Shock-O-Rama

I almost caught this movie at a convention is Chicago. Then I read many glowing reviews of it on the net and decided to hunt it down. For what it is (that is a very low budget film shot in New Jersey) it's pretty remarkable. The production design and overall look of the film is excellent, the cast is good, and the story fast paced and inventive (and frequently very funny!). Although I liked the last episode least it ironically had my favorite scenes: one a sort of take-off on Poe's PIT AND THE PENDULEM and the other a wacky dream sequence that reminded me of Tim Burton. If you're a fan of off-beat entertainment I can certainly recommend this.

Excellent send up of sci-fi, horror and exploitation films, that also cleverly parodies Hollywood movie studios and sleazy executives. If you've ever wanted to see Misty Mundae take a page out of Bruce Campbell's book, and go postal on a zombie with a chainsaw, then this is a movie for you. The effects work was quite good, and Brett Piper has shown serious growth as a filmmaker. All the genre musts are here including naked babes, and gore, but this film also featured some genuinely funny moments, such as Misty Mundae's character who was basically playing herself, getting frustrated with horny fans, and being cast in soft core B movies. Great for a Halloween watch, if you don't want anything to serious. I was pleasantly surprised by Shock-O-Rama, and I believe fans of campy movies, and The Seduction Cinema girls will be as well. Be warned though, this isn't soft core porn.

This is an excellent low budget sci-fi/spoof shot in the wilds of New Jersey. Actually, many of the settings look quite opulent for such an inexpensive picture. It's very well shot on film (a rare thing among lower budgeted movies now that most are being shot on digital video) and acting, photography, and dialog are of a very high caliber. Mostly it's fun because of the retro effects (which fill the movie almost from start to finish) and imaginative production designs. Also unusual is the fact that many scenes feature almost no dialog at all, notably the opening scene (with the great Erin Brown, aka Misty Mundae) and several extended and surreal dream sequences. All in all very colorful and well worth a look.

Needless to say that I had never even heard about this 2005 horror movie titled "Shock-O-Rama" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2025. Given my love of all things horror, and in particular zombies, then of course I opted to watch this movie, even without knowing what I was getting myself into. So in a sense, I suppose writer and director Brett Piper had every opportunity to entertain and impress me. Everything about "Shock-O-Rama" was just screaming low budget B-movie, but I still opted to check out the movie.

Based on the movie's cover, then I was expecting a zombie movie, but instead I was in for an anthology of sorts, as there several stories told here with a common narrative to tie them together. Normally I am not overly keen on horror anthologies, as they tend to be questionable affairs. Writer Brett Piper didn't exactly put together a script of Shakespearian theater level throughout the segments.

The first segment is titled "Mecharachnia" and it was about a miniature alien crashlanding in a salvage junkyard and duking it out with the yards owner. It was actually the most enjoyable of the segments.

"Zombie This" is the second segment, which is about a dead man reanimated as a zombie through some spilled blood. It was rather forgettable, to be honest.

The third segment, "Lonely are the Brain", was borrowing a bit too heavily from Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Pit and the Pendulum". But I will say that the it was definitely the segment that was the most visually interesting.

As for the narrative that tied the three segments together, well it was actually interesting enough.

I was not familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list, except for Erin Brown, whom was credited as Misty Mundae in this movie. And that was actually something that spoke in favor of the movie, as I enjoy watching unfamiliar talents on the screen. In all fairness, then the acting performances were actually fair.

I wasn't really expecting the best of special effects from a movie such as this, but I will say that the effect turned out to be better than I had expected them to be. Sure, you're not in for anything grand or extraordinary, but I've seen far worse special effects in other movies.

"Shock-O-Rama" was actually not as bad as I had initially expected it to be. Sure, this is by no means a gemstone in the history of cinema. But it was cheesy and laughable enough to actually be entertaining to watch.

My rating of writer and director Brett Piper's 2005 movie "Shock-O-Rama" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Shock-O-Rama is a low budget horror film split into three segments. Anyone that has seen a Brett Piper film will have some idea what to expect; a silly plot line and some cheap, but imaginative, special effects are the order of the day; and the director duly delivers. My main reason for seeing this film was the inclusion of Seduction Cinema queen Misty Mundae, and while the actress keeps her clothes on in this film; she still delivers an amusing performance. The film is basically an anthology; although it toys with that idea somewhat with regards to the wrap-around story. We focus on low budget trash actress Rebecca Raven. She gets fired from her Production Company and goes to stay in some isolated old house. Meanwhile, her replacement gets thrown in jail; leaving her ex-producers with the task of trying to find another lead actress. Julia Roberts apparently won't take her clothes off; so they set off watching bad low budget movies, meanwhile Rebecca Raven is having trouble of her own in the form of a flesh eating zombie.

The film is light and fun throughout, and while not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination; at least remains entertaining for the duration. Clearly the film does not take itself seriously and the jokes come by way of the dialogue, and simply how stupid the film is. The first of the two tales that stem from the producers watching low budget films is the best, and features a layabout good-for-nothing junkyard owner that stumbles on a downed alien spaceship. The aliens then proceed to attack, leaving him and his estranged girlfriend to try and fight them off. The best thing about this segment is the lead performance from Rob Monkiewicz. Not a great actor, but he is entertaining and seems at home with the ridiculous plot. The second tale is more inventive, but not as good; and focuses on something to do with dreams. There's a role for Julian Wells and there's a good idea at the climax. The wrap-around is the only part that stars Misty Mundae, and the highlights include an F-word rant at her producer and seeing her wield a chainsaw. Overall, this is certainly good enough for a single viewing and Misty Mundae fans should enjoy it.