Bad Milo!

As I was watching BAD MILO again the other night, I thought of what might be the best analogy to describe this low budget horror/comedy: it's an engine that keeps on revving but never kicks into gear. To qualify it as a horror/comedy probably isn't the best description because, in the end, it didn't really have much of either. I suppose it could best be viewed as a drama about one man's father issues and his coming to grips with the idea of his own pending parenthood. But that's not as fun as the premise that baits the audience into sitting down for the movie: Duncan is a man with problems. His job bites. His boss is a douche. His mother's new relationship with a considerably younger man weirds him out. And, to top it off, he's been dealing with intense stomach pains and frequent bathroom visits for as long as he can remember. When a doctor tells him the stomach problems stem from his poor stress management, Duncan begins seeing an eccentric psychiatrist and the truth soon emerges. Literally. From his butt. You see, Duncan is possessed with some sort of ancient mythological creature that dwells in his lower intestine and erupts from his butt whenever someone stresses him out to kill the aggressor. Now, Duncan learns he must make peace with his literal inner demon if he wants to end its murderous rampage before it hurts someone he loves. But mostly, it's the father issues thing. Don't let the butt demon stuff fool you.

I really hoped that a movie about a killer butt demon would be more fun, but BAD MILO actually has quite a few stretches where nothing of interest happens and my attention starts to phase out. When Milo finally arrives, we don't get nearly as much fun with him as I expected. I'm sure it has a lot to do with budget limitations and how much they were capable of doing with the puppet. But the audience knows what to expect going in when the main draw is a rubber puppet monster. This is no time to be self-conscious. Give us the puppet! Instead we get a lot of drama as Duncan struggles to grow a pair and stop letting life stomp all over him. I wanted more chaos, more puppet-on-human violence. By the time it's all over, Milo actually kills less than a handful of people and two of them occur off-screen. We finally get the full-bore puppet attack at the end of the film but by then I was hardly interested in what was happening on screen. BAD MILO, as a retro creature feature, is full of wasted potential. The main attraction doesn't get enough screen time and, when he's there, he's doesn't get much to do other than growl or give puppy-dog eyes to melt Duncan's heart. Violence is mostly limited to bloody messes but we get a little bit of gore when Milo attacks a smug fertility doctor. There just isn't much in the way of scares or gross-outs so marketing this movie as a horror film might've been a mistake.

The film fares a little better on the comedy end with a funny cast saving this movie from being a total loss. Ken Marino is Duncan, our man with the butt demon. I've not been a huge Marino fan, but I don't exactly have much to go on. He was the most irritating character in WANDERLUST, but he also had some of the funnier bits in WE'RE THE MILLERS in what little time he was on screen. Here, Marino is the straight man and he sort of reminds me of Jason Bateman. Despite being a weaker movie, it's probably one of the better Marino performances I've seen. His wife is the beautiful Gillian Jacobs but she doesn't get much to do other than react to Marino's bathroom antics and provide a crucial bit of plot development late in the game. She's a good sport through it all and she gets to have some fun in the climactic battle. The supporting cast steal the show in BAD MILO with Peter Stormare, Stephen Root, Toby Huss, and Kumail Nanjiani. Huss establishes a hilarious tone in the opening scene as the doctor who misdiagnoses Milo as a polyp in Duncan's colon but the movie fails to maintain the humor, though not for lack of trying from Nanjiani as Duncan's new father-in-law in a great dinner scene. Stormare is Duncan's hippie psychiatrist and Root arrives late in the game as Duncan's estranged biological father, but most scenes that don't involve these characters fizzle out. I really enjoyed Milo as a character, bouncing from vicious killer to precocious toddler, and I dig the retro rod- puppet they used to bring him to life. Part of me wouldn't mind a future low budget sequel to continue the tale of Duncan and his unnatural family heritage because BAD MILO had some promise and I think there's still comedy (or horror) fold to be mined from it but, as it stands, BAD MILO was somewhat of a disappointment with a couple little comedy gems scattered inside.

Well this wasn't horror at all even if there was the occasional blood spatter and some biting by a little cute butt-monster. But it was humorous. Well at least to me it was. Call me a child, I don't care at all, but when there are jokes about poop or farts I automatically have to laugh. And apparently I'm not the only one that thinks it's funny. For the people that hated this movie what can I say? Did you expect that this movie was going to be anything else when you knew it was about a monster living in your intestines? You knew before even watching it that it would never win Oscars or whatever price but is that the point of a movie like this? No, it's just a bit of fun for the open minded. Glad I saw it. I certainly had to laugh more in 90 minutes then in 10 seasons of How I met your mother...

When presented with the plot of "Bad Milo" one can't help be a little cautious. A movie about a "butt monster" doesn't seem like the most palatable of premises. But in spite of initial misgivings, this movie was a pleasant surprise.

I really thought this movie was going to be more in line with some of Lloyd Kaufman's Troma flicks after seeing the trailer online. I was prepared for a plethora of poop and penis jokes with little emphasis on story or characters. But what I ended up witnessing was an oddly charming blend of "Basket Case", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Gremlins."

Ken Marino is a perfectly affable bumbling lead. His development and internal struggle (in more ways than one) with fatherhood are the centerpiece of the movie. I was quite impressed with all the supporting cast as well(Peter Stormare was exceptionally funny.)

After all the blood-splattering and crude jokes you're left with one oddly sentimental story that may even bring a tear to your eye.

I have to say one thing first: To anyone saying there are too many poop jokes - First of all there are barely any. And secondly, did you expect there to be zero poop jokes when you saw in the trailer where Milo came from? I wouldn't classify this as a horror/comedy, it's a good and inventive black comedy with a great cast. If you thought Gremlins was a horror then maybe you will think this is one too. Gremlins comparisons are vaguely accurate, although since Gremlins has nostalgia attached to it, Bad Milo won't be the same, although it's definitely funnier than Gremlins and with a better cast. If you want a different and creative comedy then see this, otherwise see another one of the usual contrived and redundant tales.

Duncan (Ken Marino) is chased by some mysterious horror. Then it flashes back 123 hours. He is in the doctor's office with his wife Sarah (Gillian Jacobs) with a polyp in his colon. He hates his job and his boss Phil (Patrick Warburton) is making him fire people. He has a new therapist Highsmith (Peter Stormare). His mother Beatrice (Mary Kay Place) brings her boyfriend Bobbi (Kumail Nanjiani) and a fertility doctor to dinner. He poops out a monster which kills everyone who causes him stress. He bonds with it naming it Milo.

It has some minor funny moments. Milo himself generates very few laughs. It's a little gross and very perplexing monster. I think the scene coming out in front of the therapist needs to show their connectivity more. Milo can get hurt and Duncan can get hurt in sympathy in that scene. The horror part of the movie isn't that scary. The comedy has a few good scenes. It's a B-movie that is slightly better than a butt monster ought to be.