The Greasy Strangler
USA 2016
Written by Toby Harvard & Jim Hosking
Directed by Jim Hosking
Watched on 30.09.2016

Mickey Keating can rejoice: His “Pod” is no longer the worst movie that I’ve ever seen at a /slash film festival. As of now, this “honor” (?) belongs to Jim Hosking’s “The Greasy Strangler” – the second movie after “Clever & Smart” (which, many years back, I watched at home, and turned off after 70 minutes) to get a zero rating from me. I have never been more tempted to actually leave a cinema screening (something that I’ve never done in my entire life – yet). Instead, I endured it until the end – but even my slightest hope that it would improve and offer at least one or two rudimentarily good moments was ultimately crushed.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous review, I usually have a “three strikes”-policy when it comes to (new) directors. However, in this case, Jim Hosking’s sensibilities seem to be so far removed from mine, that I really don’t see the point in giving him another chance. Granted, humor is extremely subjective; probably no other genre is more divisive than comedy. So it’s entirely possible that you, dear reader, will laugh your ass off. But for me, “The Greasy Strangler” was almost insufferable. The first couple of minutes were already bad enough, and had I watched this at home, I probably would have turned it off very early on, since right from the start I feared that this just wouldn’t be my thing at all. And over the course of the movie, Jim Hosking time and again proved me right. Be it the unbearable catch phrase “bullshit artist”, the fact that they wear women’s clothing for no apparent reason other than the director thinking that its funny (no, it’s not), the repetitive music, the terrible (and often times prolonged and repeated ad infinitum) “gags”, the misogynistic subtext which increasingly turns into text, as well as the terrible, nonsensical ending, “The Greasy Strangler” was true torture for me to sit through (I swear, if you’d tie me to a chair “Clockwork Orange”-style and show me “The Greasy Strangler”, I’d betray even my dearest friends in a heartbeat). Absolutely nothing about this movie worked for me. Not one fucking thing. IHad I tried to make this movie funny or at least bearable with the use of alcohol, I would have drunk myself to death, and would now write this review out of my grave (from which I would return to haunt Jim Hosking for as long as he lives).

Usually, when someone says they liked a movie that I despised, I reply with “Good for you!”. In this case however, I’m not sure I can congratulate those who actually find such a film hilarious. For me, it was puerile, worthless and completely unfunny crap, and a complete and utter waste of time and money. Watch it at your own peril.
0/10

IMDB