Thursday, October 17, 2013

Cannibal! The Musical

Director: Trey Parker  Running time: 95 min  Year of Release: 1996

Fans of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will find much to enjoy in this silly, spirited musical about real life cannibal Alfred Packer. Although the subject matter is obviously grim the film itself is quite lighthearted with tongue in cheek musical numbers that are quite catchy at times (namely the hilarious "Trapper Song").  The absurd humor isn't nearly has crude has Parker and Stones later work, which may disappoint some. Cannibal! also takes a while to get going, but patient viewers will be rewarded once things start to go sour for the ill fated characters. While shot on a micro-budget the film makes good use of the snowy outdoors locations which give the proceedings a surprisingly  authentic feel (but must have been hell for the cast and crew). Overall Cannibal! The Musical won me over with its tasty blend of absurd humor and quality musical numbers.

Rating: 4/5

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Abcs of Death

Running Time: 124 minutes   Director: Various    Year of Release: 2012


The Abcs of Death takes an original approach to the horror anthology; instead of the tired and true use of a wrap-around story containing three or so separate tales, here we have 26 bite sized macabre micro-films dealing with a particular way to kick the bucket has it relates to a letter of the alphabet. Blood and bodily fluids fly has a host of characters meet bizarre, messy and sometimes hilarious ends.The results are astonishing, if a tad uneven. At it's best, Abcs of Death is a horror film like no other brimming with mad brilliance such has the zany H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion, the sonically and visually stunning D is for Dogfight, the gleefully perverse L is for Libido, the clay animation wonder that is T is for Toilet or the full length feature worthy sci-fi epic V is for Vagitus. Then there is F is for Fart and Z is for Zetsumets, two utterly bonkers Japanese entries that defy description. There are weak entries however, namely the entirely uninspired G is for Gravity or the pointless M is for Miscarriage. All in All The Abcs of Death is a winning anthology that I personally am very fond of. Give it a shot, it's easy to find and I guarantee there will be no B is for Boredom.   

Rating: 4.5/5