Double Date (2017)

Double Date: Directed by Benjamin Barfoot. With Danny Morgan, Georgia Groome, Michael Socha, Kelly Wenham. A man can’t speak to ladies. His friend makes things happen but with 2 man-killing sisters looking for a virgin man to sacrifice to bring daddy back from the dead.

“Going into this one I have to admit being a little wary. I thought there would be a reasonable chance it could turn out to be a bit of a misfire. After all, British comedy-horror isnu0026#39;t the most reliable of sub-genres. I have to say though, right from the outset I was more than pleasantly surprised. The opening credits began with some cool stylised red on black drawings that suggested a bit of care and effort – this early indicator proved to be accurate as what transpired was a genuinely funny movie with some great characters and a little bit of sex appeal thrown in for good measure. The story focuses on a couple of friends Jim and Alex, the latter of which tries to help his friend lose his virginity before he turns thirty. Enter a couple of beautiful murderous femme-fatales called Kitty and Lulu, who donu0026#39;t take long to raise the temperature considerably.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis one benefits from an actual funny script written by Danny Morgan who also plays the hapless Jim. He puts in a thoroughly amusing performance here it has to be said, in particular his chat-up scene early in proceedings being a particular bit of comedy acting gold. He is well supported by Michael Socha as his more confident, yet still essentially idiotic, friend Alex. Both these characters play the comedy really well here and have great chemistry. They are complimented well by their leading ladies. Georgia Groome is Lulu, the less demented of the pair, who works as a good comic foil for Jim, while the almost unfeasibly gorgeous Kelly Wenham plays the deadly seductress Kitty in a very commandingly sexy performance which adds a nice bit of sensuality to compliment the general hilarity that makes up most of what is going on elsewhere. While it is a comedy-horror, the horror side is much more marginalised with it really only going into hyper-drive during the crazed ending scene which gives a knowing nod to the classic 70u0026#39;s shocker The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). This finale mixes the humour and horror really well but most of the rest of the time its pure comedy all the way, such as the uproarious family birthday party, the visit to Alexu0026#39;s dadu0026#39;s pad and the aforementioned bar-room chat-up scene. Basically, this is a film that shows that you can take well-worn genre material and make it work if you take care to write funny material and have good comic actors to deliver the lines effectively. Oh, and having Kelly Wenham in your film doesnu0026#39;t harm it either.”