You gotta respect low budget director Jim Wynorski: he never pretends that his films are more than what they are, and he knows how to deliver silliness and sleaze in equal measure. He demonstrates that with this dumb but fun melding of a "Die Hard" homage with a supernatural slasher flick.
Five ultra sexy babes from a temp agency are hired to do the inventory for a lingerie company, but they'll have their mundane task interrupted by a killing spree while a storm rages outside their office building. Could the killer be the off kilter janitor (Peter Spellos) on the premises? Or is something else going on?
"Hard to Die" comes off as a true mans' fantasy in that our protagonist babes are dressed skimpily and sexily right from the start, and they're a delight to behold, particularly when towards the end two of them are toting machine guns. Hotties and firearms DO always make for an irresistible combination. In addition, Wynorski shows early on that he will go for a cartoon like, tongue in cheek quality, and this extends to such things as sound effects, not to mention the fact that good old Orville the janitor proves to be completely impossible to kill.
The acting is just right for this sort of thing. Gail Harris is delectable as Dawn, our plucky heroine, and Karen Mayo-Chandler, Deborah Dutch, Melissa Moore, and Bridget Carney round out the quintet of potential victims. Toni Naples, as a police detective, and Carolet Girard, as a porno actress, add even more eye candy to the proceedings. Wynorski works with regulars such as adorable Kelli Maroney as the porno wife and Monique Gabrielle, who's unrecognizable in a character role as the delivery woman. There's a sizable role for the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" fame, and Wynorski himself appears on screen, uncredited, as the porno director.
Composer Chuck Cirino contributes a typically catchy electronic score, and Wynorskis' pacing is up to snuff; the movie clocks in at a fairly short 84 minutes long. It's got a couple of in-jokes, posters of the directors' past efforts, archive footage taken from "The Slumber Party Massacre", and is well worth watching for the generous screen time devoted to ogling the main actresses' assets.
Seven out of 10.
Five ultra sexy babes from a temp agency are hired to do the inventory for a lingerie company, but they'll have their mundane task interrupted by a killing spree while a storm rages outside their office building. Could the killer be the off kilter janitor (Peter Spellos) on the premises? Or is something else going on?
"Hard to Die" comes off as a true mans' fantasy in that our protagonist babes are dressed skimpily and sexily right from the start, and they're a delight to behold, particularly when towards the end two of them are toting machine guns. Hotties and firearms DO always make for an irresistible combination. In addition, Wynorski shows early on that he will go for a cartoon like, tongue in cheek quality, and this extends to such things as sound effects, not to mention the fact that good old Orville the janitor proves to be completely impossible to kill.
The acting is just right for this sort of thing. Gail Harris is delectable as Dawn, our plucky heroine, and Karen Mayo-Chandler, Deborah Dutch, Melissa Moore, and Bridget Carney round out the quintet of potential victims. Toni Naples, as a police detective, and Carolet Girard, as a porno actress, add even more eye candy to the proceedings. Wynorski works with regulars such as adorable Kelli Maroney as the porno wife and Monique Gabrielle, who's unrecognizable in a character role as the delivery woman. There's a sizable role for the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" fame, and Wynorski himself appears on screen, uncredited, as the porno director.
Composer Chuck Cirino contributes a typically catchy electronic score, and Wynorskis' pacing is up to snuff; the movie clocks in at a fairly short 84 minutes long. It's got a couple of in-jokes, posters of the directors' past efforts, archive footage taken from "The Slumber Party Massacre", and is well worth watching for the generous screen time devoted to ogling the main actresses' assets.
Seven out of 10.