A bunch of people in a bar are slightly distressed when a blood-covered, shotgun-wielding “hero” bursts in and warns them all about ravenous, speedy creatures travelling not far behind him. The patrons are rather disbelieving until one creature gets inside and proceeds to try and eat as many people as it can. Because, as we will find out throughout the movie, there are only two things that these strange and deadly creatures like to do. Eat and have sex. Not necessarily in that order.
This film starts off quickly and doesn’t really let up for it’s duration. It’s a lot of fun and I love the mix of humour and nasty gore moments (each character gets a brief bio when they’re introduced providing name, a fun fact and their life expectancy). It’s a film that delivers plenty of good stuff that fans will enjoy while playing with the genre conventions, tongue firmly in cheek throughout.
The editing is a little bit choppy at times but everything else is well done. The script, by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, is as zippy as the action and full of some hilarious one-liners and profanity. Director John Gulager does everything he can to take the madness and keep it all as entertaining as it is off the wall. Think of the monster movie fun of Tremors mixed with the gruesome moments in Phantasm and you are getting close to the vibe of this film.
And kudos to a real mixed-bag cast (including Balthazar Getty, Jenny Wade, Krista Allen, Henry Rollins and Jason Mewes playing . . . Jason Mewes) who embrace the material with gusto and totally go along with the humour of the project. Clu Gulager, father of the director, gets a large role as the barkeeper but this isn’t a role just created to please daddy, he’s perfectly cast and a lot of fun.
It’s a bit of a no-brainer with no comment on our society of today or underlying, deeper story strands. Sometimes, that is just what you need from your horrors. I’d happily recommend this to any horror fan who hankers for some undemanding fun that doesn’t feature vampires, werewolves or any other archetypes but that goes from start to finish like a rocket-fuelled racing car headed on a collision course.
DIRECTOR: JOHN GULAGER
WRITER: PATRICK MELTON, MARCUS DUNSTAN
STARS: CLU GULAGER, BALTHAZAR GETTY, KRISTA ALLEN, JENNY WADE, HENRY ROLLINS, JASON MEWES
RUNTIME: 95 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: USA
Film Rating: 
