Oklahoma Gazette Film Review: K-11

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.

Bar none, a one-of-a-kind kick.

March 22nd, 2013

How weird that K-11 is attracting more attention for who the director is (the mother of Twilight starlet Kristen Stewart) than for its outlandish subject matter (transgendered inmates). That oversight is as insane as this movie, new to VOD.

Music producer Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has a drinking-and-drugging problem, which earns him an even bigger problem by Beverly Hills PD’s finest: a stay inside the titular ward of the L.A. County Jail. Dubbed by one of its residents as a "sanctuary for broken toys," it’s the big cement room where the po-po segregate the homosexuals.

As he’s introduced to his new temporary home, Saxx is warned to beware the women in there, "because there are no women here." It’s swarming with transvestites and transsexuals, all lorded over by Mousey, who’s anything but. Mousey (Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, brave and ballsy) is a terrifying presence, all scowls and pencilled eyebrows.

Loosely plotted, K-11 works best as depicting the inner workings of life behind bars, if exaggerated. Like many a women-in-prison picture of a bygone era, viewers get the expected scenes involving showers, sex and substances, but Jules Stewart’s directorial debut reflects more modern times with homemade tattoos and impromptu fashion shows.

What these elements add up to, if anything, is questionable. The film seems to be an exercise in excess. It’s too shapeless to make any tangible statement, which is kind of a surprise given the elder Stewart’s 25-year career as a script supervisor; this is also her first produced screenplay, which she has co-written with fellow neophyte Jared Kurt. Its ending leaves viewers asking, “And?”

Still, I can’t say I wasn’t entertained up to that point. Although ostensibly a drama, K-11 strikes me as a wickedly dark comedy. At least that how it’s played by del Castillo and some of the more able bodies among the cast, most notably Kevin Smith fixture Jason Mewes, as good as ever; Tiny Lister (Deebo of the Friday flicks) as a big ol’ baby of a child molester; and cake-taking Taken 2’s D.B. Sweeney as a corrupt sheriff’s deputy who treats those behind bars as a kid does candy behind glass: They all look so tasty!

Certainly, this bizarro circus is poised to be a cult favorite among the LGBT set, but it’s campy and kooky enough that it extends way beyond mere niche product. —Rod Lott

Hey! Read This:
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo DVD review
• Women in Cages Collection / Women in Prison Triple Feature DVD review

The Burning

Dexter: The Seventh Season

Nightfall

Grand Duel

The Last Stand

K-11

Bar none, a one-of-a-kind kick.