Southern horror, especially when dealing in the subgenre of ‘redneck horror,’ finds itself with wickedly fun cinematic rides, and most definitely when involving finger chewing zombies, splatter fried barbecues and sweet home ghastly love bites, and that all comes from director Steven Goldmann’s nasty blood-slick film. Timothy Dolan, screenwriter from this nutty and yet creative written horror film, marks his first venture into the genre, a distant deviation from his previous family oriented films, though nothing unusual about that in this genre, take note of Robert Wise who made musicals and horror films.
The premise for film follows the standard slasher aspect a group students, supposedly high school, though they look a tad too developed for that school of learning, all part of a youth ministry for troubled teens with their pastor returning from a retreat only to breakdown by a trailer park that has a brush with a hellish tornado of sorts. However, that is not where the story begins rather the careful consideration to paint the backstory, comes with great passion, as this tale, bases itself from the Imperium Comics’ Trailer Park of Terror, in which Norma (Nichole Hiltz (May [2002])) seeks to escape the park of nothing less, for a better life. Here lies the problem, as is the case with horror films, problems arise and issues prevent dreams from becoming realities resulting in a cascade of horrendous decisions, all which lead to a run in with the devil (Tracy Adkins) dressed all in back, his version of a Johnny Cash. Three standouts in the cast, which tend for a bit more comedic in tone, and hellish design, comes from Myk Watford (Roach), Stank as Ed Corbin (Blood Salvage [1990]) and Lew Temple (Marv), all whom partake in dismantling the lives of all visitors with glee and down-home hostile hospitality zombie style. Therefore, enter the victims of devilish misgiving who perhaps in a spiritual battle, test themselves with true acts of temptation and redemption, as each teen possesses supposedly socially deemed liberal wicked lusts and their appearances corrupt them morally. As they range from a gothic dressed Bridget (Jeanette Brox (Devil in the Flesh [2000])) to drug addict Tiffany (Stefanie Black) and at the other end of the spectrum a sexual obsessed Amber (Hayley Marie Norman), porn addict (Cody McMains) and then (Ricky Mabe) as the gay teen. An oddly misfit in the Alex (Ryan Carnes), as the sarcastic, wise-cracking, teen perhaps his infections lay within the realm of disrespecting and questioning the authority of elders, such as Pastor Lewis (Matthew Del Negro). Though a better adjustment for testing oneself, a group of devout souls, supposedly without sin, to find themselves in a world of demons, zombies, and the devil’s temptations, hypocrites running amok. Nevertheless, a wonderful movie, with rotting corpses, each with tender loving care to use a certain traits to occupy young flesh, with a gritty soundtrack that keeps the entire film grease with gooey blood flow.
Every cast member plays their part exceptionally well, but as fate declares the southern zombies steal the show, a common pattern, from 2001 Maniacs (2005) to Dead & Breakfast (2004) and venture over to the dramatic classic Deliverance (1972), the characters take on their own personas and bring a bit of strange charisma to the roles. However, Hiltz brings a wonderful energy to the set, and expressing her character incredibly well keeping the audience interest, through slightest hiccup of sluggish. The pacing stays steady, working well on a limited shooting schedule (18-days!) and budget constraints, and using the funds for outlandish zombies and stylish slaughtering scenes to please the gore-hounds. A bit of a downside, remains, with the teens, their appearances and more so the leftover cliché of 1980s, with stereotypical characters behaving the same way, blaming them for all the wrongs, and never reflecting correctly to today’s norms. One often overlooks the soundtrack of a film, giving it no mention or consideration, however that is not case with this flick, many county twang tunes with emphasis to Watford, has classic southern groove track entitled Cry for the Camera, along with Matt King’s Hell’s Kitchen track, that motivates one to cheer for the zombies, over the humans.
Goldmann delivers a thorough satisfying horror movie with well-placed comedic lines, and endless sultry suggestive moments, filling a passion driven horror movie with charms of gore from zombies galore. The blending of the horror, tension, respectable sexuality and glorified gore solidifies the movie standing, as an overall crossover between the zombie saturated market and the struggling slasher market resurrection, without creating another iconic figure.
This review was originally published in June 2015 on the now defunct Rogue Cinema website with a view count of 1,765.
TAGLINE:
- Fear Has A New Home!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892109/
IMDb Rating: 5.3/10
Baron’s Rating: 5.0/10