Auntie Lee's Meat Pies

This film begins with a homicidal maniac by the name of "Bruno" (Richard Vidan) having car problems and after being picked up by a beautiful, young woman named "Magnolia" (Ava Fabian) pulls out a gun and orders her to drive onto an isolated dirt road. Once completely out of sight from anyone on the highway he then orders her to get out of the car where he proceeds to knock her out and rape her while she is dazed and confused. The tables quickly turn, however, when she regains consciousness and subsequently kills him with a sharp hair pin. At that point she calmly puts his body in the back of her car and drives off to her home where "Auntie Lee" (Karen Black) is more than happy to grind up his body in order to make her famous meat pies. The scene then shifts to a beautiful blonde named "Fawn" (Kristine Rose) picking up a hitchhiker by the name of "Bob Evans" (Stephan Quadros) and taking him to Auntie Lee's house where he is quickly killed and ground up as well. It's then revealed that Auntie Lee has two other nieces named "Coral" (Teri Weigel) and "Sky" (Pia Reyes) who also lure young men to the house to supply Auntie Lee with the necessary ingredient for her meat pies as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that--although it had an interesting plot--the movie lacked the necessary suspense to qualify as a horror film and the humor wasn't nearly as sharp as it should have been for a good comedy. So, what we're left with are four beautiful young ladies and a couple of good actors in Pat Morita (as "Chief Koal") and the aforementioned Karen Black. But nothing of any substance to really sink your teeth into--and I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

The concept of Auntie Lee's Meat Pies is interesting and a cast of talented veterans like Karen Black, Pat Morita, and Michael Berryman do their best, but the script goes all over the place and a few subplots end up being entirely useless by the end of the film. A more fine tuned and straightforward script about a rock band falling prey to a group of cannibalistic temptresses would have been more interesting. Some of the visuals are colorful and the gore effects are decent, but there never seems to be a main character to pull for.

Oddly enough, with my admiration and fascination with horror movies, then I have actually never even heard about this 1992 horror comedy titled "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies". Not before now in 2021, as I stumbled upon the movie by random chance.

And seeing that the movie had Karen Black on the cast list, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies". Then I noticed that the movie also had Pat Morita and Michael Berryman on the cast list, then of course things became even more interesting.

Let me just say that "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies" was an enjoyable movie. Writers Joseph F. Robertson and Gerald Stein definitely managed to put together a good storyline. Sure, this was archetypical early 1990s stuff and it showed in every way, but that was part of what made "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies" so fun to watch. It was as cheesy as it was fun.

"Auntie Lee's Meat Pies" is not a movie that takes itself too serious, hence the comedy aspect to it. And while the comedy is subtle, it is definitely the type of dark and twisted humor that appealed to me, so I enjoyed what the writers did with the movie.

If you haven't already seen "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies", then I suggest you do so, should you have the opportunity. I was genuinely entertained by director Joseph F. Robertson's movie.

My rating of "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies" lands on a six out of ten stars.

What's sad is: Karen Black and Pat Morita can do good work. They didn't here. What's also sad is: the cannibalism food product motif had already been done ten years earlier in "Motel Hell," which was weirder and much more original. And the supposedly sultry sex scenes at the end are freakin' awful. I was young in the '90s and remember this style of cinematography, and I'm glad it was only a fad. Put simply: even if you like cheesy horror movies, don't waste your time.

A movie starring Karen Black as a madwoman who lures unsuspecting men to their doom with her stable of young girls and then turns them into meat pies should be a lot more fun than this movie is. It's really unfocused with a lot of padding and there are really only a few gore moments that stand out. Mostly a bore.