Director: Alex Keledjian
Writer: Alex Keledjian (Screenplay)
Starring: David Arquette, Luke Wilson, Allie Gonino, Ryan Donowho, Perrey Reeves
Plot: Hollow Body is a struggling rock band led by Jimmy (David Arquette) who makes a deal with Rick (Luke Wilson) a shady record executive. Unfortunately, the band’s shy lead singer Rachel (Allie Gonino) suffers from severe stage fright and cannot play in front of a live audience. The band breaks up and as Rachel’s controlling stage mother Barb (Perrey Reeves) drives her home, they are struck by lightning and killed. Rachel comes back to life, now able to give electrifying performances, but at a terrible cost. Jimmy and bandmate Scott (Ryan Donowho) must decide if they are willing to pay the ultimate price for success.
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Enjoyable Music Horror
Story: Hollow Body starts on aging Rockstar’s Jimmy (Arqutte) birthday, looking back at his career until he meets new younger musicians at his party with vocalist Rachel (Gonino) and writer Scott (Donowho) seeing this as a chance to come back to the top of the industry.
When the band gets their first gig disaster strikes with Rachel suffering stage fright and on the way home she is struck by lightening and killed. She doesn’t stay dead though and comes back full of confidence and the bands success takes off, only Rachel isn’t the same person she was when they started the band.
Thoughts on Hollow Body
Characters – Jimmy is our narrator, the aging Rockstar who has one big hit that keeps his name relevant in the industry, spotting new talent he wants to do a comeback, he uses his connections to give them the start and knows how to get the most out of their talents. He will however always be looked at as the aging star that hadn’t succeeded. Rick is the record label manager that Jimmy turns to when he needs the record for his new band, he is hard of Jimmy who had mostly worked with his father. Rachel is the new lead singer in the band, the problem is that she has stage fright, until she dies and comes back as a new improved performer that lights up the stage with her performance only to take on a much darker side. Scott is the writer for the new band, he is married and has an attraction to Rachel which puts his marriage in danger and is easily the heart and soul of the band.
Performances – David Arquette in the leading role is great to see, he always gives a performance that fits this character, slightly outside the normal and being the rock star lets him enjoy performing. Luke Wilson is the biggest disappointment, not that he isn’t good, its more we don’t get to see enough of his character in the film. Allie Gonino is the breakout star from this movie, handling two different personalities through the film, showing off the singing skills and become her character in each scene we see her in. Ryan Donowho brings us a grounded performance which is needed with the wilder characters in the film.
Story – The story here follows the upstart band that faces difficulties that start with performances problems and soon turn supernatural after the lead singer comes back from the dead. Now while the story goes in a different backstory to what is going on, you can’t help but get the same vibes that ‘All Cheerleaders Must Die’ had with he seductive return from the dead. We get to see how cutthroat the music industry is, with the stage performance issues, the rise and the vices that come from being in the industry. This is a story that can be enjoyed if you like your rock music even if we don’t get too many songs and just fits in the horror world nicely.
Horror – The horror comes from just what Rachel comes back as and what she does, this is known by the band only to make sure that the success goes on even with what is going on.
Settings – The film keeps the settings around the rock industry, we have the aging stars house, the stages and the parties which makes the settings work for every single scene we are watching.
Special Effects – The effects are what we want to see, they are consistent with everything each time we see the lightening style used.
Scene of the Movie – The first reborn performance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I would have liked more music.
Final Thoughts – This is a good horror thriller that takes us into the rock music world that does show just how far people will do to be part of the industry however much evil is guiding you.
Overall: Horror music fans dream
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