Jonathan Straiton’s fun and quite insanely bizarre comedy horror, Night of Something Strange, took dedication to complete, as his project spanned almost four years, caught in both budget constraints and post-production issues; yet secured distribution through Hurricane Bridge Entertainment. He uses the assistance of writers Ron Bonk and Mean Gene to create a sickly gross and wonderfully strange movie which contains a necrophilia act in the opening minutes, throws everything of is imagination into the flick, all on a bloody rampage and gross-out moments. One might wonder with this much buildup of the sheer abundance of crazy antics what was actually wrong with the films’ original title “Night of the STD’s”, after all the movie reflects a bit of the teen sex comedies before always veering into a blood-soaked production. Since then the film expanded from being available only on the NoSS site and Hurricane Bridge Entertainment production company, to now available through Amazon, with a limited supply on Blu-ray, and advancing with the help of Terror Films.
Attention, parents and religious organizations seeking the ultimate way to connect to the youth of today for the horrors of birth control, dangers of perverted sex (and rape) and the ideal properness of abstinence, then this movie definitely will help you. As for the rest of the splatter-punk horror fans an equally deliciously tasty and satisfying movie filled with some clichés and monsters in the both the day and night. It starts with a janitor, Cornelius (Wayne W. Johnson (Tales of Dracula [2015])) making his rounds in a morgue and decides to partake in his hobby of necrophilia with a woman whose toe tag reads highly contagious STD. At home Cornelius writhes in agonizing pain from his groin, one could only wonder why (secretly thinking he deserves it) a slow makeup changes over on his face transforming from living to dead a nice added feature. Sadly, for humankind he becomes a zombie, with sex still on the rotting brain, and attacks a female relative in a violent sexual manner, thereby infecting and now you have the generalized plot, however it’s difficult to keep anyone, including Cornelius down in this flick. Obviously, the film extends much further than one expects especially when the movie costs on $40,000 and a pure independent movie. The movie cuts to a group of teens seeking to enjoy spring break vacation, first encounter Pam (Nicola Fiore), whose boyfriend Dirk (Trey Harrison (Hi-8 (Horror Independent 8) [2013])) shows up in a black muscle car reminiscent a bit like (Mikey’s character from Halloween 5) and then later meeting the rest of the crew. In lays the one typical cliché aside from the teens heading off to ‘x’ location, yes it a character name Brooklyn, i.e. the black guy (Tarrence Taylor). As for the remainder of the road-trip, the loose group of friends consisting of Carrie (Toni Ann Gambale) and her misfit cousin Jason (John Walsh) along with a very horny Freddy (Michael Merchant (Amityville Death House [2015])), and lastly Christine, (Rebecca C. Kasek (Half Dead [2013]) disuss their own agendas. Carrie quickly warns everyone about the maintenance and neglect of bathroom sanitization, as she finds some serious problems likely to affect her plans. While the exaggeration lay all over the sets and scenes, it just adds to enjoyment of the nutty display of props and madness on the screen for everyone to watch. One needs to mention the relationship between the characters Freddy and Jason, it starts rough, but by the end 3-days of filming they form a well connect bond with each other, all translating well on the screen. Straiton does push a tad too far with the inclusion of additional segment, however while it all looks good, it just goes the rails a bit, aside from that look for the cameo appearance of Brinke Stevens.
Sometimes a horror script which pours comedy so thick, the production trudges through like wet cement, however not the case here, the one-liners all work effectively well. Granted sometimes a tad juvenile but it seems more customary in today’s cinema, but the nutty character Freddy brings cringes and laughs galore. The entire movie contains many fluids, blood by the gallon, other interesting bizarrely conjures found extending from the sexual transmitted department – allow your devious sick twisted minds to imagine that for a moment, or more. Although, no scares or jolts, the in your face moments of comedic violence to a many quality ‘money-shots’ the splatter of goo goes a long way into producing both eews and the ability to rival even some of Troma’s movies. As technical issues, none noticed, as the story keeps one engaged with laughter, savoring the gore and for some a gut check moment, careful with what you eat before and during this movie. The special effects nail this down, and throttle it home with great props, and a nifty way a woman holds sneaker in the nether region (a must see), and those gory sequences terrific job! Especially concerning the makeup transformation of character Sue (Kera O’Bryon (Music Store Massacre [2013])) she nails the role very well, and shows what one can do with even a minor role in film.
Every once and while one gets that movie which profoundly places itself into a category of over-the-top strangeness and pulls it off successfully for both gore-hounds and those that like a bit of comedy mixed into a flick. Many fans acquired the signed versions of the DVDs, Blu-Rays and movie posters as I did too, and we all await the sequel of this flick, with the suggestive title of Dawn of the Something Strange, obviously a little play on the Dawn of the Dead, following the success of Night of the Living Dead. Now granted at times it may all seem a tad too much, and for some there might have scene which questions themselves if they continue the ride, trust me finish it, this definitely becomes a repeat viewing pleasure.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315380/
http://hurricanebridgeentertainment.com/
https://www.nightofsomethingstrange.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nightofsomethingstrange
IMDb Rating: 4.7/10
Baron’s Rating: 7/10