My Bloody Banjo

Review of the directors cut:

I don't know who I feel more sorry for, Peltzer or his d1ck! I loved the comically over-the-top caricatures of office bullies and various other d1ckheads. As soon as Ronnies summoned, the giggles come thick and fast, his sense of humor is offensive and grotesque and I love it! The directors cut certainly has alot more dialogue than id usually care for but its all worth it to watch Peltzer exact his revenge against his tormentors in the end. Shout outs to Vito Trigo for capturing my old managers in a gloriously over exaggerated nutshell! His scene where he encourages Lawrence Hardy (yes, THAT GUY) to kill themselves was unexpectedly dark but you couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. The gore is exactly what i would have expected from a Troma movie, cartoonish splatter and silly practical effects abound and i couldnt be happier to see it! The bathroom scene made my friend look away and almost made me turn away, almost. I couldn't help be reminded of the bathroom scene in "i spit on your grave", while not the same, it's similarly wince-inducing. Im pleased to say that the movie doesn't end with a fizzle, so lets just say "High school massacres are so...1999" and leave it at that. Highly entertaining. Who says you need millions to make a movie and entertain people?!

This is indie cinema as it should be and I cant wait to see what else Liam sh1ts out of his head-anus. EMC here we come!

This low budget British splatter movie takes place in the fictional town of Henenlotter (which doesn't sound British in the slightest but is a nod to American horror director Frank H). Peltzer Arbuckle, along with his colleagues, is bullied at work by his tyrant of a boss Mr Sawyer, he is also a failure in the sack with his drop dead gorgeous girlfriend Deetz (played by the stunningly buxom Dani Thompson). He finds a Ouija board and calls up an imaginary friend from his childhood called Ronnie, together they put a very gory end to Peltzer's tormentors. I had not heard of this movie until very recently but it came up as a recommendation online, I bought a very reasonably priced copy of it on DVD and yeah, I enjoyed it. Sensitive viewers best give this one a wide berth, it contains very strong language and extreme gore, the bloody penis scene being the highlight, there is also plenty of sex (though no nudity, apart from a fake torn penis, ouch!). Generally speaking I felt that the cast did a good job, however I wasn't very keen on the demonic Ronnie. He certainly looks creepy but his constant crudeness was a bit too much, he also has a weird accent, I guess he's meant to be American but the actor's English accent could clearly be heard. At least American actors were cast as other American characters, Lloyd "Troma" Kaufman has a small cameo as a doctor, which was nice. This was the directional debut of Liam Regan and credit to him and his team. My 6/10 score means that it just falls short of being a good film, however I'd score them 8/10 for effort. Beware of fake 10/10 reviews! And finally the end credits have what must be one of the best declarations ever - "No penises were harmed, severed, torn or snapped during the making of this movie" - awesome!!

Really enjoyed this movie, all kinds of wrong in a really good way. Really funny with solid performances, loved the random cameos.

Without a doubt one of the best indie films of the last ten years, a real piece of art. Loads of blood and gore and sick things said and done, a true tribute to the 80's from someone (Liam the director) who clearly knows what he is doing.

Peltzer is a defeated man. That's his lot in life and it guides his every decision. Many a good horror movie has a weak-link character whose role is to make the irrational decisions necessary to forward the plot: Harry Cooper in Return of the Living Dead, Miguel Ferrer in Deep Star Six. Now imagine the lead character in a story being such a man. That's the strong point of this movie. It leaves the viewer squirming in their seat, helpless as we ever could be. There's no use shouting at the screen, no point cursing the character; he's going to do what he has to do and you can only enjoy the train wreck. As typical per a Troma-style movie, you have unrelenting bullies who utterly humiliate the most vulnerable characters. People you want to die the most horrible deaths imaginable, but I don't want to spoil that. Cool points go to the writer for dropping Henenlotter's name on one of the facilities.

Banjo is a tale of an unremarkable guy called Peltzer who is bullied by his office boss and whom with his sexy, asset-laden partner is also cheating. Following an unfortunate and rather painful incident, Peltzer's already downbeat situation takes a final plummeting nose dive, leading to an imaginary friend called Ronnie to appear before him; who begins to take the reins, pushing Peltzer's life into vengeful bloody mayhem.

Banjo reminded me a lot of the 2013 psychological horror/drama "Dementamania", although Peltzer comes across as more of a victim and loser than Ed Arkham. Quite unlike Dementamania however, Banjo has a fun feel to it, whereas the former is a fairly clinical affair.

Banjo is hardly a tour-de-force of modern horror/exploitation cinema but it is a cool demonstration of what a genre-loving director can achieve. I'm a fan of the Troma-style genre of movies which has helped influence aspects of Banjo and, from the outset, does have its fair share of crazy, crude moments which put it in that league. Yet I felt too many scenes and too many moments of dialogue were, whilst all in context, unnecessarily prolonged and lacking the quick-fire MTV sensibility which I would have expected in this sub genre of movie.

The other main issue with the movie is, for me, the character Ronnie. He got on my nerves after a while. Some moments, Ronnie was clown-like, then at others a devil on the shoulder or playground teaser. This might have been intentional but I struggled to securely identify with him and as a result didn't really see him as the overwhelming catalyst he should have been for the latter stages of the movie.

These points aside, Banjo does have some remarkable, if eye-watering moments and a solid performance from lead actor James Hamer-Morton, who really helps tie the movie together. There is one scene in particular which is likely to get people talking and I, for one, have never winced so badly during a movie. Not ever - and that's after a lifelong diet of horror!

Whilst Banjo does have its flaws, the movie is clearly made on a low budget and I applaud the director and crew for an achievement which is clearly going to be an inspiration to other future film-makers. The special effects are surprisingly good and put a lot of bigger productions to shame and the acting throughout was not half as wooden or Troma-esque as I was expecting. Overall, it flows well and is a competent piece of film making.

So did I like it then? Well I definitely feel like watching it again to make up my mind, because it was not the kind of watch that leaves you yearning for the finish, which I suppose means that I did.

At least next time I'll know the cue for when to close my eyes and cover my ears.