Skinned Deep was a very odd and highly-entertaining movie. Did it start with an actual branding sequence? Yes. Did it have male nudity? Also yes. Does it feature Warwick Davis? Again, yes. Am I getting ahead of myself? Entirely so.
This movie was well-directed, and the set dressing was phenomenal. Everyone involved put a lot of effort into this movie. It was clearly a labor of love. In Greek philosophy, there are 7 different kinds of love: Eros, Philia, Storge, Agape, Ludus, Pragma, Philautia. This falls squarely in the Ludus category. The movie is playful and flirtatious with its audience. It’s a no-strings-attached, something-odd-is-going-on, wait-that’s-actually-bonkers kind of love.
The Rockwell family (father, mother, son, daughter) are taking a road trip, but they find themselves lost, with a flat tire. They hike to a nearby convenience store / gas station. The proprietress, Granny, invites them to stay and eat a meal with her family while one of her sons goes to fix the car. Her sons are: Plates (Warwick Davis), Brains, and the Surgeon General.
It doesn’t take long before the father, mother, and son are dead — and the daughter, Tina, is imprisoned in a room covered in newspapers. The bulk of the movie is Tina attempting to escape from captivity, while at the same time Brains is courting her (to Granny’s disapproval).
There are some fun action set pieces (one involving elderly bikers, another involving moving vehicles). Brains shows Tina how to ride a motorcycle and imagines running naked through the streets of New York City.
Tina discovers the reasons why Granny’s family is the way they are (sort of), and ultimately escapes (…or does she?), but the journey is one that will stick with you like a heaping mouthful of peanut butter: tasty, and difficult to excavate.
“I didn’t know if you were hungry, so I brought you some soup and money.” This is one deeply odd movie that I wouldn’t mind watching again. There is some gore, but it’s not fetishized.