(A tad bit of spoilers here..) "I want to thank you for being so understanding. You know, a lot of girls would have run to the hills if the sperm of their blind date shot up their skirt like that." – Miles in Wadzilla.
Horror anthologies have been around since people discovered (a camp)fire. So, maybe these guys (Director/Writers: Adam Green – a favorite of mine, Joe Lynch, Bear McCreary, Adam Rifkin and Tim Sullivan) thought what the hell: make Chillerama a 80% comedy, 19% gore and 1% horror to shake it up.
I laughed so hard in this feature, and I didn't expect to. My expectations were that this was going to be strictly horror. Even the Plan 9 from Outer Space opening – or least, the sets/mood – just made this look like a modern Creepshow. Boy, was I wrong.
Breakdown of the segments: The wraparound story, Zom-B-Movie, was probably where the movie was at its weakest. Even though it wasn't necessarily bad, it just paled in comparison. The acting was decent and acceptable and the humor was somewhat funny, but the film references felt really forced.
The first feature, Wadzilla, was absolutely hilarious and as equally gross. And this is coming from someone who's survived both Human Centipede II and A Serbian Film. It's a Mad Men story of sperm – in a singular sense and as laugh out loud a lot of the scenes were – namely the final kiss and the dancing statue – the movie was so overwhelming uncomfortable, it's a must-see. I mean that. Seriously.
The second segment, I was a Teenage Werebear, should've been more up my alley: it's a gay-horror-musical. With bears, no less. (Anyone who knows me, 3 of those four are my forté, just not the musical part. Even though, stereotypically, it should be.) But, I wasn't all that interested. It had its moments, but the humor found previously – and forward – vanished. And I'm not sure if this was more written for straight folks or gay. Either way, it wasn't horrible to get through, but it was a tad bit aimless and definitely dimmed down the overall project.
Part III, or The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, was, by far, my favorite and contained the most humor. I should've known; it was directed and written by one of my favorites: Adam Green of Frozen and the Hatchet series. Black & white & in subtitles, the film focuses around Hitler's eeevil plans of stepping into Frankenstein's shoes. Each scene was hilarious, they finally got the "Grindhouse" feel down where the other films were just at the edge of that genre and the writing was very well done. I'm certain this wouldn't have worked as a feature length, so I'm glad Green did what he did here.
Kinda a Part 4 – Deathication was fairly funny, for just a few moments, that is and also fit nicely as a 50's drive-in or Grindhouse production.
Overall, the movie needed to be edited down. Heck, 1972's Tales from the Crypt had more stories, and yet a half hour shorter. The wraparound story absolutely had plenty of shots/characters to be cut and still retain the essence. But, for the humor alone and for the jackass crowds – they might like the gross-factor, it's a recommend.
One quick warning though for prudes: there's masturbation throughout. A lot of it. And, no, I don't mean from the viewer.
Horror anthologies have been around since people discovered (a camp)fire. So, maybe these guys (Director/Writers: Adam Green – a favorite of mine, Joe Lynch, Bear McCreary, Adam Rifkin and Tim Sullivan) thought what the hell: make Chillerama a 80% comedy, 19% gore and 1% horror to shake it up.
I laughed so hard in this feature, and I didn't expect to. My expectations were that this was going to be strictly horror. Even the Plan 9 from Outer Space opening – or least, the sets/mood – just made this look like a modern Creepshow. Boy, was I wrong.
Breakdown of the segments: The wraparound story, Zom-B-Movie, was probably where the movie was at its weakest. Even though it wasn't necessarily bad, it just paled in comparison. The acting was decent and acceptable and the humor was somewhat funny, but the film references felt really forced.
The first feature, Wadzilla, was absolutely hilarious and as equally gross. And this is coming from someone who's survived both Human Centipede II and A Serbian Film. It's a Mad Men story of sperm – in a singular sense and as laugh out loud a lot of the scenes were – namely the final kiss and the dancing statue – the movie was so overwhelming uncomfortable, it's a must-see. I mean that. Seriously.
The second segment, I was a Teenage Werebear, should've been more up my alley: it's a gay-horror-musical. With bears, no less. (Anyone who knows me, 3 of those four are my forté, just not the musical part. Even though, stereotypically, it should be.) But, I wasn't all that interested. It had its moments, but the humor found previously – and forward – vanished. And I'm not sure if this was more written for straight folks or gay. Either way, it wasn't horrible to get through, but it was a tad bit aimless and definitely dimmed down the overall project.
Part III, or The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, was, by far, my favorite and contained the most humor. I should've known; it was directed and written by one of my favorites: Adam Green of Frozen and the Hatchet series. Black & white & in subtitles, the film focuses around Hitler's eeevil plans of stepping into Frankenstein's shoes. Each scene was hilarious, they finally got the "Grindhouse" feel down where the other films were just at the edge of that genre and the writing was very well done. I'm certain this wouldn't have worked as a feature length, so I'm glad Green did what he did here.
Kinda a Part 4 – Deathication was fairly funny, for just a few moments, that is and also fit nicely as a 50's drive-in or Grindhouse production.
Overall, the movie needed to be edited down. Heck, 1972's Tales from the Crypt had more stories, and yet a half hour shorter. The wraparound story absolutely had plenty of shots/characters to be cut and still retain the essence. But, for the humor alone and for the jackass crowds – they might like the gross-factor, it's a recommend.
One quick warning though for prudes: there's masturbation throughout. A lot of it. And, no, I don't mean from the viewer.