Hola all. Massawyrm here.

FEAST 2

Years ago, at the very first Fantastic Fest, we were treated to the very first screenings of the Project Greenlight final film, Feast. It was kind of a big deal. The festival was in its first year, there were only 20 films spread over four days and almost none of them were BIG DEALS. But this one was. Everyone was anxious to check it out. And for many of us, it didn’t disappoint. It was a bloody, hilarious, post-modern assault on the horror of the day. It took one of the classic concepts, gave it a John Carpenter feel, and then unleashed the humor, trying desperately to smash every convention it came into direct contact with. The strong jawed hero was one of the first to die, the pretty, brainless tramp was one of the last to live and you had no clue who was going to live or die next.

So how do you follow that up? By finding whatever conventions weren’t in the first movie and breaking those instead. Taking place mere moments after the end of the last film, Feast 2 finds unique ways to bring back a couple of the actors from the first one and continues the story by taking us out into what is happening out in the world around the bar.

This is a SPLATTER FILM. It’s not about the scares, it’s about the blood. But most importantly, it’s about the comedy. This film does more than eviscerate its subjects – it eviscerates the tropes of modern horror. Sometimes blatantly, sometimes VERY subtly. There are a long held list of rules that should never be broken in a horror film – and Feast 2 very deliberately sets out to break them all. This would have never worked if they were trying to be serious, but thankfully it is full on satire that includes hot lesbian biker chicks, midget Lucha Libres, and some very fucked up attempts at trying to get to safety. But what makes that work is that while they are not taking the material so seriously, they are taking the film making VERY seriously – giving it the acting, tension and attention to detail that the material deserves.

Most importantly, the film is GROSS. Not gross like the last film – occasionally wretch inducing, turn your head and squint GROSS. It’s not so much that there is a scene involving an ejaculating monster penis. It is that several of the characters are still walking around with monster jizz on their face several scenes later that will spoil your dinner. There isn’t a monster’s bodily fluid that DOESN’T appear in this film – and it is often used to perfect effect.

But while all the practical effects are pretty damned rockin’ and effective, some of the digital work in this has some issues. As this film was meant for DVD as opposed to be projected 30’ wide at the Alamo, I’m unsure how those effects will play on the small screen. But on the bigscreen a few of them were more than a little lacking. But when the worst thing you can say about a splatter movie is that it has bad special effects, then you’ve done something right.

This film is an awful lot of fun – a very post modern comedy that is far more enjoyable the more you know your horror. While I don’t think it is quite as good as the original, it definitely holds up as a competent and enjoyable sequel that ends with the lead up to the third, and possibly final, film in the series (which is due sometime next year.)

MARTYRS

I want everyone I know to see this movie. But not because I’m in love with it. Quite the contrary actually. In this case my motives are much more selfish than that. I want to TALK about this movie – with everyone. I want to get input from two dozen different people and watch the sheer madness embroil in the lobby as friends clump up into their movie watching cliques and begin debating the rampant insanity that is Martyrs. It will DIVIDE the audience like few films you’ve ever seen before. It is exquisitely made horror with a third act that is such a left turn that it will leave one half of the audience completely pissed and howling for blood while the other half sits in stunned silenced, blown away by its genius.

Martyrs is one dark fucking film, a shocking and truly horrifying tale that puts you on the true, literal edge of your seat. Brutal and unwavering in its vision, this film is a ruthless, violent explosion of terror that feels all too real. I haven’t had a film make me feel this frightened in a very long time. And for the first two acts I was convinced I was seeing an unbelievable masterpiece – a dirty, gritty, raw, nasty film that quite simply beat the shit out of its cast until very few were left. But much like the film it will no doubt go down in history as being a mirror of - Haute Tension - the film takes a wild third act left turn that changes the movie entirely, and loses a large part of the audience when it does.

What follows is 20 minutes of film that will alienate, irritate and possibly turn the stomachs of a large majority of the people watching the film. It certainly alienated me. I found myself staring at what the film had become, heart sinking as I realized that the ending was not going to match the movie I was at first watching. And then it smacks you with a crazy, almost ambiguous ending that forces you to re-examine every bit of footage you’ve seen, trying to mentally comb through each frame for an answer. And if you’re anything like me you’ll begin to wonder if somehow the answer is there, lost in the subtitled translation – with a word’s dual meaning holding some clue buried deep within the language barrier.

But I’ve heard tell of folks who have proclaimed this as an epic work of horror genius, that find the third act as the only way this film could have properly ended. And personally I can’t wait to stand around and pick the brains of those people in my patented louder-than-it-has-any-right-to-be movie arguing voice. I want to hear their interpretations, their explanations. I want to hear why this film is genius. And I want to argue with them. Because that’s what this movie does. It challenges you. It challenges the living shit out of you. It is not an easy film. It doesn’t take the cheap scare or the low road. It is a film with a deep meaning that uses brutality to make some very interesting points. And I’ve got to admit, the CONCEPT of the film is incredibly interesting.

But that third act just gets to me and completely lost me, emotionally detaching me from the film. And dear god do I want to talk to people about that. This is one of those MUST SEE films for horror buffs, if only so you can have the conversation that is destined to follow. It is a film that will have you cheering for its audacity or loathing it for its choices. Either way this sure as fuck isn’t a film for the masses. It’s for you folks. My people. The folks who consider the conversation part of the experience. I cannot stress enough how much I want everyone attending Fantastic Fest to watch this.

But personally, I’m probably never going to see it again.

Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.

Massawyrm