Showing posts with label Chad Ferrin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chad Ferrin. Show all posts

Aug 31, 2012

Review: Easter Bunny Kill! Kill! - 2006



Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!
Director: Chad Ferrin
2006
Horror


Remington claims that Mindy is his true love in life but he’s obviously a grafter luring his way into the family for whatever reason. Mindy also has a son, sixteen years old with Easter as his favorite holiday. Actually the kid is somewhat retarded and cannot really cops with reality. His greatest hero in life is his father and the Easter Bunny. When he gets a rabbit from a complete stranger he really starts to shine. Remington, only in for using Mindy, hates the boy – Nicholas, and the boy hate him back. Using threats Remington means to fool Mindy to believe that they can be on happy family. But when Mindy needs to get to work, Remington phoned a perverted man trying to sell Nicholas to him. No marks and no memory are the rules. In the meantime Remington goes out to get some prostitutes for the Easter party. But the party doesn’t go as he thinks, soon there’s a deranged killer on the loose killing of the people one by one…


It’s pretty obvious that this picture didn’t have a massive budget and the cinematography betrays its underground origin. I like underground cinema though and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it being obvious either. Especially when it’s done as nicely as here, it feels like you’re in the movie sitting like a fly on the wall rather than just seeing a picture on the TV. That’s always a good and intersecting thing in my home. I wouldn’t say that it’s exciting but it is somewhat suspenseful at times!

It takes a while for the movie to really get going but the characters are interesting and the acting is surprisingly good! I have some trouble believing the retarded kid as I think he overacts quite a bit but you can’t have everything and I don’t really know how retards talk anyway, it might be very accurate after all.

The intro shot (in a double sense) is quite disturbing and in your face. You get to see someone in an Easter Bunny mask robbing and killing a store clerk. It’s not a secret who did it for long though and we get to follow Remington on his was getting in to the family. At first we get the feeling that he’s only wants Mindy for sex, and she is rather good looking, but later, when he tries to sell Nicholas to a perverted bloke that seems ecstatic over getting the chance to abuse a retarded kid. At this point I thought this was the true meaning of the movie, an exploitation of perverted abuse of the boy. It really builds a tension but I was wrong. The next thing happening is that the Easter Bunny comes along and starts to kill people. It’s of course not the true Easter Bunny, just someone in the initial Easter Bunny mask and you can guess who it is, or at least try to guess. It seems obvious, but it’s not!

At this time Remington goes out hoping to get some pussy for his party. No problem since he knows his way around and picks up a couple of prostitutes. Here’s where the first nudity in the film takes place and I thought it would become somewhat sleazy. But there’s really no more than a few tits to be exposed. Not that I complain but I thought it would be a little bit more in that department!

Now the film takes its final turn and becomes what it’s been all along really. I wouldn’t call it a full scale slasher but it’s sure the main theme of the film. There’s also a lot more commenting on the nuclear family issues and mental disturbances. I had my doubts when watching it but when it’s finished I can see that this was a really good movie and well made with some thought put into it. It gives me so much more than just a basic exposition film and as for the killings; they’re done with some unusual tool. Well, at least it isn’t just knives and axes and things like that. We get to see drills, circular saws and stuff like that! And yeah, the ending took me by surprise and that’s unusual! Good Movie!


Bilder: © 2006 Crappy World Films © 2011 Cine du Monde (UK Licence)

Aug 30, 2012

Review: Unspeakable - 2000




Unspeakable
Director: Chad Ferrin
2000
Horror

James and Alice doesn’t have a great relationship and it doesn’t get better when they’re in a car accident, leaving her crippled and their daughter dead. James grief has no end and Alice, well… she’s more or less a vegetable. That doesn’t mean that she’s not sexually molested by her nurse – she is! In the worst possible way! James on the other hand goes out and meets up with some hookers to take out his frustration on. Soon we learn that he had a more than normal relationship with the daughter and that it might be the reason for the lousy relationship with Alice.

This might very well be the most demented film I’ve ever seen! The character clearly do unspeakable things to shock us and the script is so twisted it’s hard to believe that it wasn’t written by a lunatic imprisoned in the quiet room. It’s Chad Ferrins first feature film. Whom I have reviewed once before – Easter Bunny Kill! Kill! which was made after this. They have a lot in common and the development as a filmmaker is obvious.

The actors are awful. Well, most of them anyway. Some of the smaller parts are in fact decent but what does that help when the main actors suck? But I can live with that, the main thing about it is the sickness and the madness the main character goes through. You could say it’s more of a portrait of metal sickness than a horror movie. But there are lots of death scenes where people die violently and the dementia helps to make this a very wicked film.





To fill things up besides the main story there is also a part of the film about a pimp and drug dealer. He loses some of his girls which turn up murdered (by James). But that’s just a minor thing. The main story about James is more in the style of Driller Killer or so where the murderer really snaps and can’t deal with reality anymore!

As I said it’s very demented and I could have left the review saying that since it’s the most describing word for the entire film! But is it entertaining? Well, I wouldn’t see it again in quite a while. There’s quite a lot of blood but the feel of it is a bit to amateurish for me at this time. Yet I can’t let go of it, my thoughts keep returning to it and I ask myself what’s really attracting with it. Beats me… Strange feeling. But it is dirty and the title really says it all – it’s unspeakable!

Images: © 2000 Crappy World Films © 2011 Cine du Monde (UK Licence)

Review: The Ghouls - 2003




The Ghouls
Director: Chad Ferrin
2003
Horror

Eric Hayes makes his living with his film camera. He sells the revolting footage that he captures to the highest bidder but doesn’t make a fortune out of it. In fact he’s always looking for the one great story that will make him rich. He follows the police around hoping to get some sellable footage and more or less live of other people’s misery. One day he does discover something different though! He tries to film it but when he’s about to sell it there’s no film in the camera. He doesn’t give up and soon he finds what he’s looking for again, some footage that are so gruesome that it’ll be worth a fortune on the open market. It’ll be something to die for! He has discovered the cannibalistic ghouls…

Something that’s great about Cine Du Mondes releases is the short introduction sequence they sometimes have where the director gets a chance to tell us about his movie. This is the first ever edition with extras of this film in the UK. That’s what Chad Ferrin tells, I don’t really know and I don’t really care as I’m not a big fan of extras. As far as collecting is concerned this should be a great release though! Cine Du Monde has released two other titles by Chad in the past (Unspeakable and Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!) and I see no reason not to get this in your collection as well.

It is, of course, a low budget film! It doesn’t show too much though. It’s pretty nicely acted and the story is well thought through. There might be better gore effects out there but I think these are quite adequate. For me it isn’t the gore anyway, there is a deeper sense to the movie which I’ll try to analyse here. Bear with me…






The movie is about the discovery of cannibals. They look like ghouls but that isn’t the point. Who are the real cannibals on the world really? I say it’s the ones who cannibalize other people’s misery by making a living out of capturing the violence on film. There, that didn’t take too much linguistic skills did it? In other words I think the title may very well be referring to the profession that actually discovers the ghouls. Does Eric Hayes find himself eventually? Does he feel regret? Remorse? Does he realize that he’s just a pawn in the big boys market? This is what I think about when I see it. I have a tendency to analyse too much but you can’t say that I couldn’t be right, could you?

In this sense it’s a great film. I like being made to think a bit and I think this movie does that to you even if it might not be deliberate. And there’s the other side to it as well. If you don’t allow your thoughts to float away you can still have an enjoyable time. The story, even without any of the layers I just described, is entertaining anyway. You can watch it as a straight forward horror flick or as a clever existential film, the choice is yours!

6/10

Images: © 2003 Crappy World Films © 2011 Cine du Monde (UK Licence)