Battle Queen 2020 (2001)

*Get the film on Amazon here*

Julie Strain teams with Roger Corman for a terrible science fiction epic shot with a budget equal to the amount of change under your couch cushions.

A giant asteroid has hit the Earth and wiped out most of the population. Some do survive. The Elites are a group of cigar chomping high rollers who have plenty of mistresses and little care for the normal folk (yes, just like the U.S. Congress). The rest of the people live underground, where they hold out hope that the rebel army, and you just knew there would be a rebel army, will deliver them from the Elites. Strain is Gayle, the head mistress of the Elites. She is busy sleeping with the Elite leader, Spencer (Jeff Wincott). Crazy Dr. Braxton (Bill Baker) has underground dwellers kidnapped and takes their brain glands, keeping the Elites immortal. Military style leader Manson (Brian Frank) is tired of Spencer's softening with the underground people, and plots a coup. In the meantime, Gayle meets cute little girl Claire (Jade Kroll), and you just knew there would be a cute little girl, who shows Gayle that there is more to live for than just constant wealth and sex- I guess.

As with any Julie Strain film, I marveled at her immense screen presence, and how her physical stature dwarfs all the other silliness going on. Most of the film is shot on a cheesy soundstage that looks like it was rented in between porn shoots. The special effects are awful. Cheap computer animation is everywhere. The script can be blamed on four writers and an "additional writing" credit. Plotlines are introduced and dropped- Gayle's brother, little sick Billy, new mistress Michelle- all especially noticeable in an eighty minute film. D'or's direction is standard, you cannot show the world your true cinematic vision with a two room set, a five dollar budget, and half a dozen clueless extras. Listen for the voiceover, as a grown up Clare laments her days spent in the brothel. Or Gayle's hypothermia treatment, where warm water is cascaded over her chest. Or the goofy actionless escape sequence, where the narrator must tell you what happens, instead of the audience actually seeing a fight. Or the laughable finale, with some of the worst computer animation ever rendered.

Enjoy "Battle Queen 2020" on a "bad movie" level.

Stats:
(2001) 95 min. (*) out of five stars
-Directed by Daniel D'Or
-Written by William D. Bostjancic, Michael B. Druxman, Billy Hulkower, Caron Nightingale
-Cast: Julie Strain, Jeff Wincott, Bill Baker, Brian Frank, Jade Kroll, Zerha Leverman, Paul Rapovski, Celia Hart, Eva Nemeth, Tony Curtis Blondell, Sean Tyson, Tijuana Layne, Ken Lemaire
(R)