"A
shamelessly bold and bloody metal-inspired zom-rom-com.”
Heavy metal awakens a demonic force in Deathgasm, the feature debut of director-screenwriter Jason Lei Howden. In this New Zealand zom-com, an awkward new guy in town channels his
inner metal energy to stop the rampage of an inexplicable evil.
After seeing his mom packed away to a mental institution,
Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) has no other choice but to move into the house of his
nearest relatives in Greypoint. Living with his conservative evangelical
Christians Uncle Albert (Colin Moy) and Aunt Mary (Jodie Rimmer) is a big
struggle for Brodie especially that he is a fan of heavy metal and anything
associated with the music. But he is not giving in, not even to bullies like
his cousin David (Nick Hoskins-Smith). After starting a tentative friendship
with social misfits Dion (Sam Berkley) and Giles (Daniel Cresswell), Brodie
finally found his soulmate in Zakk (James Blake), a cool but self-absorbed
metal fanatic like him. Along with Dion and Giles, they create a band called
DEATHGASM (all caps or else). To top everything, Brodie falls hard for the
lovely hot chick Medina (Kimberley Crossman) who is unfortunately dating his
cousin.
When Brodie and Zakk break into an abandoned home, they
found Haxensword frontman Rikki Daggers (Stephen Ure) hiding inside. Before
Daggers is killed by a minion from the evil Vadin (Tim Foley), the duo manage
to pilfer some of his well-guarded goodies. Part of their theft are notes of the “black
hymn” and when their band play the song, people in earshot start puking blood and
pop their eyes out, turning into malevolent undead flesh-eaters and running
amok all over town. Soon, Vadin his emissaries come to town to summon
the ultimate devil.
Deathgasm is a
shameless marriage of heavy metal and gore-horror. It is a clever comedic
material that will delight both metal heads and grind house fanatics. It has
overabundance of slapstick gags with immense energy and impressive special
effects to back them up. It is in fact orgiastic as savage violence and wild
comedy are tireless and paced incredibly fast. Gore-fest is endless as
townspeople, after vomiting geysers of blood, are scrappily hacked, stabbed,
sliced, gouged, beheaded and ripped. Some are even bludgeoned with dildos and
sex toys of different varieties, while others, much to the amusement of the
executioners, are decapitated a second time as ordered by the leading bad guy.
These are mostly achieved through practical effects and thus, the sprays of
blood and visceral displays are nauseatingly realistic. There are brief
animations and metal-related graphics, specifically in highlighting the enemy’s
badge, which give extra ump. The few digital effects are quite unsuccessful and
only emphasize the movie’s low budget.
The film’s narrative is predictable and formulaic but
certain lessons on family and friendship can be learned from here. It also
speaks of individuality, encouraging everyone, not metal heads only, to be who they
want to be in spite of societal norms and expectations. Metal is portrayed in
the movie as the devil’s means of conquering the world; yet, it also clearly
explains how the music has been beneficial for someone like Brodie.
After a long while, the film becomes repetitive and numbing
as people are heartlessly massacred, which is typical of features in the genre.
Humor sometimes fall flat and dialogues become bad-tasting, especially when
such lines are insensitively thrown at families and loved ones who has just
been slaughtered. Scenes also tend to cut clumsily from one to another, as if
cuing for a commercial break.
Acting is passable. Cawthorne is natural as the loner Brodie
who rises up to be a hero in the right occasion. Crossman is surprisingly efficient
as she transforms from being simply a boner material to a head-splitting femme
fatale.
Deathgasm effectively
combines metal and gore in a dauntless comedy. But it is not a movie for
everyone as its gore extravaganza requires strong guts. Since it teaches the
principles of individuality and being carefree with who we want to be, well, it
can be expected that it does not give shit of what we think about it.
Production companies: New Zealand Film
Commission, MPI Pictures, Timpson Films
Cast: Milo
Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell,
Stephen Ure, Jodie Rimmer, Colin Moy, Nick Hoskins-Smith, Aaron McGregor,
Andrew Liang, Tim Foley, Delaney Tabron, Cameron Rhodes, Erroll Shand, Kate
Elliott, Campbell Rouselle
Directors-screenwriter: Jason Lei Howden
Producers: Andrew Beattie, Morgan Leigh
Stewart, Sarah Wensley, Todd
Wieneke
Executive producers: Ant Timpson, Greg Newman, Badie Ali, Hamza Ali
Director of photography: Simon Raby
Production designer/costume designer: Jane
Bucknell
Editors: Jeff
Hurrell, Gareth Van Niekerk
Music: Dead Pirate
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