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Friday, January 17, 2020

90 min. Family Video - "Feast" or How I Made It Through "Saw IV-VII"

For a fan of the tacky, this month (some where in the Fall of 2009) is pretty big. I am trying to scratch up the change to see Zoe Bell's second major studio role in "Gamer" and to watch "Extract" to maintain my status of being a cynical subculture guru. Also Rob Zombie' vision of "Halloween" being seemingly altered has gained my attention, and we have some other interesting horror flicks like "Pandorum" and "Jennifer's Body". It is my hope that I might actually get around to seeing a "Saw" film for the first time at a cinema.

It is a month where I cannot be taken too seriously, but I am serious about one thing. This thing is trying to catch up with "Sons of Anarchy" to prep myself for the showdown between Henry Rollins and  Ron Perlman. Since I do not want to fill the time before the first season is a cheap rental along side the likes of HR classics like "The Chase" and "Johnny Mnemonic", and I have recently purchased "Blade II" and rented other RP movies, it is time for me to finally catch up to the film "Feast" from the writers who continue to make the "Saw" series worthwhile despite the director or lack of Donnie Walberg to mutilate.

It may have been a typical night at this remote Texas bar, but everyone's plans are put on hold when four nightmarish and horny creatures determine that they have found a buffet. Can the patrons band together to defeat this threat, or will they all be dishes at this feast?

Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton have written a film that might be as good as "Evil Dead 2". They immediately tell the audience not to take the film too seriously, but with their device of reminding us of archetypes and the typical horror clichés associated with them, they can still shock the audience by ignoring them as the body count builds.

Like in ED2 and "Night of the Living Dead", the monsters are shown sparingly, but whenever they appear in any capacity, it catches the viewer off guard. Unlike NotLD, the dialogue is never meant to have a deeper meaning and, as long as the viewer is open to the sarcastic approach, it almost always leaves you on the floor rolling.

"Feast" provides the best use of a Henry Rollins (before "He Never Died"). For fans of the tough guy image, you may want to resist enjoying the parody of himself. As the film goes on, and he becomes more ridiculous as the film's biggest ass of a joke, you eventually go nuts for eventual fate.

As for the rest of the human characters, the script does not require much range since they are to stick to their static standard horror-movie tropes. If they fail to do so, the film fails. Fortunately, each actor succeeds.

As for the monsters, they are the most sick and twisted to be put on film since ED2. Thanks to their limited use, the viewer does not get the chance to complain about the inability for the monster to look good when they are shown in their entirety. Another benefit to the lack of them is that everything they do is shocking and sometimes gag worthy. The audience should inevitably revel in the fact that the writers and director were willing to go there when usually such disgusting concepts are reserved for B-movies.

Dunstan and Melton understand that horror (slasher) films can no longer be taken too seriously which allows "Feast" to be a brilliant horror comedy. This might defeat the intention of the concept of "Saw" (explains the just watchable nature of IV and VII), but as long as they never lose their ability to destroy the standards of the genre in the most clever way possible, they might be the most important horror writers of a generation. Provided the audience maintains a sense of humor, Dunstan and Melton will be around for a long time.

HellHorror.com Throwback Thursday.

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