Hounddog, also known as the infamous “Dakota Fanning rape movie,” has been desperately seeking distribution since its debut at Sundance in 2007. Now audiences will discover Fanning’s sexual assault is just one part of a thoroughly offensive trip to the movies.

Hounddog stars Fanning as Lewellen, an Elvis obsessed 12-year old in 1950s Alabama, trapped between her abusive father, David Morse (who turns in a performance reminiscent of Simple Jack in Tropic Thunder), her absentee mother, Robin Wright Penn, who also executive produced the film, and her God-fearing grandmother, Piper Laurie.

Deborah Kampmeier fails as both writer and director. Filled with mallet-handed symbolism that bashes the audience over the head and laughably bad overacting, Hounddog has the pretense of being about shattered innocence (there are constant Adam and Eve references), but it’s more like a subpar Black Snake Moan with a 12-year-old; exploitive, misguided and almost unwatchable.

Grade: F

Hounddog releases in select theaters Sept. 19.