Very Bad Things

Year: 1998 Rating: R Overall Evaluation: 6.0 Significance Suppositions Story Style 9.0 / 10 6.0 / 10 5.0 / 10 3.0 / 10 Click HERE for evaluation criteria.

Style

Rated R for strong, grisly violence, sexuality, drug use and language. There is a rather long nude / sex scene involving a stripper who is then killed (by accident) and not long after that a rather disturbing murder with a corkscrew. Bodies are cut up with chainsaws and carted around in briefcases . . . this rating should be taken very seriously.

Story

This is billed as a "dark comedy." Well, remove the "comedy" and you've got a good description. It is anything but funny, and the fact that it is labeled as one is a good indication of the depravity of today's world. The main story begins when a group of friends are on a bachelor party road trip to Vegas. They drink, gamble, do drugs, and then hire a stripper/prostitute who ends up being killed while having sex with one of them in a bathroom. They attempt to cover it up but then get caught by a hotel security guard who is also murdered. Throughout the film bodies conitnue to pile up as the group tries to cover up its deeds.

Suppositions

Although quite over the top the movie is a good portrayal of what J. Budziszewski calls the "revenge of the conscience." The group is led by an ultra-pragmatic utilitarian who lives out his philosophy by murdering anyone who threatens his lifestyle. The rest are not so sure but go along to avoid messing their lives up. Throughout the film we see them falling apart - each in their own way which is a much more realistic portrayal than most movies today.

Significance

The message the movie sends is that evil destroys the one committing it. One cannot run from his conscience forever. Attempting to cover up wrongs with other wrongs will not, in the long run, succeed.