! It could polarize your next family get-together!