Rabid Grannies

Just because this film bears a typically Troma-like title, and features the Troma logo on the packaging, don't make the mistake of thinking it is a Troma production—because it isn't.

It is, in fact, a low-budget Belgian film that was simply picked up for distribution by the studio, and, as far as I am concerned, it is much more enjoyable than the majority of Lloyd Kaufman's own B-movie output.

In this delightfully silly and very gory romp, a group of greedy relatives gather together at the mansion of their two elderly aunts, in order to attend their birthday celebrations (and hopefully worm their way into their aunts' wills). However, when the old women open a surprise birthday present (sent by the black sheep of the family—a practitioner of the black arts), they become possessed, transform into vicious, drooling, bloodthirsty monsters, and proceed to tear their party guests limb from limb.

If you're a fan of visceral OTT slapstick horror—particularly Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy (which this film is obviously heavily influenced by) or the early work of Peter Jackson (whose similarly daft Bad Taste came out the same year)—then Rabid Grannies should be right up your alley. Director Emmanuel Kervyn spends the first thirty minutes introducing us to his raft of absurdly unlikeable characters (none of whom really deserve to survive 'til the end credits), and the next sixty dismembering them in as many inventive and silly ways as possible. It might not be Oscar winning material, but it's a whole heap of fun!

Considering the limited budget, the juicy effects on display are pretty damn good, and the film sure doesn't hold back with the nastiness: one man has his limbs hacked off, before being impaled (between the legs) on a pike; a fat guy gets stuck trying to escape, and has his ass eaten; and even a little girl gets reduced to spare parts by the demonic old dears!

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

"They Love their grandchildren...well done!" This is the tag-line for the bizarre foreign horror flick "Rabid Grannies". This film is distributed by Troma films and despite the negative reviews it has received, I found it to be a lot of fun! Yes the acting is bad...the effects aren't terrible for a B movie but they aren't great either but that's not the point here. There are several horribly offensive scenes such as the one where the child is murdered or the one where the overweight gentleman literally has his ass eaten out. The murder of the priest is also religiously offensive but if you're a religious person, I doubt you'd be watching a film titled "Rabid Grannies". This film is just plain fun to watch...it has just the right amount of blood, guts, gore, murder, madness, mayhem with a little lesbianism and demonology thrown in for good measure!

Now here's something cool! "Les mémés cannibales" ("Rabid Grannies" in English) is mostly a schlock-fest, but also poking fun at the lives of rich people. A pair of kindly old women are having their birthday party with the relatives present, but one of the presents is from a devil-worshiping nephew, and its contents turn both women into bloodthirsty monsters! Go figure!

The movie reminded me of Peter Jackson's "Braindead" (called "Dead-Alive" in the US) just a little bit, with also just a faint hit of the "Evil Dead" movies. The movie also lampoons the family's greed. For the most part, though, I think that the people making the movie just wanted to have fun and see what sorts of things they could show. The dubbing is terrible, but who cares about that? All in all, it's a very fun, disgustingly hilarious flick. Just the sort of movie for Troma to release.

Apparently Belgium produces something other than chocolate; crap movies. This little gem was picked up by Troma, and it's easy to see why. Every character is nasty, and the makers have enough bad taste (and, dare I say it, guts?) to not only have a child killed, but dismembered. You don't see that in a lot of american movies. The make-up and gore effects are actually pretty good, compared to a lot of other Troma films.

The first half hour sure is slow, but the unpleasant characters and the unbelievably bad acting keep it entertaining. Unsurprisingly, most of the 'actors' never made any other films before or after this one. And rightly so, because they give some of the worst performances I have ever seen on screen. Nodding and grimassing at every line and dubbed in very unnatural british accents, they are more amateurish than a school play. Like the two gravediggers in Plan 9.

When things do get going, it's just your basic 'everyone gets picked off one by one in various imaginative ways' kind of plot. A lot of cut off limbs, Evil Dead-style slapstick violence and even more horrendous acting keep it enjoyable throughout. If you like that kind of thing, that is.

Ok I saw this film in 1990, that was over ten years ago. To this day I have a real problem even trying to watch this film. It is a little wierd but where eles can you see a movie about two old ladies that drink some wine then start eating the family. The most disturbing scean is where the little girl walks up the steps where the old woman sits in a rocking chair trying to get her to sit in her lap. That is gruesome. The film is ok and I give it a 6. But if gore is your thing watch Bad Taste, it came out the same year.