Feast

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Horrorphile - January 2008

Feast

January 16th 2008 03:37

“They’re hungry. You’re dinner.” The tagline to Feast (2005) pretty much sums up the tone of this unabashedly over-the-top gore-fest black comedy. It’s a bloody treat too; low-budget, but wildly inventive, and sporting some of the best non-CGI special effects since The Evil Dead (1982).

A severed tongue-in-cheek screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton that plays with both the monster and slasher sub-genres, while twisting clichés and convention and tearing them up. Feast is a rip-roaring extravaganza similar to the lurid horror excesses of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), but none of the slapstick. It also sports one of the best B-list and up-and-coming ensemble casts I’ve seen in a while.

The Bear Tavern in the middle of desert nowhere with a motley crew of smart alecs and losers including Bozo (Balthazar Getty), Coach (Henry Rollins), Hot Wheels (Josh Zuckerman), Edgy Cat (Jason Mewes), Tuffy (Krista Allen), Honey Pie (Jenny Wade), Grandma (Eileen Ryan – Sean Penn’s mother), a bartender (Clu Gulager) and a beer guy (Judah Freidlander). In bursts a tough guy hero covered in blood toting a rifle. He announces that unless they want to get eaten alive they’d better listen to him and do what he says.

Navi Rawat as the heroine

A bunch of terrifying and ravenous beasts from God knows where (apparently according to one of the trailers they're a military experiment) are about to descend on the tavern. They do and they rip the hero’s head off. Oops, no more hero. So now it’s every person for themselves. Thankfully a heroine arrives, the hero’s wife. She seems to possess more longevity.

The Heroine and the Beer Guy (Judah Freidlander) ready to rock

The rest of the 80 odd minutes has the bar under siege from this hideous bloodthirsty family of monsters with more teeth than a zipper. It’s hell for leather and there ain’t nothin’ a sure thing.

My, my, my, what big teeth you have!

This is director John (son of Clu) Gulager’s debut feature, having previously worked as an actor and cinematographer. He got the film funded by winning Project Greenlight, set up by actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to get talented filmmakers up and running with a low-budget feature. Wes Craven was also involved, although this film is much more hardcore than anything Craven has done of late.

Honey Pie (Jenny Wade) gets more than ketchup on her waitress uniform

Gulager’s got a great eye and cleverly shoots all the monster action and special effects make-up sequences with concise editing and fast-frame photography which prevents the audience from seeing the strings, so to speak. Sometimes it’s a blink and you’ll miss it, but it still packs an effective punch, and there is enough blood spilled to make Peter Jackson grin.

MILF Tuffy (Krista Allen) rises to the occasion

Some witty dialogue and solidly etched characterizations lift the movie severed head and shoulders above most of the straight-to-dvd horror dross. Feast is easily the best 80 minutes bang for your buck I’ve seen in awhile. There’s some serious eye candy too for the red-blooded male viewers, and Henry Rollins, who can’t act his way out of a paper bag, actually delivers a wooden performance that works, and he made me laugh too.

It’s great to see such inventive and excellent special effects make-up that isn’t from the KNB EFX Group (as brilliant as they are). Gary Tunnicliffe, a Brit known for countless straight-to-dvd releases the less said the better, has achieved some sensational prosthetic and monster effects work.

Beer Guy about to recieve a nasty headache

Director Gulager is currently filming and in post-production on two sequels, whether they’ll have the energy and potency of Feast we’ll have to wait and see, but for now, sink your teeth into Feast and gnaw hard on those horror bones, dem be damn juicy!

Here's one trailer:

And here's another:

Vote

Subscribe to this blog

Email this post to a friend

Go to the Orble Film Channel

Start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - The Dead Girl ]

[ Next - The Bridge ]

Comments

6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

January 16th 2008 05:05

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

This looks like real fun.
I love the lamprey with legs look on the beasts.

Comment by Bryn

January 16th 2008 05:19

Horrorphile

Damo, it sure is ... big bag o' popcorn, several ice cold brewskis, and make sure the kids are in bed! .. .oh, and the better half is ensconsed in a book in another room

Comment by Cibbuano

January 16th 2008 21:49

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

It's always the damn military!

Sounds interesting, but I have to admit that I'd watch it solely based on that picture of Krista Allen.

Comment by Bryn

January 17th 2008 03:29

Horrorphile

Curiously, as I discovered during some research, Krista Allen started her career doing soft porn (Cibby's eyes immediately light up!). It seems she must have signed a lucratgive contract for she made numerous Emmanuelle movies for cable television all in the one year (1994). She was also cast in movies simply for her looks and assets (Liar, Liar as "busty woman" and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as "pretty woman") ... Although she doesn't get her gear off in Feast, she's damn spunky. It's the very ample Jenny Wade whom sheds the threads, although only down to her underwear ...

Comment by D. Armenta

January 18th 2008 23:59

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan

Whaddya mean "only" down to her underwear? Sometimes that's better visually, isn't it?

**Anything** without bloody CGI in it gets my vote!

Comment by Bryn

January 19th 2008 01:09

Horrorphile

Armenta, my tongue's in my cheek there, just as the whole movie is ... And yes, I agree with you! I was humouring Cibby ...
And yeah, Viva Old Skool FX!!!

[ Previous - The Dead Girl ]

[ Next - The Bridge ]

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.

CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag

Home Page (optional)

Comments

Notify me of replies

Notify extra people about this comment

Is this a private comment?

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment

One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.

One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)

Your Email Address

(optional)

(required for reply notification)

Submit

July 2008

4 Posts

June 2008

23 Posts

May 2008

23 Posts