I tend to applaud horror movies that take time to blend in a few laughs, for this shows they have a sense of humor about themselves and embrace the outrageousness of their genre. Otis could've played itself straight, but the filmmakers wisely decided to turn it into a twisted parody of similar movies that take themselves too seriously. Unfortunately, this approach turns out too good to be true. Although Otis gets off to a refreshing start, some misguided storytelling renders the latter chunk of the film disappointingly bitter.

Otis (newcomer Bostin Christopher) is a shy, unassuming pizza delivery guy whose greatest wish involves having someone to take to the prom. The problem? Otis happens to be 40 years old, obese, and his "dates" keep dying before the "prom" even takes place. But Otis remains undeterred in his quest to find a sweetie whether they like it or not, selecting high schooler Riley Lawson (Ashley Johnson) as the latest object of his affection. Shackled up in an underground dungeon, Riley learns her captor is less interested in inflicting pain upon her than with leading the high school life he never had. But as nonviolent as Otis's intentions are, that doesn't cut any ice with Riley's parents (Daniel Stern and Illeana Douglas), who opt to go over the head of an ineffective FBI agent (Jere Burns) and exact bloody vengeance on Otis themselves.

Otis is the fourth release from Warner Bros.' Raw Feed horror label, and after sitting through the other three sluggish flicks, I think this one comes out on top. There's a lot of ambition to be found here, born out of an inherent craziness adopted by the story. Everything you think would be commonplace in a usual horror flick is tweaked a little, slanted in a different direction to keep viewers on their toes. The most obvious stand-out is Otis himself. Sure, he's a slovenly creep who gets his kicks by forcing high schoolers to play along with his fantasies, but he's not exactly a psychotic killer. In fact, you're never sure Otis really is a killer, as one of his kidnapping victims ends up causing her own demise in the film's darkly funny opening scene. The most violent individuals turn out to be the Lawson family, whose quest to get revenge for their daughter's kidnapping, without spoiling anything, goes terribly awry. Fractured families abound throughout Otis, their respective actions intriguingly blurring the line between who's a good guy and who's a bad guy.

Despite the groovy time Otis offers for a short while,  the celebration soon becomes spoiled in a number of ways. Director Tony Krantz (who previously directed the Raw Feed feature Sublime) has fun combining humor and horror, but there comes a point where the dark comedy forces its characters to act like complete idiots. Some scenes are meant to ring with a heavy sense of irony, but it's hard to chuckle when certain characters go out of their way to make baffling, dumb decisions (the all-too abrupt ending exemplifies this perfectly). Also, the rather stationary cinematography helps cramp the movie's style, and I breathed a sigh of relief whenever the camera actually moved. Acting here is a mixed bag, with Stern and Douglas coming across as delightfully loopy some of the time but flat as a pancake during rest of their scenes. Christoper, however, delivers a standout turn as an antagonist you might feel a little sorry for.

Otis includes a few moments where it scrapes a level of near genius, but too many bland apples end up spoiling this cinematic barrel. Still, although it never matches the cohesive insanity seen in Shaun of the Dead or The Signal, this movie's demented charms will probably work on you at least some of the time.

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Warner Home Video; not rated by MPAA.)