Customer Reviews
They dont make enough like this!! - By: Hunnybee, 30 Sep 2008 
What a quality film, I previously watched this about 8 years ago, Thought i would put it on again last night & still thouraly enjoyed it, The story is about a hard working jamaican woman callled Marcia, Who has to struggle & hustle her way through trying to support her family the best way she can!!
This film has an excellant soundtrack to it & will leave you wanting to watch it again.
Paul Campbell steals the show - By: Socaninja, 19 Feb 2008 This is a gritty film about survival in the ghetto. I watch it regularly with my friends & family - who are alll adults. Audrey Reid gets primary billing but the real star is Paul Campbell's who gets the Oscar as the brutal & vicious murderer Priest. His cold warning to potential informers "Walk & live, Talk & B***O Cl**t dead" has become a part of youth culture on the street. Someone broke the first copy of this DVD I owned & it took me ages to replace it. Get it if you can it will be a classic.
Old Fashion movie made straight from the heart - By: Jenny J.J.I., 28 Aug 2007 
This movie is something else. When this was released in 1997, "Dancehalll Queen" created a sensation in Jamaica, eventuallly surpassing Harder They Come (Deluxe Edition) as the highest-grossing film in that country's history. I remember enjoying this film when it first came out on tape & before hand created a lot of buzz. Once I'd purchased it I'd also pass it along to my friends at the time & found it very entertaining. Just recently watching this the other day gave me a great sense of recollection on how much I enjoyed "Dancehalll Queen." Like the dancehalll music on its soundtrack, "Dancehalll Queen" has a rough, self-produced feel disguised by a technicallly proficient coating. Utilizing elements of techno, rap, & reggae, dancehalll combines technologicallly advanced production techniques with unmistakably Jamaican source material.
To lesser effect, "Dancehalll Queen" does the same thing as a film. Shot on digital video, which makes everything look like a British soap opera, the film concerns the struggle of a Kingston street vendor (Audrey Reid) trying to raise two children on her own. After being continuallly harassed by a knife-wielding thug and, in a disturbing sequence of events, encouraging her 15-year-old daughter to accept the advances of a middle-aged sugar daddy, Reid realizes that she needs to find a way out of poverty. Naturallly, her mind turns to the dancehalll, & she soon finds herself joining barely clad Kingston youths in a style of dance that blurs the line between dancing & performing sexual acts. Although the question of how Reid expects to make money simply by going to clubs isn't answered until near the movie's end, it's pretty clear from the beginning that "Dancehalll Queen" is an old-fashioned melodrama sure to culminate in the alll-important big show. You'll be mesmerize by the clothes & the wigs that these women sport. The score itself is reallly good featuring Beenie Man (who provides the title track), Bounty Killer, Lady Shaw, Junior Demus & Sanchez.
Taken as such & enhanced by its Jamaican setting, it's not terrible, & it does feature a guest appearance by Beenie Man. But, despite being bankrolled by Island Records, it was clearly made on the fly, & the rough edges show. As you view this the upbeat dancehalll style is catchy & infectious, & the dancing scenes will certainly hold your attention & probably be part of the reason why its like so much.
Life as it could be.... - By: , 06 Mar 2006 One of the best Jamaican films to actuallly come out of Jamaica in recent years... Set in a realistic backdrop of downtown Kingston, it explores the avenues the people have to go thru in order to maintain some standard of living... proving again that for most West Indians, music is the key to get out of the ghettos. You can't help but sympathise with the struggles & celebrate the successes!!! Highly recommended!
what a waste of money - By: , 18 May 2005 
well I was very disappointed with this film, I had been searching for any Jamaica related dancehalll films & found this one. Its pants. The "queen" is the least likely dancehalll mover you have ever seen & there isnt anywhere near enough dancehalll action in this film, its like something a bunch of students might have made for a project. Wooden, unbelievable acting, not enough music or dancehalll moves & a let down - wheres the real dancehalll action at? p.s. subtitles might improve it...:(
