James R | On 02, Jun 2015

Director: Tony Hipwell, Miles Watts
Cast: Elaine Glover, Andrew Dunn, Olwen May, Philip Rowson
Watch Whoops! online in the UK: Vimeo On Demand

Serial killers are no laughing matter. Well, most of them aren’t. Then again, Rose (Glover) isn’t really a serial killer. She’s just incredibly unlucky.

It’s a neat premise from directors Tony Hipwell and Miles Watts, who stack up the dead bodies with a mischievous grin. From clipboards to a high-heeled shoe to the face, Rose’s murders manage to be daft and gory in equal measure, accompanied by an increasingly bewildered stare from Elaine Glover.

Simultaneously panicked and petrified, Glover makes for a likeable klutz, supported by her loyal – and equally incredulous – husband, Philip (Clements). But the show is stolen by Andrew Dunn (Dinnerladies) as pervert boss, Ed, who sneers things like “hard at work” with a lusty smile. All the while, the directors chuck around fake blood like it’s still the 1980s, impaling eyeballs with impressive visual effects – the kind of behaviour that, inevitably, sees Rose swiftly followed by the police.

Appropriately enough for a film called Whoops!, the script’s tone occasionally trips and falls on its face; the late introduction of an inappropriate cop is awkward rather than amusing, while the scenario itself is stretched out to the max, but the absurd amounts of red stuff and Rose’s believable run of bad luck make this uneven comedy an entertaining watch.

Serial killers are no laughing matter. In the case of Whoops!, you can make an exception.

Whoops! is available to watch online through Vimeo On Demand here.

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