Perhaps taking a cue from memorably camp material like The
Honeymoon Killers (1969), Wheatley turns the conventional travelogue
vacation movie on its ear, though it’s perhaps undone by the sheer unlikeability
of the main couple. Sad sack Tina (Alice
Lowe) lives with her manipulative and overcontrolling mother, Carol (Eileen
Davies), a somewhat mean and grotesque figure still grieving over the loss of
their pet dog Poppy who died a year ago.
Tina is a licensed but pathetically inept dog psychologist who seems to
instead sympathize with her mother’s grief.
Given the opportunity to temporarily escape her sheltered environment
with Mum, she jumps at the chance to go on a road adventure with her new
boyfriend, aspiring writer Chris (Steve Oram), driving a live-in caravan behind
them on a meticulously planned trip through Northern England’s Yorkshire
territory. Somehow the ultra-hilarious
Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden’s impressionist extravaganza The Trip
(2010) comes to mind, but this film builds its cleverness on the sheer
conventionality of the two characters that haven’t a notable distinguishing
characteristic between them. Happy to be
on their way, to the sound of Soft Cell :Tainted Love Music
Video - YouTube (2:39), though assaulted
by a series of miserablist phone calls from Mum who feigns dire emergencies
like Bud Cort feigned suicides in HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971), Tina has to spread
her wings and let go, finally free of the mad clutches of her mother. All seems to be going well until Chris
becomes overwrought at the callous actions of an unconcerned litterbug at a
world heritage site, going on an extended rage until he accidentally runs over
the poor guy with his caravan, where blood spurts out from his neck like a
cheap B-movie special effect, accentuating the ridiculousness of the act, but
also the worthlessness of the litterbug’s life.
Not to be deterred, the couple won’t allow a regrettable man’s
death to ruin their vacation, developing a common mindset where they can do
whatever they please, like this brief clip where they pass a larger caravan,
getting downright giddy over the idea, Sightseers "Dingly
Dell" Clip - YouTube (1:11). As
they get deeper into the countryside where the undulating hills dominate the
landscape, they park their caravan in close proximity to another couple who
have an identical dog as Poppy, where the guy is something of a smug writer,
bragging about having written three books, while the girl refuses to allow her
dog to be fed junk food. Chris
immediately hones in on their detestable nature, arising at the crack of dawn
for his neighbor’s scheduled walkabout, following them into an excluded area
before bashing him over the head with a rock, then pulling his pants down to
make it look like a sex crime to throw off the authorities. Grabbing the dog as their own, Tina is
overjoyed at the sight, instantly calling Banjo by his rightful name (in her
eyes), Poppy. Taking great pleasure at
watching the TV news reports of the crime, Chris is thrilled when it’s reported
that the police are on the lookout for a perverted sex criminal. Tina has an inkling of what Chris has done
and develops a theory, by eradicating detestable individuals from the earth’s
population, you are in fact elevating the potential gene pool, an idea that
suggests selective murder is a Green activity, perhaps enhanced by the trippy
version of Season of the
witch - Vanilla Fudge - YouTube (8:47), suggesting something mind-altering
is in the midst. So rather than be
repulsed by the hideousness of the act, Tina finds herself sexually aroused like
never before, where one might even say these are the happiest days of her
life. Off they go on their cross-country
journey, where Tina discovers if she doesn’t really like someone, for whatever
reason, she has a partner willing to do something about it, willing to go all the
way to set things straight, which gives her a feeling of invincibility, like
this clip where she grows delirious with her newly discovered power, literally
toying with the idea of what her boyfriend will do, Sightseers -
"National Trust" Clip YouTube (1:53)
The director’s third feature, this is the first he did not
write himself, relying instead upon the two lead actors, a TV writing and
acting team, along with longtime collaborator Amy Jump. The film doesn’t seem to suffer from this
lack of input, and while it’s basically a series of funny sight and sound gags,
there’s not much else, lacking the depth and insight to be much more, yet it’s
hands down one of the funniest films of the year. The film takes a single idea and runs with
it, where the musical selections throughout are outstanding, including the
exquisite JULIE DRISCOLL
ft BRIAN AUGER - season of the witch ... - YouTube (7:57), offering a twist midway through, as
Tina grows so newly empowered that she starts knocking people off with relish, everytime
she gets irritated, something that draws the ire of Chris, who believes there’s
a selective art to killing, especially murdering Green, so they can’t just pick
off random anybodies. If they’re going
to commit themselves to killing thoroughly detestable people, then they must
elevate their standards to only the truly despicable. Other dark serial killer movies go to great
lengths to establish character, like Tuesday Weld in Pretty
Poison (1968), where her surprising amoral zealousness steals the picture,
where even Bobcat Goldthwait’s disturbingly bizarre satire God
Bless America (2011) uses a similar premise of blowing away only the most irritating
people on the planet. In comparison,
this is more understated, with few cinematic tricks up its sleeve, but one with
a unique premise that continually pays off. While the two leads are forgettable, the kind
of people you’d walk right by on the street without a second thought, we learn
little about them except they’re tired of living under the thumb of rude,
overbearing authority figures, where they fantasize about taking matters into
their own hands. Tina grows out of
control, where female empowerment never looked so good, as Chris can’t hide the
bodies fast enough, where he’s constantly chiding her lack of ethics when it
comes to serial killing. Something of an
English holiday from Hell, visiting tourist sites few would ever think to
actually visit, like the Crich Tramway Village, the Blue John Cavern, the
Keswick Pencil Museum, or the picturesque Ribblehead Viaduct, before finally reaching a
mountainous destination by the end, where there always seems to be a steep
ledge making it ever so convenient to push an unsuspecting body into the
waiting darkness. Entertaining, to say
the least, and darkly sarcastic, where Chris justifies one of his killings with
“He's not a person, he's a Daily Mail
reader,” finally drowned out by the sounds of GLORIA JONES- "TAINTED
LOVE" (1964) - YouTube (2:14).
