100 Bloody Acres

It's bit of everything but not subtle. Watchable if you have time. Mildly entertaining. Nothing special or memorable. Acting, directing was good, though. 5.5/10.

"100 Bloody Acres" is a very entertaining little horror comedy from Oz. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, except that I enjoyed it.

The set-up is that three people are travelling to some music festival, where they flag down a truck driven by a guy in the fertilizer business, played by Damon Herriman, who recently played Charles Manson. They don't know that the origins of this famous fertilizer sold by Herriman and his brother - unlikely Aussie sex symbol Angus Sampson - is ground up human flesh.

We get some pretty typical scenes with people tied up, trying to escape, but the movie really sings with the scenes with Sampson and Herriman. Sampson's portrayal as the gruff, intimidating brains behind the evil operation is the movie's strong suit.

The movie has a few quite violent moments, but at least it spares us the tedious torture porn rubbish we get in so many horror flicks these days.

As a horror comedy, of course the movie is never scary or suspenseful, but nor is it really laugh out loud funny. However, it does manage a light, humorous tone throughout that keeps a smile on your face.

Co-writer/directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes, in their feature film debut, successfully deliver all the essential elements needed to both make you laugh & squirm in their new black comedy "100 Bloody Acres". A story of two unscrupulous brothers, Reg(Damon Herriman) and Lindsay Morgan(Angus Sampson) and their quest to be the unrivaled top dogs of the local fertilizer industry, a status that they will stop at nothing to achieve. After a tragic accident claims six lives in town, the two swipe the bodies from the scene and after adding them to their special "mix", they become the champions of the fertilizer biz.

Our story starts out with Reg, while out driving one day he encounters a trio of kids, Sophie(Anna McGahan),James(Oliver Ackland) and Wesley(Jamie Kristian) who happen to have the bad luck of having car trouble and are looking for a ride into town to attend a local music festival. At first Reg resists, but after some thought & a little nagging, he reluctantly welcomes James & Wes into the back of his cube truck & Sophie up front to ride with him. Any good intentions soon vanish as the guys discover the body of a man Reg previously collected from an accident scene. Thus the film descends into a quite comical & altogether gory fight as the trio does their best to remain "unprocessed" at the brother's fertilizer factory.

While the plot consisted of conventional & somewhat clichéd ideas it used those elements to their maximum potential. With fine acting from the entire cast, skillful gore effects and proper production values, the film managed some serious laugh out loud moments while also delivering a few bona fide quirky uncomfortable scenes of horror, all of which were delivered in fun, as it stayed mainly on the black comedy track. If you don't mind gore and have the urge for a hilarious Aussie dark comedy, I absolutely recommend it.

--^--7.4/10--^--

Entertaining enough to keep your attention. some laughs,some blood.worth wasting an hour and a half. 7 out of 10

'100 BLOODY ACRES': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes make their feature film debut writing and directing this Australian horror/comedy film about brothers who run an organic fertiliser business that's dependent on dead bodies (as it's secret ingredient) to make it work so well. One of the brother's comes across three partygoers, on their way to a music festival, and brings them home to introduce to his big brother (and the family business). The movie stars character actors Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson as the brothers and the beautiful Anna McGahan as one of their captured victims. The movie is full of dark humor and twisted gore. If you like dark Australian comedy and horror this is the movie for you.

Lindsay Morgan (Sampson) and his brother Reg (Herriman) have been running a successful organic fertiliser business for some time, that's finally getting it's first radio add, but the only problem is it's dependent on dead bodies, ran through a meat grinder, to make it work so well. The Morgan brothers have been collecting car crash victims to supply this 'secret ingredient' to their fertiliser and as the film opens Reg has just found another body at a crash site. While he's hauling the body home though he comes across a young woman, Sophie (McGahan), and her two male friends (Oliver Ackland and Jamie Kristian). Due to the lack of dead bodies recently he decides to take them home, to his brother Lindsay, to use as the fertiliser ingredient instead (in an attempt to impress his bossy older brother). Things don't go as planned though as Reg develops feelings for Sophie.

If you couldn't tell the movie is part romance as well (twisted romance). It's definitely not for the faint of heart though (or for those who become sickened by the site of blood and gore) but as a dark comedy and horror film it really works. OK, it mainly just works as a dark comedy (as it's neither scary nor very disturbing) but it is gruesome. It also surprisingly has a lot of heart. The Reg character is actually pretty likable and Sophie is one of the coolest and most ideal women a guy could hope for. I love films like this; their great as long as you don't take them seriously.

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