Jennifer finds a novel way to get a drink in rock and roll vampire comedy SUCK
SUCK (Rob Stefaniuk, 2009)
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Friday, March 19, 7:15
Monday, March 22, 7:00
Series continues through March 22
Tickets: $10, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
www.suckthemovie.com
Writer, director, songwriter, and star Rob Stefaniuk (PHIL THE ALIEN) was well aware that he was daring critics and audiences to attack his sophomore effort by titling the vampire rock-and-roll horror comedy SUCK. Well, it doesn’t. SUCK is a playful little piffle about the Winners, a loser of a group that is taking its last shot at the big time, going on a road trip from Toronto to New York City for a supposed CMJ showcase gig set up by their pitiful manager, Jeff (Kid in the Hall Dave Foley). But when bass player Jennifer (Jessica Paré) gets seduced and turned by master vampire Queeny (Dimitri Coats), the band starts getting popular, much to the chagrin of lead singer and songwriter Joey (Stefaniuk), who is not sure this is the best way to make it. Drummer Sam (Mike Lobel), guitarist Tyler (Paul Anthony), and Renfield-as-roadie Hugo (Alex Lifeson) have different ideas, as does afraid-of-the-dark vampire hunter Eddie Van Helsig (Malcolm McDowell). With teeth in neck – er, tongue in cheek – SUCK spoofs several genres in silly but fun ways, throwing in a little ROCKY HORROR here, some THIS IS SPINAL TAP there, and a dash of GET CRAZY over there, with hysterical guest appearances by Alice Cooper as a demonic bartender, Iggy Pop as a suburban record producer, Henry Rollins as an annoying radio host, and well-known vegan Moby as Beef Bellows, the lead singer of the Buffalo-based punk-rock band the Secretaries of Steak.
SUCK is part of MoMA’s seventh annual Canadian Front festival, consisting of some of the best Canadian fiction and nonfiction films of the past eighteen months. Upcoming screenings include Sherry White’s debut coming-of-age CRACKIE, Bernard Émond’s drama THE LEGACY, Brigitte Berman’s documentary HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST, AND REBEL, Émile Gaudreault’s gangster comedy FATHERS AND GUNS, and Denis Villeneuve’s fact-based POLYTECHNIQUE, about a Columbine-like shooting spree in Canada.