If there is one film you have been missing all your life and need to incorporate into your Halloween viewing (and your Christmas viewing, and your Arbor Day viewing, and anything you might happen to be watching on any random Tuesday evening), it's DEATHGASM. Sometimes you need a film that is balls to the wall insanity, coupled with a healthy dose of underdog heart. DEATHGASM fills both of those needs, and then some – particularly in the horrendous injury and gaping wound department. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
DEATHGASM stars Milo Cawthorne as Brodie, a metalhead totally out of place in his small New Zealand town. He lives with his god-fearing aunt and uncle, is the punching bag for his douchebag preppy cousin, and doesn't seem to be able to connect with anyone at school, outside of the D&D nerds. Until he meets Zakk (James Blake). A metal fanatic and musician, Zakk is exactly the person that Brodie needs to save him from the monotony and boredom of suburban life. The duo teams up with the RPG nerds to start a band called Deathgasm, and uses their practice sessions as a way to escape from the day to day boredom and commune with the gods of metal and carnage.
One night, they come into possession of a mysterious piece of sheet music. Instead of the usual squeedelies and meedelies, the music summons a cursed demon, Aeloth the Blind One. When they play the song, the demon is raised, bringing hell and havoc along with it. The town becomes hell on earth as the locals become possessed by the power of Aeloth, turning into blood thirsty killing machines and tearing apart anyone in sight. Suburbia goes from boring to a nightmarish, blood-drenched wasteland (in the most hilarious way possible).
Brodie and Zakk are left to save the world the only way they know how - through the power of metal. Sometimes the best way to take on the spawn of an ancient demon is to bash, chop, shred and decapitate. Busting open a few skulls probably never hurts either. Sometimes, the right disaster comes along and allows the underdogs to put their unorthodox skills to good use - Brodie and Zakk, along with ax-wielding metal convert Medina (Kimberley Crossman) have exactly what it takes to take down the evil and save the day.
Jason Lei Howden's feature debut is a perfect blend of horror and comedy. Clever dialogue and gory slapstick unite to create bloody, hilarious magic. The film has an unrestrained, manic as fuck energy to it. It plays like the early works of Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi - blood, limbs and chaos reign supreme here, and give us a film that never slows down for a second.
The film's use of practical effects demonstrate its fantastic use of its minimal budget and its love for classic spatter films of the 80s. It wonderfully embraces the genre and its influences, while retaining its own identity and not leaning too heavily into being something that it's not. Howden's influences are apparent, but he tells his own story here, in exactly the way he wants to tell it. There are plenty of references and touchpoints for the diehard metal fan to pick up on, but they in no way make the metal novice (me) feel left out in the cold. This movie is for everyone who ever wanted see some eyes gouged out or turn a weed wacker into a deadly killing machine.
DEATHGASM is pure fucking fun. It's crazy - great humor, clever, quick dialogue, over the top blood, viscera and tendons - really, all of a horror nerd's favorite things. And thought it revels in the gore, it is also not without heart - it's easy to connect with these characters and their struggles, first as outcasts, and then as heroes. Sometimes films are at their funest when they hold nothing back and ask the audience to come along on their demented ride, and DEATHGASM is exactly that brand of medicine. Best watched with a beer and a room of like-minded friends. You'll be quoting it for days after, and enjoying it for years to come.
DEATHGASM hits theaters and VOD on October 2nd.
