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| Milo Cawthorne (left) and James Blake battle demons in the gleefully gory horror/comedy "Deathgasm." |
A group of young, misfit heavy metal enthusiasts form a
rock band and after playing some mysterious pages of music passed on by a
reclusive former idol with sinister connections to the other side, unwittingly
summon evil, soul snatching demons from beyond in “Deathgasm,” a gleefully gory
and frequently funny horror comedy out of New Zealand, written and directed by
Jason Lei Howden, making his feature debut.
Before venturing out on his own, Howden worked as a
visual effects artist on films like “The Hobbit,” directed by fellow New
Zealander Peter Jackson. Watching “Deathgasm,” it’s easy to spot Jackson’s
influence—the film has notes of the absurd, irreverent style of Jackson’s
early, low-budget efforts like the screwball sci-fi cult hit “Bad Taste”
(1987), and the zombie gross out fest “Dead Alive” (1992). It’s also a riotous,
maniacally entertaining romp.
When his drug-addled mother is sent away to a mental
hospital after a meth bender, teenage Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) is forced to live
with his undesirable extended family, including a fanatically religious uncle
who thinks all rock music is Satanic and a sociopathic cousin who’s a sadistic
bully. One day at the local record store, Brodie meets a rebellious fellow
metal head named Zakk (James Blake), and along with two more friends, they go
from garage grunge band to saving the town from zombies.
Much of the enjoyment involves the inventive ways in
which the heroes dispose of their undead adversaries. Some of the most menacing
weapons—saw blades, power tools, automobile parts, and a piece of landscaping
equipment used against a particular area of the male anatomy—lead to comically
exaggerated death scenes and gruesomely disemboweled victims spewing fountains
of blood.
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| Kimberley Crossman |
Meanwhile, Howden’s exuberant visual technique—darting
camera movements, bizarre camera angles, and delirious point of view shots (like
a toothy perspective coming from inside the mouth of a demon as it lunges
toward one of the heroes)—suggests Sam Raimi’s seminal horror comedy series,
“The Evil Dead,” while generating just enough fun on its own.
It’s almost embarrassing to admit that some real themes
emerge from the oozing, blood-soaked tableau, like the way Brodie uses heavy
metal to mask deeper feelings of teen angst, such as his inability to
communicate with adults and painfully shy way around girls. He’s stunned when
Medina (Kimberley Crossman), a popular girl from school, turns out to be sensitive
and willing to talk to him long enough that a disarming sweetness develops.
But Medina seems to have her own problems fitting in. Sometimes beauty, popularity and perfection can be just as suffocating as being an outcast music geek; and a girl just needs an outlet to vent her frustrations. That’s when joining a contact sport like rugby or field hockey comes in handy, but if those options aren’t available, wielding an axe blade against charging zombies and slicing them apart like pieces of cheese works too.
