Flesh for the Inferno

Rue Morgue, the best horror reviewing magazine out there, has a great correspondent called "Last Chance Lance", it was from one of his reviews that I discovered this sub-Fulci piece of crap. This is an honest review. This film is just bad, bad, bad. Bad lighting. Bad story. Bad sfx. Bad music. Just a bad film about a rapist, murdering priest, who, with his demon nuns (who he offed early in the movie) comes back to torment some kids who were helping fix up an abandoned church. Just another crappy, low budget film that does little and accomplishes nothing. If I really want to convene with the Devil, I'll keep watching Lucifer on Fox. Hopefully I can forget I ever saw this trash.

FLESH FOR THE INFERNO is a low budget indie horror film set in a disused Catholic school. The back story involves a Satanic priest who ends up cursing and killing a group of nuns. Cut to the present day, where a young Christian group find themselves trapped in the building which is now plagued by supernatural evil. The film feels a little like Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS for the most part and has some effective if basic effects work and make-up, with the main fault being that it all falls apart in the second half with a big reveal which simply doesn't pay off. From this point in it becomes laughably overacted and a real disappointment.

With his prolific indie film career, New England filmmaker Richard Griffin is best known for his work in the horror genre. As a director, Griffin's forte is the horror/comedy hybrid. It's a type of film he has refined to near perfection recently with his previous horror film THE SINS OF Dracula which also came infused with a delicious helping of biting satire. With his latest horror feature FLESH FOR THE INFERNO, Griffin re-teams with writer Michael Varrati and the results are once again extremely satisfying. Unlike SINS, FLESH FOR THE INFERNO is not a subversion or melding of genres. Instead, the movie is a love-letter to 70s and 80s fright flicks. More specifically, FLESH takes cues directly from the Italian "Godfather of Gore" Lucio Fulci. The film has a vintage Euro-horror flavor from the religious themed storyline (recalling European nunsploitation films with the movie's demonic, killer nun antagonists), stylized lighting, practical (and extremely over-the-top) blood and gore special effects, and a pulse pounding synth music score (courtesy of Griffin's frequently employed composer Timothy Fife) that brings to mind the likes of John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi, and Goblin. Actually in a way, it's somewhat ironic the film is set in modern times (unlike Griffin's 80s set SINS or MURDER UNIVERSITY) as it might come the closest in feel of Griffin's films to a genuine 80s Italian horror flick. Heck, take out the present day backstory, swap in some vintage stock sound effects and dubbed in dialog and you'd probably be able to fool some people.

FLESH FOR THE INFERNO is a tightly paced, constantly suspenseful, engaging 85 minutes of horror. The plot centering around demonic nuns terrorizing a group of unsuspecting young people is simple and not terribly original, but Griffin takes the premise and makes one hell of an entertaining film out of it. As a film, FLESH plays most like Griffin's non-horror outing FUTURE JUSTICE in that it's a straight forward genre piece instead of a comedy. Even so, the movie is loads of fun (and like FUTURE JUSTICE) is peppered with some good comedic relief moments. The movie's cast performs well and Griffin regulars like Michael Thurber and Jamie Dufault are charismatic as usual. The ultra-gorgeous (even when plastered in fake blood!) Anna Rizzo has perhaps her largest role to date in a Griffin film and is plenty likable and fun to watch as well. Moreover, Jamie Lyn Bagley is brilliantly bitchy as a fanatic Catholic girl who entertains in spades. On the side of the movie's antagonists, the trio of evil nuns are all effectively creepy and sinister while Aaron Andrade turns in what is perhaps the movie's best performance (playing the Devil no less!). If there's one nitpick to made be made it's that it would have been nice to hear actor Steven O'Broin's clearly native Irish accent outright instead of the southern tinged thing he sounds like he's putting on. For a New England horror film, an Irish accented Catholic priest would probably have felt more authentic than not.

As it stands though, some of FLESH'S biggest stars are its great practical blood and gore effects. Some are so excessive and cartoony they work as great black humor. There are some key gross-out moments that are certainly memorable and pack a real punch. While there are also some CGI visual effects on display, they are all tasteful, well utilized, and kept to a minimum. All in all, FLESH FOR THE INFERNO is an indie horror film of the highest caliber. It's short and sweet, no-nonsense B-movie goodness and is prime Halloween season viewing!

Flesh for the Inferno is the latest film from Scorpio Film Releasing and the wonderful director Richard Griffin. Teaming up with screenwriter Michael Varrati again (The Sins of Dracula) and many of the terrific Scorpio Films regulars, I expected more of the usual comedy horror the troupe has entertained us with for years.

Only a few minutes in I was reminded that just as often Griffin has chosen to play it straight, with movies like Normal and Exhumed. Flesh for the Inferno is more of a cross between the two; some 80's- style horror combined with the well-timed sarcasm and humor that elevate Scorpio Films from some of the other independent horror flicks out there. In the process, we get a tip of the hat to such varied chillers as A Cask of Amontillado and the original Evil Dead.

As is often the case, they waste no time and jump right into the fun. The great Michael Thurber brings his Catholic youth group to a run- down Catholic school, which years earlier had been the scene of both molestations and the cruel murder of a group of nuns. The teens are there to clean up some of the mess before construction crews arrive on a future date to begin renovations. Little do they know they are soon to encounter the vengeful nuns, who have pledged their souls to Satan in exchange for revenge.

Many of the Scorpio regulars appear. Jamie Lyn Bagley is Meredith, an over-pious snide group leader. Jamie Dufault is Noah, Michael Thurber's nephew who happened to visit during church group weekend; lucky him. We even get appearances from Sarah Nicklin as a soap- opera-obsessed prostitute and Aaron Andrade as…well, as a rather evil individual.

The real powerhouse in this movie is Anna Rizzo as Kat. Granted, she gets some of the meatier scenes and best lines, but if she couldn't handle them they'd be wasted. She quickly jumps back and forth between terror and sarcasm with ease. Jamie Lyn Bagley's character also is fun to watch, and Michael Thurber beings the skills he always does. Thurber is truly a talent; whether he's playing Dr. Frankenstein, Dracula, or a role that requires more nuances he always seems to hit the nail on the head. Here he walks the tightrope of friendly, upbeat, pious and throws in just a hint of uncomfortable creepiness. Too much of any of these ingredients would cause him to lose his balance and fall to the ground below, but as always he crosses safely. Scorpio is lucky to have him.

The effects are much gorier than many of Griffin's films, and rather well done. I found the possessed character who bashed its head over and over into a window until the entire face was flattened to be deliciously gruesome and disturbing. Something else that happens with that body soon afterward confirmed my suspicion that it may have been homage to The Evil Dead.

There are some of the usual running jokes I've grown to expect and enjoy in most of Griffin's films. There's a gag about whether one of the characters is gay, another about whether people are REALLY sure a corpse was dead, and there's a character who spends half his time assuming every female wants to have sex with him and the other half fascinated with banging pots and pans together in the kitchen. Varrati keeps the humor tight and intelligent, but not to the point of taking himself (or the characters) too seriously.

Richard Griffin has managed to avoid the trap he set for himself when he built his reputation from early successes like Pretty Dead Things and the masterpiece Disco Exorcist. Instead of going Troma and making every film formulaic, he continues to vary his choices and experiment with different flavors. Like a great wine or a delicate perfume, his films have a variety of aromas and ingredients. He has his favorites which help identify his signature, but even they can be moved around to a new level within the finished product. I look forward to the upcoming Accidental Incest and Seven Dorms of Death to see what new concoctions he has cooked up.

Thus movie is just beyond awful. I'm still watching because it turned into an unwilling comedy. Watch it if you have time to kill. But you might want to seek out professional help if at any time you find thus scary. Not my best review, but not the best movie either. Anything over 2 stars has been paid for.