Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives had its local premiere at the Roxie last night as part of Another Hole in the Head. While the title's offensive and the film drew protests when it was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the large audience who turned out for the screening gave last night responded with a loud and enthusiastic response. This reaction wasn't held until the end of the film either as rather a sizeable portion of the audience was having a Rocky Horror time of it talking back to the screen pretty much during the entire duration of the film. I was sitting too close to the screen to hear many of the comments from one lone jokester, who kept cracking up most of the people seated in the rear of theater.

The film's an homage to 70s exploitation flicks, though it owes a huge debt to Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill and is also reminiscent of Tarantino's Death Proof. The plot concerns a trans-woman who's been raped by a guy who gave her a roofie and then got a surprise. He's enlisted a couple of equally disgusting pals to lure some more girls so they can... well, you know where this going, don't you?

TOTWK could easily have been a horrible film but it's actually a pretty good time. The women in the cast are obviously having a ball, the guys are perfect sleazes and the acts of revenge are nasty fun. The downside is that trans people are rarely featured in films and this one is pure exploitation camp. Sometimes you just have to take something at face value and realize it's not meant to be nothing more than entertainment. What makes TOTWK a success is that it would pretty much be the same thing if it were cast with the women from Death Proof. It's just not.That in itself is a positive thing.

There's one more screening tonight at the Viz in Japantown. I have no idea if there's an after-party at Divas.

starring:

Krystal Summers

Kelexis Davenport

Jenna Skyy

Erica Andrews

Tom Zembro

Richard Curtin

Gerardo Davila

Kenny Ochoa

Willam Belli

Written and directed by Israel Luna