Brutal Massacre: A Comedy (2007/Anchor Bay DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C- Extras: C+ Feature: B-
The front
cover for this disc boasts the film as “This Is Spinal Tap for horror!” While I'm not sure the comparison is entirely
accurate, it is a decent way to introduce the concept of the movie. Brutal
Massacre is a mockumentary posing as a making-of documentary about the
production of a low-budget slasher flick called, you guessed it, Brutal Massacre. The movie follows the director, Harry Penderecki,
played by David Naughton (who himself has done his share of straight-up slasher
flicks and the great American Werewolf
In London) and his cast and crew as they fail repeatedly to get through the
day-to-day tribulations of filming. The
big name of Brutal Massacre is Brian O'Halloran, who plays the Assistant
Director Jay, but who you w ill recognize as Dante Hicks from the Clerks
movies.
The humor
is very tongue-in-cheek, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it subtle. Nonetheless, it brings out all those
hilarious little details that horror fans have come to love as it gently
lampoons the genre, its fans, and the people who make the films. It is clearly a B movie, even as it makes fun
of B movies, but I don’t think that I would fault it for this.
It is
clearly shot on video with largely available lighting and on-site sound
recording, which causes some drops in quality and an inconsistent background
hum, but helps to boost the believability of the film as a documentary. There are only a few extras, but they're good
ones including a series of deleted or extended scenes that were wisely cut from
the film, but contain several gags that are worth going back for after watching
the movie. Also, there is a making-of
documentary about the making-of documentary about the “real” movie Brutal
Massacre, which proves the production crew's determination to stick with a
joke. And finally there's a trailer
which unfortunately doesn't do the movie justice. Additionally, the case comes with an insert
that features three posters from the fictional director's previous films
including Sasquatch at the Mall, Fish Who Ate Flesh, and the ever-classic I'll
Take the Ring Back... . And the Finger Too!
- Matthew Carrick
