Part gritty prison drama, part inner-city ghetto chronicle, the tale offers a compassionate plea for a new direction for black males if they are to survive oppression in white-dominated society.

Shirley Barrett wrote and directed Love Serenade, an Australian comedy, which was peromoted as “the story of two sisters who will do anything to hook the right man.”

The film received strong critical reviews and won awards, including the Camera d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Fest.

Since the Warner film cost $90 million to produce — a staggering price for the horror genre — and audience scores are downright bad, it’s the year’s first big bomb.