Deathgasm
Director: Jason Lei Howden
Cast: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman
Dark Sky Films
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
2015 was the year of the horror/comedy. From The Final Girls to What We Do in the Shadows, and Cooties to The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, it was easy to lose similar ha-ha-horror movies in that sizable group. So does this new release stand out from the crowd, or is it a forgettable also ran? Well let’s turn up the volume, throw up some devil horns, and find out.
What first makes this movie memorable is that it’s a classic mashup of heavy metal and horror. While that was somewhat popular in the glory decade of the 1980s, it has been in short supply since then. So as a diehard metalhead and horror fanboy, I was eagerly looking forward to this New Zealand import and thankfully it did not disappoint.
The story is about a small group of outsiders and their love of metal music. When two of them, Brodie and Zakk, find out that an old school heavy metal legend lives near them, they go to pay him a surprise visit, get involved with a cult hit on the musician, and get away with some extra special sheet music. Playing it, you guessed it, summons up the forces of evil just like the old P.M.R.C. always said it would. Soon the whole town is getting possessed one by one becoming metal-loving murder machines. Then there is the Satanic cult that wants the magical music form themselves. Can our little group of heavy metal heroes save the day? Well probably yes, as that’s how movies like this go, but still, it’s a hell of a fun ride.
The return of metal to horror was as silly fun as I remember from such flicks like Trick or Treat. The gore was well done, more than sufficiently splattertastic, and looked to be a good blend of practical makeup effects and CGI. The acting was good by all, especially Milo Cawthorne as our main protagonist, Brodie. Best of all, this movie had no zombies in it. Sure, the possessed are a little zombie-like, and I have nothing against the shuffling undead in general, but it just seems that every other horror comedy mashup was about zombies and it was nice to see some other creature get featured here. And did I mention metal? Yeah, I’m really happy about that.
On to the special features and extras on this new Blu-ray from Dark Sky Films. There is an audio commentary with writer/director Jason Lei Howden. Mr. Howden also returns for a 5 minute interview and there are also two short featurettes on here: one on the FX and the other on the cast, both also around the 5 minute mark. If you need more metal in your extras then a music video by the band Bulletbelt called “Deathgasm” will do that for you. A teaser and a trailer wrap things up for extras here.
Deathgasm is yet another horror-comedy, but it is funny, bloody, and chock full o’ heavy metal goodness. If you are a fan of both metal and horror movies, you will love this flick. If you’re not, I would still recommend giving it a watch, as even my non-headbanging friends liked it. So consider it highly recommended.
