Sex & Death 101

The rules of writer/director Daniel Waters’ (screenwriter, Heathers) Sex & 101 curriculum are simple: live long enough to boink another day. But that’s not easy for Roderick Blank (Simon Baker, Land of the Dead), when it looks like with each conquest his is getting closer and closer to becoming a forever silenced victim of Death Nell (Winona Ryder, Heathers), a femme fatale who punishes promiscuous males with poetic justice.

How did poor Roderick find himself in such a predicament? The setup is supernatural in origin, but the resolution is all too mortal. The whole mess begins when Roderick’s sweet yet stern secretary (Mindy Cohen, “The Facts of Life”) opens one of his emails for him, and relays a long list of the women’s names. He recognizes all of them as ladies he’s bedded, up to a point: to the name of his fiancée. Seventy-two more names follow.

What to do? The list of licentiousness certainly throws him for a loop and puts him on a quest to meet the woman whose name appears after his betrothed. Does it mean what he thinks it does? That they will have sex? Yes. So of course, one thing leads to another, the engagement is off, and the curiosity about each next conquest practically kills.

Meanwhile, a gorgeous brunet in disguise is stalking the city’s male population, taking victim after victim, leaving their bloody bodies behind with no clues other than her florid poetry. The media dubs her “Death Nell”, but her real name is unknown. Could she be the last one on Roderick’s list? You bet your garters and guts she is!

While Sex & Death 101 falls more into the category of comedy (black) than horror (light), it’s just as deserving as attention here as its brethren (the Scary Movie franchise, So I Married An Ax Murderer, Zombie Honeymoon, et al – in fact, its tone reminded me a bit of horror and sci-fi director Enzo Natoli’s existential comedy from a few years back, Nothing). Unlike most genre blenders of this sort, there is nothing sophomoric about Sex & Death 101. There’s definitely lots of T&A, bloody moments and a couple of shocking death scenes, but the presentation is completely and refreshingly adult in nature.

Baker and Ryder are both perfectly in their roles, while Cohen mugs a bit too much – yet remains utterly likeable throughout. Comic Patton Oswalt (the voice of Ratatouille) plays one of the mysterious keepers of the universe’s secrets in a strange purgatory of computers and computations, and he doles out some pretty bad advice to Roderick on occasion. The cinematography and score are nothing special, but the simple script is witty and moves along quickly enough.

While eventually Sex & Death 101 starts to feel reminiscent of a one-night-stand who won’t just put on its clothes and go (and it wants to give a big, sloppy parting kiss, too), it’s still a pretty solid rom-com with just enough of the serial killer story line to keep horror fans interested.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson