I recently got a chance to preview Serial Buddies at the Boston Film Festival. This is the second effort I've seen from Writer/Director Keven Undergaro, and I have to say, he has come a long way since "In the Land of Merry Misfits". Serial Buddies shares some of the fantastical elements of Misfits (you get a strong sense that you're not quite in the real world) but the characters in Serial Buddies are much more fleshed out, as is the storyline.
Paul Ashton carries the film as the flamboyant Gregory. The subtleties of his performance filled in many blanks as the offbeat characters pursued their bloody quest. In the hands of a lesser actor the audience might have faced a few head-scratching moments, but Ashton kept the action chugging right along.
I suspect many reviewers are going to point out the great narration by Henry Winkler and the cameo roles by Christopher Lloyd, Artie Lange, Maria Menounos (also the film's co-producer) and Kathy Lee Gifford (all of whom shined) but to me the highlights came in the unexpected performances by Danielle Weeks as Winter, and Sir Richard Wentworth as Kravello. Not big parts for either of them, but they were both hysterical. They gave a real boost of momentum to the second half of the film. As I left the theater, my most prominent memories were of Weeks' drunken shrieking and Sir Richard's flashback montage. Either one alone would have been worth the price of admission.
Viewers hoping for a catalyst for some lively après-movie philosophical debate should be warned that Serial Buddies is not a morality play. In fact, Undergaro completely ignores the ethical implications of serial murder. Which is precisely what makes the movie funny. His comedy applies tension on the audience by not serving up the expected, obligatory antagonist. I was so pleased by the absence of the cliché cop-with-a-heart-of-gold hot to offer some banal counterpoint that murder is bad. More fun to see how it all plays out in the bizarre world of Undergaro's imagination. Well done.
