This movie is an absolute treat.
All About Evil is a horror black comedy written, directed, and produced (along with Darren Stein, writer, and director of the ‘90s cult classic Jawbreaker (1999)) by Joshua Grannell, also known as drag legend Peaches Christ. It is filled to the brim with copious queer and horror icons, references, and homages. It stars the beloved gay icon, Natasha Lyonne, as Deborah, a meek young woman-turned-ravenous-murderess on a bloody path to underground film stardom. She just inherited her father’s movie house, The Victoria Theatre, and she quickly descends into celluloid madness after a mishap with security camera footage. As a homicidal Bette Davis-wannabe, Deb creates grisly short snuff films from her murders to promote the struggling theater, fulfilling her father’s dream for her to become a famous actress.
All About Evil’s best attribute is its cheeky self-awareness that oozes from the script, my only gripe being the sporadic use of ableist dialogue. My favorite example of the referential queer horror humor rests in the presence of Cassandra Peterson, better known to horror fans as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, as a concerned mother whose son confides in her about his love of an older woman. She pauses and glances at a pin-up poster of Elvira on her son’s bedroom wall, “how much older?” Thanks to her coming-out earlier this year, All About Evil now has another queer amongst the cast (Thomas Dekker would come out seven years after the film) though let’s face it, us gays have always loved Peterson. Not to mention, the lovely Mink Stole, who captured queer hearts after inserting rosary beads into Divine’s anus in Multiple Maniacs (1970), stars as Evelyn, Deb’s anxious boss. This is the second time Stole acted alongside Lyonne, having starred together in the queer cult classic But I’m A Cheerleader (1999).
Peaches Christ does a phenomenal job balancing his own artistic vision and homages to horror’s past. The film is a splendid concoction of 21st-century drag sentiment and John Waters’ underground trash aesthetic. Being a devotee of Waters, I identified two key films All About Evil evokes: Cecil B. Demented (2000) and Multiple Maniacs. Deb’s first kill is reminiscent of the late and great Divine in Waters’ Maniacs: she groans, cries, and cackles as she soaks up the blood through her pores. A psychotic break reeking of “Star quality!” Divinity. The film satirizes old Hollywood horror cinema whilst critiquing capitalism, sexism, and the generalization of horror fans as violent deviants.
The film is an effective slasher with the kind of solid practical effects that could easily be in the pages of a 1980s copy of Fangoria magazine, a magazine to which young Grannell had a subscription and has cited as a strong influence. Luckily for horror fans everywhere, after being widely unavailable for over a decade, All About Evil is finally getting the visibility it deserves with a Blu-ray release, complete with bonus features and streaming availability on Shudder. I encourage readers to check out Peaches Christ’s website and special page devoted to auteur Deborah Tennis’ Victoria Theatre and posters for several of her feature films such as The Scarlet Leper and The Diary of Anne Frankenstein.
I give this movie four out of five severed breasts!
