The Item

REVIEW
A motley group of criminals take on the (rather vaguely explained) job of delivering an "item" to a client; the item turns out to be a bizarre little creature that likes playing mind games with the gang. This oddball sci-fi/horror/action/satire feels like Tarantino meets Henenlotter (Basket Case), with ridiculously excessive shoot-outs, far-too-clever dialogue complete with impromptu pop-culture symposiums, and a talking puppet monster straight out of Brain Damage. Almost equal parts good and bad, the shot-on-video Item is far too long and disjointed, but also contains some terrific moments amidst the half-baked ideas, and the cast is certainly game. Nice to see something different than the usual straight-to-video, cookie-cutter garbage, but this is still too derivative and messy to be a real sleeper.