Bring Me The Head Of Mavis Davis review

Reviews

Jan 16th 1998 By Total Film

With a quirky title and two capable comedy leads in Rik Mayall and Jane "Ab Fab" Horrocks, the prospects for this British project looked promising, after all, it worked for A Fish Called Wanda. Witness a story about washed-up music exec Marty Starr (Mayall), the once proud, successful producer who discovered frumpy unknown Mavis Davis (Horrocks) and turned her into the sexy, beautiful Marla Dorland, a Bonnie Tyler clone. However, Dorland's record sales have nose-dived, and Marty is up to his neck in debt. But then he hits upon a simple idea: Hendrix, Elvis and Kurt Cobain all became globally popular (and made tons of cash) after their deaths: would the same work for Dorland? What follows is a laborious, plodding tale of bungled killings, mix-ups and vacuous comedy. Mayall and Horrocks try to make the best of a bad script but, surrounded by a gaggle of lame, unlikeable stereotypes (the prima donna songstress, heavies who can barely string a sentence together, an inept assassin who's frightened of blood - oh please!), they're irretrievably lost in a terrible, laugh-free film.