Southern Justice (2006)

DVD

While I can't claim that I am a connoisseur of porn or frequently attend strip clubs or know any strippers (wait ... yes I do), I am not familiar with the environment but am intrigued by films covering the subject matter; one of my all time favorites being Player's Club.

Southern Justice focuses on Slim Mannings (M.D. Selig) an ex-military sniper who owns a strip club not by choice (family heirloom, go figure). Slim's young dancers are being tortured and brutally murdered through ritualistic exorcisms, which motivates him to hunt down the killers in order to protect their lives along with his establishment from religious picketers who are convinced his establishment is for heathen and is corrupting the community. It becomes even more vital for Slim to catch the killers when his teenage daughter Tracy (Kristi Wirz) follows in her mother's footsteps by takes the stage pole and becoming a dancer. Slim's time is running out in a battle to protect the world as he knows it and his daughter's life.

While the decision between Slim and his ex Audrey Thomas (Lisa Robert) was to let their eighteen year old daughter dance in his club was a bit strange and slightly implausible, I understood the logic behind it (he wanted to keep her insight). I decided to just go with it and see where the film would lead me. Slim is a charismatic character despite his burly tough biker appearance which is established in the beginning when he comes to the aid of a dance that was about to be beaten and gang raped in a motel by three guys. I liked how the director and writer gave Audrey a green thumb. This set her aside from the other strippers.

It began to become a bit clich&#233 and predictable when the Christian priest came into the picture. As soon as they were introduced, I knew the killer was a church figure (not trying to give it away, although I am sure you'll figure it out just as fast as I did) since that connection has been made a million times not only in cinema but in the news with the recent molestation charges brought up against priests and clergy members. Once you've figured out the killer in a thriller it kind of takes the thrill out of it. But the last fight sequence is actually interesting and has its share of twists and turns. I also really like the way the ending leaves it up to the viewer to figure out what happened.

For all you frat boys or men who like to see girls dance in the nude (which is all of you) this film has several strippers dancing, swinging around poles and gyrating crotches. But I will say those scenes weren't too long or gratuitous. The fight scenes were a bit contrived with mediocre choreography, but meant well and got the point across. Some of the dialog between the detective and Slim seemed awkward and manufactured. It is no surprise Jack Straight (Coby Hunt) was an undercover cop despite all the harassment from the local police. And the secondary characters of the biker gang should have been brought back into the picture whether they helped Slim or in some other way because they seemed to disappear at the end. As far as the goofy biker sidekick, while I see it was an attempt at comic relief, he just wasn't amusing or really necessary. In the credits where he tries dancing round the pole on stage, it just isn't funny. I found myself wondering, who is this guy and why is he important for me to look at?. He looked like Fester from the Adams family in chaps dancing round a stripper pole. It's absurd.

No features.

While it seems low budget, which I'm sure it was, the film makes a nice attempt. The majority of the main characters are interesting and multi layered (except the corrupt cops which I guess just come with this type of film) but the killer is predictable and the acting could have been better in some parts and in others it was sufficient.

Not one to own, certainly one to give a glance.