The Greasy Strangler

I tried describing this film to a friend. It's labeled a horror comedy, but I didn't find it scary or funny. The latter is not meant to be an insult, because there's a definite unique style that would work for some people.

The most apt analogy I can make is that it's a live action Beavis and Butthead world done by the cast of Shameless.

Characters that would be considered as a weird outlier in any other work seems to be par for the course here. Everything is weird, awkward, and unsettling but not in a creepy way.

I rate it a 6 because after I was done watching all I could really say was "Yup. I watched that." but it's very easily either the best film you'll ever see, or one of the worst, depending on what you want from it.

Imagine if Napoleon Dynamite and Junji Ito's Glyceride somehow had a baby - the offspring would be The Greasy Strangler.

In this un-thriller, a thoroughly unattractive father and son navigate their strained relationship while dealing with a rash of murders in their town that have been committed by a not-so-mysterious killer who carries out said murders while coated in a thick layer of sopping, crusted grease. Don't worry about gory effects making you feel ill during this film, those are hilarious. The copious amounts of K-Y jelly and other unidentifiable greasy substances throughout the film do a fine job of squicking the viewer out instead. Despite the stomach-churning visuals, the script, delivery and several sight gags contain enough surreal humor to make this film enjoyable for those who are partial to that kind of thing.

If you have a weak stomach, I do not recommend eating snacks like pizza or anything with a lot of olive oil during the course of this film.

A middle-aged social misfit is forced to confront the possibility that his abusive father is the local serial killer in this outlandish black comedy. This is not the easiest film to warm to with deliberately over-the-top performances, repetitive dialogue and the two male leads constantly wandering around nude, however, the pure wackiness on display has a certain charm. There are also several very funny moments as Michael St. Michaels keeps complaining "you probably think I'm the greasy strangler!" when everyone from hotdog vendors to his own son refuses to put more grease on his food, and as he dons bizarre outfits without giving a second thought to how he looks. Not all of the jokes work, with far too much toilet humour in the mix, but it is an amusing film from start to finish with all its weirdness. What's more, the film even spins an at-times touching tale of father and son coming to understand and appreciate one another in the backdrop. This is certainly not a movie for all tastes, but in between the pitch perfect electro funk music score, the imaginative costumes and the surprisingly decent makeup effects, there is a lot here to like. The film admittedly goes a little off the deep end towards the end and gets a little too weird for its own good, but this might otherwise be the most refreshingly unusual horror-comedy since 'Otto; or Up with Dead People'.

This is one of those movies that if I sat down and explained the whole thing from start to finish you would either say "Eww that sounds terrible" or "I need to see that now because I can't believe a movie like that exists." Everything about "Greasy Strangler" is just so strange and stupid, but at the same time it's hard to look away and throughout the movie I was pretty interested in seeing what would happen next. It's kind of like if Troma and the guys behind "Napoleon Dynamite" teamed up and made a movie.

There is tons of graphic nudity, over the top violence, and buckets upon buckets of grease. By the time the credits rolled I felt like I needed to take a shower, the movie has such a dirty/uncomfortable tone to it, but honestly that didn't prevent me from being entertained and intrigued by it. It's a film that needs to be seen to be believed. The gore/crudeness isn't exactly on the same level as a troma film or some hardcore underground horror films, but I still found myself slightly shocked at some of the stuff that they brought to the table.

Greasy Strangler is so odd and out there that it's almost like an anti movie. It doesn't follow any guidelines or strive to be like any other movie, it just simply does whatever it wants which makes it really hard to know what to expect next. The dialogue, crude humor, and strange characters will likely turn a lot of people away, but those willing to look past the gross exterior of the movie may find themselves laughing a lot.

I liked "The Greasy Strangler", it is completely stupid but it is also original and oddly interesting. Definitely not for everybody, but for those who know what to expect and aren't turned off by the idea of over the top disgusting humor this could be a movie experience that you won't forget.

Definitely a very weird movie, most people will absolutely hate it and turn it off in the first couple of minutes. Is it great? Not really, but it is something very bizarre and has some shock value to it.

Nowadays it is extremely hard to surprise the audience with something incredibly grose, bizarre and just flat out obscene. This movie achieves that perfectly, it is insanely weird and paired with the funky over the top weird music this movie has an incredibly awkward and disturbing vibe. I will give this film props for creating a feeling of this sort for me as it is usually impossible to surprise me anymore.

Do not watch this if you expect any clever plot twists or anything of that sort. This film does not have any of that, in fact it has no premise at all and next to no plot. Watch this if you want to something unseen, unique and totally screwed up. The movie showcases the most bizarrely awkward father - son relationship you will ever see in your life, guaranteed.