Straight Edge Kegger

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.

Straight up sucked! Dumb premise. Relied heavily on appearance of bands. The music was great. It was really hard to sit 80 minutes till the end. After a good night of short horror films, this movie started. And alot of people got up and left.

Go watch Green Room, and then follow it up with the rest of Jeremy Saulnier's filmography if you want to see exactly what this movie was attempting.

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.

My cinematic standards are pretty low: I can forgive less than stellar acting; I take great joy in non-sensical plots; I even find there's a certain charm to low-budget effects and filming techniques. What I can't forgive though is being boring, and unfortunately Straight Edge Kegger commits this most unforgivable of sins.

The film is only 75 minutes, but the first 40 of those are spent on an overly drawn-out setup. The second half is where the action starts, but surprisingly even then it all still feels like a slog. I found myself constantly checking to see how much longer I had left to watch.

For a film about punk, the plot and action also feel maddeningly mainstream. It feels restrained, conservative even. I got the sense that the film thought it was being really balls-to-the-wall, but I felt it never truly committed. I wish they had just gone for it, even if ended up as a complete failure. Interesting failures are at least memorable. Right now though the film stands in this awkward middle ground: too low budget to be an effective normal horror film, while also far too normal to be an underground gem.

I hate dunking on a smaller production like this. Just getting a film to screen deserves commendation, all the more so if that film is reasonably competently made like this one is. However I just can't really recommend Straight Edge Kegger. It feels far too long even with it's short runtime, and ultimately does not capture any of the punk spirit.