Connect with us

News

Review: ‘Vicious Fun’ is a Viciously Fun 80s Synth Horror-Comedy

Published

on

Vicious Fun

Vicious Fun is the latest venture from the fine folks at Black Fawn Films, and it’s a banger of a horror comedy. It celebrates the horror genre — and everyone who loves it — with tongue-in-cheek humor and lots of gooey gore. It grabs you right from the first scene (by the throat, violently) and blasts off on a viciously fun ride that’s a true treat for genre hounds. A humor-laced rampage of knives and knuckles, Vicious Fun is an absolute blast.

vicious fun

Set in Minnesota, 1983, Vicious Fun follows Joel (Evan Marsh, Shazam!), a caustic horror movie critic who’s not-so-secretly pining for his roommate. After a night of heavy — heavy — drinking, Joel finds himself in the midst of a self-help group for serial killers. He must blend in, or be found out and face the sure-to-be violent consequences. Of course, Joel’s improvisation skills aren’t quite as honed as he’d like, and shit goes south real fast. 

This marks the feature film debut for writer James Villeneuve, and honestly he comes out swinging. The script is cheeky, self-aware, and consistently funny (greatly served by Marsh’s performance), and I will definitely be keeping an eye on his future projects. Paired with Cody Callahan’s vibrant direction and Jeff Maher’s stellar cinematography (the framing is excellent and I live for all the neon), Vicious Fun is undeniably a well-made film. We last saw Callahan and Maher’s work on the dramatic thriller, The Oak Room, and their drastic tone shift proves that these guys have some serious versatility. 

The music by Steph Copeland is fierce fun as she uses 1980s synth rock as her own personal playground. Any lover of synth horror is going to adore this score. Once the blood starts flowing, it opens up a whole can of awesome. The effects — by Shaun Hunter — are fantastic. As gory as the film gets, it never really loses that “fun” keyword in the film’s title. I’m likely going to circle back to that word a lot in this review, because really, that’s what this movie is. Just pure, vicious fun. 

It’s no surprise that all the technical elements of the film are on point — the Black Fawn team sure knows how to pick ‘em, and they (very wisely) keep them around. The end result is a fully cohesive project that doesn’t feel like a sum of its parts, it’s a completed whole.

The cast are all excellent in their roles; even the cannon fodder bumbling cops have perfect line delivery. Truly, this cast is great. Marsh plays flabbergasted and overwhelmed in a completely endearing (and very expressive) way that makes you really root for him to hopefully make it through this long, dark night.

Amber Goldfarb (Far Cry 5, Helix) as Carrie is cool, calm, collected, and impressively deadly; it’s clear that Goldfarb had a lot of fun in the role (behind all that steely attitude and eye-rolling). But Ari Millen (The Oak Room) as Bob steals the show. Between his if-Patrick-Bateman-did-Flashdance dance number (really… and yes, it actually works) and his emphatic line delivery, Millen proves once again that he can really command a scene. 

I may be biased here, because as a horror journalist (though I personally use that term loosely), Vicious Fun spoke to me on a molecular level. The dialogue — one monologue in particular, from Tony the cop — discusses the genre in very frank terms that add a bit of a meta flair to what is already a very already on-the-nose film. One of the killer characters wears a mask, wields a machete, and often has the misfortune of leaving one sole survivor. Another likes to dress as a clown. Bob dons a clear raincoat and has a collection of business cards. Anyone that’s familiar with the horror genre in any way will appreciate the homages. 

Another personal point of appreciation is the ending. Which I will not say anything about, because I’m not a monster, but I will say that Vicious Fun does not fall into formulaic traps of what “should” happen in the epilogue of an unrequited love story. For that, I am grateful. 

Tonally, it’s got a great energy and doesn’t let the pace drop for a second. There’s a lot to say about Vicious Fun, but really, if you’ve read this far, then you know you should just go see it yourself. You’ll have a lot of fun. And it will be vicious. Vicious fun. There you go. 

 

Vicious Fun is now playing as part of Sitges Film Festival.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

on

Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

on

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading