Straight Edge Kegger

The contradiction inherent in the title of this film hints at the cleverness of writer/director Jason Zink. As someone who enjoys horror and is fascinated by "punk" culture, and as someone who strongly appreciates a story about identity crisis, I knew I was in for a treat within the first few minutes of this film. The opening scenes at the concert (and outside the venue) are some of the strongest in the film, though when things devolve into violent madness near the film's end, the tension is effective and stays strong throughout the movie's climax. I think Jason Zink is definitely a director to watch and I can't wait to see what he could accomplish with a larger budget.

Just sat through this and for the first half of the movie I contemplated walking out. The opening is just torture as you are forced to listen to incomprehensible music for about 4 songs. Then you suffer through what feels like an hour of "story" that should have been and easily could have been condensed way down. Heck they introduce a ton of characters that other than the main 4 I couldn't tell you who they were or anything about them. There is a person playing Edward 40 hands that they kept showing that I am not 100% sure the fate of because of the awkward cuts and pacing. The movie gets bearable once it turns into a murder fest. Though even that is weak as it goes from 0 to 100 on violence and doesn't show a lot of it or gets real close when it does. Then right at the end the tone shifts from omg there is violence and death everywhere to jokes and that was crazy but oh well. More of the second half none of the first next time.

Following a series of confrontations, a man grows disillusioned with his friends in the straight-edge punk scene and befriends a more liberal fan of the movement, but when his friends learn about this decides to attend a house party their throwing and kill off everyone there forcing him to fight them off to get away alive.

Overall, this one was enjoyable if still heavily flawed. Among its more negative features is the obvious disconnect possible here with the films' music and politics. Despite being painted as the hero, a holier-than-thou type hanging out with others even more extreme than he is doesn't make the lifestyle all that appealing especially seeing how the near-militant fanaticism is seen as a good thing. The association with awful, unappealing music at the shows throughout these scenes doesn't help matters at all either. On top of this, there's not much to like about the motivations and reasoning for carrying everything out. The extreme nature and barbaric treatment of other random kids in the scene serve as a fine extreme point but the militant fanaticism that would require a brutal, violent home invasion killing off anyone they come across at a strangers' party. There's little to recognize how that snap would occur and lead into such a violent confrontation, much less explain the motivation of the faceless goons following along. The other issue here is the rather bland and uninteresting first half that doesn't have a lot of excitement going for it. Adeptly working through his personal crisis with the music scene and wanting to abandon his friends still doesn't inspire a lot of interest in what's happening, and with the bland music happening leaves the first half so awfully paced that a severe case of boredom can easily emerge. Overall, these are what drag this one down overall. That said, there are some enjoyable elements here. Those are all relegated to the finale with the home invasion antics where this turns into a solid slasher. The ambush and surprise attacks they carry off are quite fun, especially with the highly enjoyable attacks outside the house where they pick off the escapees trying to get away. These are brutal, graphic and often outright fun with the shockinness of their action and the enjoyable moments where they fight back which makes for a grilling segment and the film's biggest attributes.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Extreme Graphic Language and mild drug use.

Looking at the other reviews on here, I might be the only person in the world who thinks it, but I thought this movie was great. Maybe it's my own life in punk related music scenes that made this more appealing to me. However I've watched many a punk themed film, and for me this ranks as one of the best. Hipster attention to detail is paramount here, every vinyl, sticker, tattoo, t shirt etc seems perfectly chosen and artfully framed. The soundtrack must be mentioned, with digital noise and jazz mixing in with the expected punk and hardcore. The story it tells is a simple one, as in most slasher movies it's mostly scene setting for sickening violence. Add in some chummy moments and humour along the way and the whole thing just zips by. More punxsploitation like this please.

This film is terrible...don't let the filmmaker's friends and families reviews fool you...this is a terrible film. Don't waste your time like I did. Terrible writing, directing, acting and was overall awful. The effects were the only part that saved this in the least...but even that wasn't enough to keep me interested.

I'll give them a 1 because at least they tried.