Lick! Stick! Suck! and Swallow

_Lick! Stick! Suck! and Swallow_ Shane Grant is an inspiration. He’s an incredible independent filmmaker and what he achieves is nothing less than miraculous. I had the chance to catch his feature film, Lick Stick Suck and Swallow, at an exclusive test-audience screening. Let’s just start by saying this: it was a successful test. The packed theater was HOWLING along with characters Luther and Petunia with equal parts glee and shocked awe. Shane doesn’t pull his punches. You must be ready for some seriously graphic imagery from nearly every category of graphic imagery that exists. I found myself jaw dropped and squirming multiple times, which only added to the thrill of the experience. But not only is it a delicious visual buffet, there is some truly amazing storytelling happening here. We follow three distinct lead characters, all of whom stand at the center of their own story in a perfectly structured way. However, with some light overlap (characters, things, and places appearing across multiple chapters) and similarities between the three (they’re all super f*cked up in the head), we have something that really fits together as a whole. In the fourth and final chapter, all three characters are brought together in one of the most powerful closing sequences I’ve ever seen in a horror film. Explosive dialogue. Eloquent action. Lick Stick Suck and Swallow is an absolute gem of a movie and I really hope Shane doesn’t change it very much before final release! 4.5/5