Director: Anthony Catanese
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
After a string of strange accidents, the owner of a fancy golf resort discovers the crimes are being committed by a pack of ravenous gophers mutated by a secret serum used to treat the property for an upcoming tournament and must rely on the less-than-capable staff members left alive to deal with the situation.
Review:
This was a delightfully fun and cheesy genre effort. One of the better elements here is the rather fun storyline that manages to be endearingly cheesy enough to set up the jokes as well as be a serviceable creature feature. The situations present here involving the presence of the creatures stirred up by the special chemical treatment being used for the tournament that raises the stake of the facility in the community’s standings, the importance it has on the owner, and the desire to see the creatures stopped before they can ruin the event all serve the film nicely. This is all a workable enough setup, but to use the situation as a means to string a series of silly slapstick and stupid work-play puns that are so stupid they become funny makes for a generally fun time here. It’s all incredibly juvenile and somewhat stupid so the humor has to work but for those who can appreciate this type of comedy the film comes off incredibly well in that department.
That setup allows for a solid series of cheesy and goofy creature feature attacks to take place here. The silly effects for the creatures here being obvious puppets and cheesy attachments done to show their mutated state fit perfectly in line with the rest of the comedy here, especially once that brings about the series of attacks that occurs here. There are not a whole lot of serious attacks that take place in the second half when they start to get a bit more obvious about the creatures attacking the various workers at the facility which leads to all sorts of goofy scenarios, wacky confrontations, and plenty of sight gags that get a bit bloody and brutal in how graphic they get. With a breathless pace that keeps it fun, these all come together for a lot to like here.
There are some problems here that do hold this back. The most obvious and egregious issue is the aforementioned type of comedy present here which is pretty much the exact definition of personal preference. The jokes and situations here are obviously done to be tongue-in-cheek and silly in the best way but that also leaves a slew of stupid gags and jokes that border on the wrong kind of comedy. Far too much of this one can easily come off with the mindset of people being too stupid to live as long as they have with some of the comments and situations here being made purely for the sake of the joke that realistically shouldn’t be the case so everything has that air of stupidity present to help sell the comedy. That’s all pretty much fine for some but not all as it’s purely personal preference and tolerance, much like the low-budget effects and ambitious actions that the budget can’t really cover that end up being the main drawbacks.
Overview: ***.5/5
An endearingly silly and cheesy creature feature, that there’s quite a lot to like here with the positives on display holding this one up over its few positives that stand as more of a personal preference than anything makes for a lot to like here. Those who are intrigued by this kind of genre fare or are fans of the creative crew will be the ones to give this the best shot while most others out there who are turned off by this style should heed caution.
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