Director: Jackie Kong
Year: 1987
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Trying to honor a family member, crazed brothers decide to carry out the instructions of their former family member, who was looking to reanimate various dead bodies together into a sacrificial offering for a demented cult goddess, forcing them into increasingly more bizarre confrontations.
Review:
This was a generally fun and over-the-top genre effort. One of the better elements found here is the excessively enjoyable pace that manages to set up the main storyline in an incredibly quick fashion. Within minutes, this one spills the general setup with the guys being set up to carry out the ritual by their uncles’ still-alive remains into going around killing women and using their body parts to put together a special altar for the specific Goddess, which is detailed enough to understand what their mission will be for the rest of the film. This speed and clarity in the process is quite refreshing, with the whole thing making the whole thing simple to understand that it manages to be loose enough to undergo the series of interpretations on what's going on that it all makes sense as well. Knowing that it’s all designed to prepare for the ceremony is a fine touch, as that makes their cover story of the vegan restaurant a fine way to slip around unnoticed while also generating a solid series of laughs throughout here.
That carries over into the scenes with the guys carrying out the proclamation of constructing the body out of other body parts. Featuring the absurdity of the scenes with the two trying to clumsily kill off the women they’ve managed to trick into coming home with them or back to their restaurant and preparing for the ritualistic ceremony, these scenes are outright silly and cheesy, with quite a lot to like. From crashing the topless exercise video shoot, bringing the club victims back to be slaughtered, grabbing the victim while on a date, and taking a victim away from a local wrestling show, these scenes are generally as goofy as they can be, with the whole thing set up to be played for laughs due to the cheesy action and comical special effects. While it manages to maintain this kind of approach throughout, the equally silly commentary and quips from the reanimated brain instructing everything along the way help to add an even bigger comedic undertone here for a lot to like overall.
There are some big issues here that do appear in this one. The main drawback is the generally randomized and nonsensical way this one tries to interject the detectives investigating the matter, which renders this one quite disjointed and jarring. The whole idea of the rampage being carried out offers a chance for this one to take out the two who are the only reasonable suspects for anything going on, so it all just reeks of plot contrivance to ignore everything being ignored to keep the film going. Likewise, other scenes like the diversions into the wrestling show, the concert they hold for the awakening ceremony, and the attack on the helper chef in the restaurant only make things more confusing as to why they were all included. The other issue here is the film’s approach to the comedy featured here, which is something not everyone will want to take on, as there’s the potential for the kind of humor here to wear off rather easily on some, with how wild and bizarre it gets. These are what hold the film back.
Overview: ***.5/5
A rather fun and cheesy horror/comedy, there’s quite a lot to like here, which manages to work even better if the negatives on display aren’t personally detrimental. Those who are fine with this style or approach, as well as those who are curious about it, will have the most to like here, while most others out there turned off by these factors should heed caution.
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