Feels so depressingly vacant that it registers less as a film than as a pointed lesson in what not to do in the wacky world of non-traditional dating.
Love Object (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:10
Rotten:14
Average Rating:4.7/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: LOVE OBJECT is the deeply disturbing story of a man and his anatomically correct sex doll. Kenneth (Desmond Harrington) is the star tech writer at a soulless Los Angeles firm. He is robotic and... LOVE OBJECT is the deeply disturbing story of a man and his anatomically correct sex doll. Kenneth (Desmond Harrington) is the star tech writer at a soulless Los Angeles firm. He is robotic and repressed until a co-worker shows him a picture of Nikki, a $10,000 sex doll. It's love at first sight for poor Kenneth, and soon he is sharing sex, conversation, and even waltzes with this inanimate object of his dreams. At the same time a new face enters his life in the form of a cute coworker named Lisa (Melissa Sagemiller). The two female figures become entwined in Kenneth's mind and he begins to dress Nikki like Lisa and vice versa. As his real-life romance blossoms, the spirit of Nikki starts to come alive, stalking him in nightmares and dominating him via S&M. Kenneth tries to get rid of her, but learns it's not so easy. That's only the start of the lurid insanity at play in this well-crafted little indie. By the blood-spattered climax it gets almost unbearably intense and unnerving, but before that there's some genuinely nice chemistry between the two leads. Both actors handle the material with enough respect and care that it transcends its Hitchcockian psycho-shocker roots to become genuinely touching and tragic. Rip Torn plays Kenneth's boss and Eurosleaze icon Udo Kier has a fun part as a depraved next-door neighbor. [More]
Starring: Desmond Harrington, Melissa Sagemiller, Udo Kier, Michael Pena
Starring: Desmond Harrington, Melissa Sagemiller, Udo Kier, Michael Pena, Rip Torn
Director: Robert Parigi
Director: Robert Parigi
Screenwriter: Robert Parigi
Producer: Kathleen Haase, Lawrence Levy
Composer: Nicholas Pike
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Reviews for Love Object
The comedy falls flat and the only real horror is having to sit through the whole damn thing.
The movie reaches with increasing desperation toward humor and grisly sadism, and the mood is broken.
While some pedestrian camerawork and spotty acting from supporting players deflate Love Object, it has enough juice -- and a surprising twist -- to keep fans of the slow-burn horror genre enthralled.
All the student-film hallmarks are here: deep-think pretentiousness, annoyingly arty camera-work, cardboard-cutout characters and robotic dialogue.
Never quite lives up to its bizarre premise, and despite its audacious subject matter, it will even have difficulty attaining future cult status.
As Kenneth dips into 'Norman Bates meets The Marquis de Sade' waters, horror fans will stand transfixed and will definitely not be disappointed by the shocking finale.
What's missing is any sense of why such a handsome man is afraid of women. That makes the premise hard to swallow, especially since Harrington is too commanding to be a believable dweeb.
The biggest potential pitfall is that Kenneth starts the film as such a weirdo that some audience members may have problems relating to him
The patina of witty satire eventually gives way to a gratuitous sadism that makes this sordid story feel like a fraud.
What started out as a clever and disturbing cross between Vertigo and Child's Play quickly degenerates into a cheap slasher flick.
Robert Parigi shows a kicky sense of humor in this brisk low-budget film, and ably creates a smirking menace.
It may have some glaring flaws, but it is certainly one of the more interesting romances to hit the big screen in recent years.
Though you might admire bits and pieces of it, overall this movie is unlikely to be the object of anyone's affection.
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| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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