Return to Splatter Farm

Thirty three years passed between Mark Polonia's SOV gore film Splatter Farm and this sequel, during which time he directed plenty of other films; you would think he would have improved a lot over the space of three decades, but judging by Return to Splatter Farm, he's actually lost what little skill he had in the first place.

A good slasher usually features attractive people being sliced and diced in creative and gory ways by an iconic killer. Polonia's film features ugly people being offed in lazy and unimaginative ways by a lame maniac (played by Polonia's co-director and writer of this garbage, Jeff Kirkendall), with some truly pathetic special make-up effects.

The film sees Bobbi (Danielle Donahue) and her friends visiting the titular farm, the young woman having recently inherited the place. While there, they are attacked one-by-one by Jeremy, the killer from the first film, who has been living on the farm, bumping off any passers-by.

The acting is diabolical, the direction is basic, and the editing is awful. In addition to the bargain basement gore, Polonia and Kirkendall get two of the 'actresses' to strip for the camera: Jennie Russo as big-breasted middle-aged nympho Gina, and Mel Heflin, who plays Liz, an overweight redhead with delusions that she is sexy (if her skin was green, she'd be Princess Fiona's less attractive sister).

Nowhere near as much fun as the original movie, which had more gore and a certain demented charm about it, Return to Splatter Farm is unforgivably dull and utterly inept (the scene in which lank-haired loser Gopher is hit by lightning being the worst moment).

1.5/10, rounded down to 1 for the terrible theme song.

Splatter Farm (1987), in strictly cinematic terms, is a work devoid of any real value: its narrative is rudimentary, its technical execution virtually non-existent, and its aesthetic approach borders on the repulsive. And yet, despite - or perhaps because of - its innumerable flaws, the film retains a singular power. There is in it a raw visceral quality, an unhealthy honesty that, while deeply disturbing, feels authentic. It is a product of its time and context, a primitive testament to the most extreme guerrilla filmmaking, impactful not because of its quality but due to its complete lack of restraint.

Return to Splatter Farm (2020), by contrast, is a very different case. This belated sequel, despite its clear technical improvements - better cinematography, intelligible sound, formal scene construction - is paradoxically even more of a failure. By adopting a self-conscious posture and attempting to replicate, with modern resources, the spirit of a film that was first and foremost an unrepeatable accident, it falls into the trap of becoming a hollow pastiche, stripped of any spontaneity.

The core issue lies not only in its execution, but in its very reason for existing: Return to Splatter Farm offers neither a new interpretation nor a revisionist take. It merely imitates the excesses of the original from an ironically sanitized perspective. By professionalizing what was once pure chaos, it completely loses the marginal and transgressive character that, in all its ineptitude, made Splatter Farm a unique artifact within American underground cinema.

In short, if the 1987 film was an anomaly - a brutal scream from the cultural periphery - this sequel is merely an empty echo, polished into sterility. Its attempt to resurrect the irrecoverable not only fails but relegates the grotesque to the realm of the predictable and trivial.

I think sometimes with horror films, we tend to forgive bad acting and a diabolical script as par for the course. We try and enjoy it for what it is. This however, is an exception to that rule. Painfully bad in absolutely every aspect, rendering it almost unwatchable. Another 90 minutes of my life goes sailing into the abyss that I'll never get back 🙄

If you've watched a Polonia brothers film before, then you know they have a certain vibe to them. If you get it, then you understand why they are such a fun time. Some are better than others, but this my friends...is a masterpiece.

First things first, the runtime. A perfect 71 mins. It doesn't take long for the carnage to start, and when it does it never stops. The acting all around from the cast was pretty decent, for a slasher flick vibe. They hit all the right notes on the 80s tone it seemed to be going for. Great music (especially the return to Splatterfarm theme song at the end) I often catch my roommates and myself singing it around the house.

Now the kills. In true polonia fashion, the kills didn't disappoint. However, they did try some new things that I was NOT prepared for. For example in Bigfoot Vs Zombies there was someone being ripped apart by zombies. When his organs were being torn out, if you had a keen eye you could tell it was just a red shirt. In this film, something similar is happening but they didn't use a shirt... it was clearly a nice sausage (probably from the farm I bet). Anyways, all of the kills were creative and fun.

Now onto the plot. Well, we don't watch these movies for that now do we.

Theirs really only one more thing to discuss with this film, and that's Jeff Kirdendall's performance as the killer. He really brought it for this movie. He definitely took some risks acting wise, but they paid off big time. Easily his best performance to date, and I've seen like 8 of his movies.

So yeah, definitely check this out and support these guys. There is something really Wholesome about them, and if you include a friend and a fun substance. You might just find yourself making an IMDb account and writing a review. 10/10.

Ignore the bad reviews on this movie and just watch it.