‘The 27 Club’ VOD Review
Stars: Derrick Denicola, Maddisyn Carter, Zach Paul Brown, Aubrey Chantelle, Kali Cook, Emily Dalquist, Travis Grant, Eugene Henderson, John Hennigan, Zack Kozlow, Jason Lasater, Nick Principe, Todd Rundgren | Written by Joe Flanders, Patrick Fogarty, Michael Lynn | Directed by Patrick Fogarty
Why did Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain all die at the age of 27? When an aspiring singer and a journalism student seek answers to the notorious curse of the so-called “27 Club,” they find themselves trapped in an evil underworld that takes artists’ souls as payment for eternal fame.
The “27 Club” is one hell of an intriguing premise for a movie, even moreso for a horror film. Such a shame then that Patrick Fogarty’s film wastes the premise on what feels like little more an extended advert for the self-involved, self-agrandising L.A. music scene – complete with scene boys, emos, douchebags and all round piss-ant musicians up there own arses with their own self-importance. So pretty on the nose then.
Oh and The 27 Club also makes very little sense!
There’s monsters, demons, psychotic killers and a book that may or may not be the key to the gateway to fame, fortune… and death. The 27 Club opens with musician Quinn Scott (Travis Grant) accidentally killing himself, sort of, on his 27th birthday. I say “sort of” because it appears the Scott doesn’t die right away, instead he’s pulled, post electrocution, into a mirror by a demon claiming his soul. And things go awry from there; and I’m not talking about in terms of the films story. I’m talking about the film itself!
We get ridiculous, some might say offensive, “interviews” with the real 27 Club – including Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison (who’s played by a completely wasted in the role John Hennigan – obviously cast because he LOOKS like Morrison more than anything esle), a creepy relationship between Derrick Denicola’s student Jason and musician Lily (Maddisyn Carter) and a heap of nonsense about the aforementioned necronomicon-like book… The only real highlight of the film is the scene-stealing performance of Todd Rundgren, in his first film role no less; a role that – frankly – puts the rest of the cast to shame!
What we end up with is a bog-standard demonic possession movie wrapped up in the skin of a much more interesting rock-and-roll horror. Only this isn’t interesting, in the slightest. It’s utterly predictable and utterly disappointing. But hey, at least The 27 Club has some decent monster makeup and effects work… Though if you really want rock and roll horror there’s plenty of better films out there.
The 27 Club is available to watch on Amazon Prime now.
