Stevan Mena's first film MALEVOLENCE was an impressive debut and we have all been waiting to see what his sophomore effort would bring us.
Well it's here and it is a complete departure from what you would expect. It is called BRUTAL MASSACRE and with a title like that you would expect a non stop gorefest but instead we get an amusing inside satire on the indie horror scene that while enjoyable and well done may just be a little to "inside" for your average fan.
The film is shot documentary style (think THIS IS SPINAL TAP) and we follow struggling director Harry Pendereki as he attempts to come up with just one more hit.
Once heralded as horrors rising star he now finds himself the modern day Ed Wood and he has been given a chance to either make what will be either his masterpiece or his last film ever. The film is called BRUTAL MASSACRE and we all get to ride along as Harry and his crew handle one mishap after another.
The film boasts a who's who of genre vets. David Naughton plays Harry. David of course is infamous for his role in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and I really can't recall much of anything else that he has done since but he is wonderful in this film and really creates a character here that I think fans will embrace.
Also in the film are Ken Foree, Gunnar Hansen, Ellen Sandweiss and Brian O'Halloran.
We follow Harry as he secures financing, shoots, edits and ultimately releases his opus. He meets an odd array of characters along the way and just about every thing that can go wrong does, and then some.
A very strong and well done attempt at tongue in cheek humor the film at times takes for granted that folks will know what they are talking about. There are numerous times that some of the humor just kind of "hangs there". When watched with folks that make films BRUTAL MASSACRE is a non stop laugh fest, when watched with "joe fan" BRUTAL MASSACRE is often funny, more often silly and at times just plain stupid look behind the scenes of the films they love.
I fear that sometimes the film may be to smart of its own good.
From a technical stand point the film is near flawless. Very well written, acted, directed, etc this film will certainly cement Mena as a "must watch" genre director and I know that I certainly eagerly await for what he might have up his sleeve next.
With all this being said I would like to whole heartedly recommend checking out BRUTAL MASSACRE. The performance by the leading cast are excellent, especially Naughton who turns in his best performance since WEREWOLF. This is one he may be remembered for.
You'll notice in the film that Harry is always wearing a baseball cap that says LMB Productions on it. Stick around till the end to find out what it stands for, it's worth the wait.
BRUTAL MASSACRE is in a limited theatrical run now and will hit DVD on July 22nd. The disc is not exactly bare bones but it also isn't jam packed. You get the trailer, a short behind the scenes feature and some deleted scenes.
CLICK HERE to head on over to the films official site and to watch the trailer just scoll down a little further.
BRUTAL MASSACRE is fun. I enjoyed it. Just keep in mind that it is a film made by industry insiders to amuse industry insiders.
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