Brutal Massacre: A Comedy

Most movies I've seen about making a movie aren't very good, but this one bucks the system. It's about a director who created one hit movie. After a series of bad movies he is basically given one more chance to create a movie that people want to watch. He and his film crew head to a small town to film his latest movie.

The director is just awful. He hires a cast of kooky film makers and actors. Everything that could possible go wrong while making a movie goes wrong in this movie. The acting is good. The characters are completely clueless.

It's a low budget movie, but is still well done. I barely even noticed the lack of big effects. I just came across this movie and didn't think much of it, but after watching it, I am very glad that I did.

Well, a 'comedy horror' film really can go one of two ways; either down the pan, or just sit on the edge of the pan. Surprisingly, I found myself laughing, and then laughing some more. Shot in mockumentary style, BM follows the travails of director and crew in the shooting of yet another horror film by a failed director. The acting is tight, the shots well put together, and the laughs keep coming. For what it is, it's pretty good. if it weren't a spoof, it would be cringeworthy, as a spoof, it is well made, and funny!

I really enjoyed this film and found it absolutely hilarious. All of the characters were unique and believable especially David Naughton. David is simply wonderful and even a bit charming as filmmaker Harry Penderecki. I found Brutal Massacre to be very quirky and clever and it actually had me laughing out loud several times. If you are in the mood for something a little different, light hearted, and comical... Brutal Massacre just may be your cup of tea. And if you are a fan of horror, this one is a no-brainer...just get it! This may very well be one of the best genre casts assembled in the past decade. See it, See it, See it!!!

I really wanted to like this movie and watched all the way through thinking it had to get better. Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst flick ever but it never lives up to it's potential. The premise is good, the cast is great (I was especially pumped to witness the return of David Naughton) and, God love 'em, you can tell everyone tried their best. It just falls short over and over again. "Brutal Massacre" should serve as a constant reminder to filmmakers that only Christopher Guest can do Christopher Guest movies and, despite the fact he makes it look easy, you should probably just forget trying to do the same. Naughton and Brian O'Halloran are fantastic in this and they should be seen more often...they are the reason this gets 4 stars from me. If you're going to have the "Spinal Tap" of horror I suspect you might want the guy who made "Spinal Tap" to helm it...just thinking out loud there.

Harry Pandarecki has made some good films... well, maybe one. And a slew of really, really bad ones. With funding getting more difficult to procure, we follow him on his one last chance for greatness. This mockumentary, following the film "Brutal Massacre" from scouting to filming to completion, is somewhere between horror and comedy, really missing the point of either.

Fangoria magazine called this the "Spinal Tap" of horror films. And, sure, there are some parallels. But "Spinal Tap" was witty and just plain funny, whereas this film strains to get a good joke across. With Fangoria's Tony Timpone featured in the film, as well as the magazine, it's no surprise they'd endorse this one. There's even a 40% coupon for a subscription in the box. Thanks, Tony, but you keep shilling for failures and what little credibility you have left will be lost.

I saw a twenty minute preview of this film presented by Ellen Sandweiss and Brian O'Halloran. I spoke with both of them later that night while drinking some tasty beers, and they're some very friendly cats. But, sadly, the only part of the preview that was funny was Gunnar Hansen, and this is an accurate description of the movie. Five minutes of laughs, ninety minutes of boredom. If it weren't for all the topless scenes, I don't know if I would have made it through the film on my first try without intestinal distress.

I look forward to meeting O'Halloran again. As I say, he's a cool cat and has made some great films. This is not one of them. Even the lines he ad-libbed (the Amazon jungle rant, for example) just weren't all that clever (and I don't blame him for this... he shouldn't have to pick up the slack of the actual writers) and his talents were wasted on this production. It was great to see Sandweiss, Hansen, Ken Foree... Mick Garris shows up briefly. So they knew what sort of genre people to get the attention of horror fans. Unfortunately, the writer and director (Stevan Mena, "Malevolence") just didn't have the skills to make this what it could have been. For a horror mockumentary, see "Behind the Mask" and leave this one for a last resort.