Chillerama

"Chillerama" is a magnificent tribute to the old horror movies from the days of the drive-in cinemas, and throw in a pinch of musicals just for good measure.

The movie isn't very serious, so keep that in mind. However, the stories are actually quite good, some more than others, and they do entertain you well enough. The themes of the stories and the way they are executes are so off the charts, so horribly stupid that it actually works out in a weird way. Trust me on this one.

The first segment, "Wadzilla", needs little introduction; the name says it all. But alas, it is about a man whose sperm turns out to be a killer load (pardon the pun). The effects in this segment are horribly funny, but still, they are so far out there that it works. It is hilarious. And the story isn't too bad.

Segment two, "I Was a Teenage Werebear" is about a young man who is bitten by another young man (who turns out to be a werebear). Now, these werebears aren't your average lycanthrope, mind you, and the segment is heavy set with a gay theme, which may not sit well with all people. However, I took it for what it was, a movie meant to entertain you, nothing more, nothing less. Given, this segment was (for me, at least) the least interesting of all parts.

The third segment, "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" is a humorous take on Shelley's "Frankenstein", mixed up with some weird Hitler part. The good part about this is that the Germans actually do speak German, except for Joel David Moore (playing Hitler), who is just speaking some odd gibberish. The story in this segment is far from being scary or horror in nature, it is more of a sarcastic comedy. It isn't bad, mind you, it wasn't just really great for the nature of the "Chillerama" movie.

And finally, the last part, well that was the best part. Now, I will not spoil anything here and go into detail, but for me this was the best part of the movie. Especially because I like zombies. And it also has a great deal of sick, twisted comedy to it.

"Chillerama" has some pretty good actors and actresses to its cast list, and there are also some fairly established names to the list; such as Ray Wise (playing Dr. Weems in "Wadzilla"), Kane Hodder (playing Meshugannah in "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein"), Joel David Moore (playing Hitler in "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein"), Eric Roberts (playing the general in "Wadzilla") and Richard Riehle (playing Cecil Kaufman).

I found "Chillerama" to be funny and a decent enough watch, however, I do doubt that I will find myself watching this movie a second time around, though. The movie is well worth checking out for the hilarious stories, and also for a brief moment back to the good old days with drive-in cinemas and bad movies on the screens.

A word of warning though, there is a fair amount of obscenity in the movie, so some viewers might take heed and not watch it, as they may be offended.

Horror-comedy can be a very entertaining sub-genre. I can be a big fan of it. But... it can be the very best, or it can be the very worst. This film 'Chillerama' is the very worst, and not in a good way. I had this title on my Watchlist for quite sometime, because seeing the poster, the title and the description, I thought, that HAS to be something that I'm gonna love. Well, as it turns out, that is not a guarantee.

This is definitely not my kind of Horror/Comedy. A good Horror/Comedy in my opinion, first of all should be a decent watchable film. Just because you are doing the potentially fun and pretty crazy combination of comedy and horror (for some people not the most obvious combination of atmospheres) doesn't mean you can get away with everything. Just because you are making a parody of something, does not mean you can throw all seriousness overboard. In all reality, you are combining two genres in their own rights, something that the makers of Chillerama do a magnificent job at misunderstanding. You're combining Horror and Comedy, two potentially great genres, maybe even the greatest ones for a lot of film fans out there. But just because you are combining a genre that takes itself pretty seriously with a genre where apparently everything goes, does not mean you can get away with doing everything in a bad way. Campy does not equal bad. And parody does not equal being ridiculous. Good comedy is a serious business.

The 'cringe' is so strong here as to make the film totally unwatchable. You literally want to look away at how campy and unfunny everything is. You start questioning your own sense of humor, looking at how much fun the makers apparently had creating 'Chillerama', while you find yourself unable to produce even a single smile.

The segments in this anthology were just the worst combinations of bad taste, far-fetched plot, generally unlikable characters, cringy acting and unfunny jokes. Some of those elements can work well when done right, sometimes even combinations of them. But you have to see this film if you want to find out how they can NOT work in the most spectacular way.

Generally I think a Horror/Comedy works great if they manage to keep the fun, enticing subjects of a horror film and the exciting, spooky atmosphere, and combine it with genuinely funny jokes. Jokes that seem to be up for grabs when looking at horror, because let's face it, in general it's a pretty crazy genre with lots of clichés and elements that are easy to poke fun at, while still doing it in a way that respects the genre and the characters. Bus as with everything that seems easy and up for grabs, it generally isn't...

Also, a good Horror/Comedy should be more exhilarating than the average non-horror comedy film (because hey, there's monsters, suspense, murder, spooky locations and what not), while having such a great atmosphere that they can measure themselves with, even be an homage to the great films of the Horror genre. Besides not being very funny, this film lacks any kind of horror atmosphere that makes you love Horror. The Horror atmosphere is totally lacking. Yeah, it's superficially there because there's blood and screaming, but literally everything is done so badly that... it just doesn't work on any level. Instead, it manages to make you hate both Comedy AND Horror at the same time.

That's just my opinion, my attempt at putting into words what makes this Horror/Comedy genre work, potentially. All I'm sure of is that whatever the X-factor is, it is NOT to be found here, but there are plenty of genuine masterpieces in the genre to be found elsewhere.

If I may recommend some Horror/Comedy films that DO work: * Shaun of the Dead * Killer Clowns From Outer Space * Zombieland * Young Frankenstein * Dracula, Dead and Loving It * Return of the Living Dead * Fido * Once Bitten * The Little Shop of Horrors * Mad Monster Party * Nightmare Before Christmas * Corpse Bride * Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I guess you could call a Horror/Comedy crossover.

... and let's not forget films like Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice!

From some of this generations most innovative filmmakers comes a film that pushes the boundaries of good taste and endeavors to bring the good ol' style of the drive-in right into your living room. Does it succeed? For the most part, yes! Segment One, Wadzilla, features star/director Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City)as a timid businessman who is given experimental medicine to increase his sperm count, only to unleash a monster of immeasurable horror! The effects are charmingly horrible but it is quite a funny ride.

Segment Two, I Was a Teenage Werebear is, unfortunately, the proverbial black sheep of the family. Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs) is a real talent but the short's taboo pressing plot line only serves to alienate this movie's target demographic (straight males). It is a rousing musical about a sexually confused young man who is bitten by a were-bear (long story) and struggles to keep his morality.

Segment Three, Adam Green's (Hatchet, Frozen)The Diary of Anne Frankenstien, is a real treat. Although admittedly a little short on the horror aspect, it is actually quite funny. The Nazi's, led by Joel David Moore as Hitler, attempt to use Anne Frankenstien's journal to build a monster to help in the war effort. This segment is shot in a sublime old fashioned style and is subtitled as everyone speaks authentic German except for Hitler himself, who comes off as quite a bumbling fool.

Segment Four, Joe Lynch's (Wrong Turn 2) Zom-B-Movie, serves as the wraparound story and as the finale and it is just righteously over the top fun enough to completely win over this reviewer. A zombie outbreak threatens the people who had to sit through the last three shorts only to be threatened by a pack of sexually charged zombies. The real highlight is character actor Richard Riehle who gets to brandish a shotgun and quote more movies then any character in history.

For this reviewer's money, this movie succeeded at becoming exploitation without falling prey to insincerity like the similarly themed Grindhouse.

As my rating would suggest, I am very nearly in love with this movie. Horror-comedies can be quite fickle...very often having too many elements of one and not nearly enough of the other. Sure, you have movies like Shaun Of The Dead that get it just right, but for every one of "Shaun" there's about 15 that just don't get it. And now we have Chillerama.

From start to finish you get the impression that someone was trying to get the aforementioned mixture just right. It interweaves 3 different movies (essentially hilarious mockeries of the old grindhouse/midnight drive-in genre) with a story of what takes place in between at the drive-in where they're being shown (think of it as the play within a play from Hamlet). Mocking these types of films is certainly nothing new, but few have gone so over the top while still somehow staying true to the source material. I have to say my favorite segment has to be "The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein" if for no other reason that Joel David Moore's portrayal of Hitler. Watching him make up gibberish that was subtitled as legitimate German had me laughing my ass off.

Gripes? Only minor ones. The movie runs a bit long for this genre. Two solid hours is typically a bit more than you'd expect, but then again it doesn't feel stretched or wasted. I also kind of wished they had put a little more effort into the story of what happens at the drive-in. All in all I would (and already have) recommend it to just about anyone who enjoys a good, albeit sometimes crude, laugh.

This movie kinda blew it's load early with the first story being by far the best. I was laughing my ass off the whole way, definite fun.

That's where it went down hill a bit, with the second story having a very homo-erotic type of theme, the acting was pretty bad, and the storyline just wasn't there for me.

By the time the third one got going I was severely loosing interest, and it wasn't the "Troma" type of effects, again overall in the end it just felt too cheap, even for a super low budget, I've seen some masterpieces pulled off with a shoe-string budget. I gave it a five and that was mainly due to the first tale. Troma fans will enjoy, it's more of a comedy than anything else.