Muckman

Muckman is Brett Piper's latest flick. Those familiar with Piper's previous films like Draniac and Bite Me (among many others) should know what to expect here. Those who despise his past outings will most likely not have a sudden change of heart watching this. Muckman is filled with the low budget cheese that will turn away mainstream audiences and draw in all the weirdoes from sewers worldwide.

Mickey O'Hara attempts to strike gold by showing the obscure creature "Muckman" on live TV. The plan fails horribly when the actor in the suit falls and takes of his mask. After this the whole world sees him for the money-hungry scum he is. In a desperate attempt to redeem himself, he sends a crew out into the wilderness to try and film a new documentary fit for television. After speaking to the inbred locals it appears that the Muckman might not be a myth after all. Soon one of their own ends up dead and they find themselves in a struggle against the monstrosity that is Muckman!

The film stars AJ Khan who is fairly well known for her work in low budget horror and numerous flicks she has done with Seduction Cinema. She gives one of her best performances ever and the rest of the cast does a surprisingly good job as well. Muckman is an old school monster flick at first appearance but when watching the film it is obvious it is more of a spoof than anything else. With Mark Polonia (Splatter Farm, Splatter Beach, etc) having a hand in the writing of the film I was hoping for some greatness. Unfortunately Muckman is a real mixbag when it comes to humor and dialogue. Some of the jokes were pretty funny but moments like the cell phone going off just go on a bit too long for their own good.

Most fans of Brett Piper know he is all about the traditional effects. You aren't going to find any low-rate CGI here. The occasional stop motion effect makes an appearance here which is something I haven't seen used in awhile (that comes to mind that is...). The creature itself looks a bit more menacing than I had originally expected and when he finally makes his appearance the few shots of gore looked fairly realistic.

Overall Muckman delivers for the most part. It's a cheesy, fun filled ride from start to finish. Sure some of the gags may not have been as successful as expected but it doesn't take too much away from the final product. Fans of Brett Piper's previous work will dig this without a doubt and fans of horror that can handle a little comedy should also find this to be a decent watch.

Crowbar: The Killings Of Wendell Graves

The Film:

Crowbar kicks off showing Wendell witnessing the violent murder of his parents. Wendell simply wanted to enjoy some candy with his father, unfortunately when he reaches his parents room he is greeted by the sounds of screams and a masked man wielding a crowbar. After the slaughter of his parents the masked man sets his sights on Wendell. Luckily he manages to get away, but the psychological damage has already set in and Wendell will never quite be the same again.

Flash forward 15 years. Alex and Veronica are a young couple starting their life together. Unfortunately they picked the wrong neighborhood to call their home. It may seem calm and peaceful, but little do they know Wendell lurks somewhere in the area and he has more than a couple screws loose. Slowly, things come to light and the plot thickens. Will Alex and Veronica be able to make it through this alive?

Crowbar is director Scott Phillip's first feature length film. He does a good job at directing here. There isn't anything here that will really have your jaw dropping, but he did a solid job without a doubt. His effort here is enough for me to keep a lookout for any of his future projects. Potential is shown here and it wouldn't be too crazy to imagine his name being attached to a great film in the near future.

Not long after the opening sequence is over Crowbar gains a strange quirkiness. This quirkiness isn't present throughout but when it does come up it works. A good example of this would be during the scene were the old man is warning Alex about the house. Moments like this, whether intentional or not, tend to keep the movie moving along at a nice pace. The gore is the film is minimal. That being said it does have a fairly high body count and when the gore does make an appearance is looks fairly realistic.

The acting is decent in some cases and horrible in others. The main characters performances are passable but many of the supporting characters were very far from believable. This kind of adds to the quirkiness that was previously mentioned though, which, in many cases doesn't seem to be intentional. I could care less about what happened to the majority of the characters in the movie but to be honest anymore character development would have only hurt the film. Crowbar knows what the audience wants and it caters to them. The film has a throwback vibe going for it, tracing back to some of the golden era slasher flicks of the 70's and 80's.

Overall Crowbar isn't a bad effort. It doesn't necessarily shoot for the stars, but in the end it falls slightly above the average. Hardcore fans of slasher films and low budget cinema should give this one a watch if they have some extra time on their hands. You aren't going to find anything new in the contents of Crowbar but the entertainment value is there and there is definitely small fun to be had with this. Rent it.

DVD Contents:

Looks and sounds good.

Special Features: 

Trailer 

Behind the Scenes