review for 9 Dead Gay Guys on AllMovie

Although it marks a valiant attempt to drag gay cinema out of both the romantic comedy cul-de-sac and the arthouse ghetto, this glib caper comedy is a little too cheeky for its own good. A self-professed cross-pollination of gross-out comedy and Quentin Tarantino/Guy Ritchie gangsterisms, Nine Dead Gay Guys goes out of its way to be an equal-opportunity offender. Murderous dwarves, Irish alcoholics, greedy Jews, well-hung Africans, unhygienic South Asians, gay-for-pay rent boys, surly lesbians, and corrupt, Quentin Crisp-style "stately old homos of England" all receive the anti-PC comedy treatment. Ultimately, though, the deliberately offensive gags can't hide writer/director Ky Mo Lab's hit-or-miss humor -- or the sentimental streak that never quite gels with the other aspects of the script. Leads Glen Mulhern and Brendan Mackey are appealing enough, while the supporting characters manage to wrest varying amounts of humanity from their stereotypical characters. But ultimately, Nine Dead Gay Guys can't overcome the air of desperate calculation that permeates nearly every scene.