Is there anything that goes better with punk rock and food than a good old-fashioned gory horror film? I think not! Well, maybe a horror film that stars a punker! In this inaugural horror review, I’m going to take on the independent modern classic "FEAST!" starring the one and only Henry Rollins.
"Feast" found its way to the horror crowd by a bit of unconventional means. It was the winning script submitted to the third season of Project Greenlight. PG is a documentary series developed by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that collects screenplays from unknown writers, evaluates them, and then selects one of the scripts to fund. This was the first time they set out to produce a horror film.
In 2006, "Feast" was met by some pretty harsh reviews by many critics. Like many horror films, it found its true-life once it reached video. The place where it’s found by the people it was meant to reach, the horror fans. And most of us think it’s pretty damn awesome.
"Feast" is written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and was released in 2006. The film stars a motley crew of B-List actors seemingly drawn from a hat. The film's lead is a character named Bozo, played by Balthazar Getty of "Young Guns 2" and "Lost Highway." Also appearing in this mix is Henry Rollins, Jason Mewes (as himself), Duane Whitaker, Krista Allen, Clu Gulager, and the mostly funny Judah Friedlander.
It’s an average night in a seedy bar in the middle of the desert. The town's riff-raff gather for the regular night of drinking and are strangely accompanied by a Marine vet, a motivational speaker (Rollins), and a would-be robber/biker chick named Harley Mom (Diane Goldner). As the group settles in, a lone stranger, covered in blood, listed only as “Hero” (Eric Dane), storms in warning of impending doom at the mouths of unknown monsters.
Now, I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a horror/comedy, but that is seriously how I’d describe it. This movie is balls to the wall, laughs, and no one is safe. Not the Hero/Heroine, not the little kid, not the crippled teen in a wheelchair. I haven’t seen this many buckets of corn syrup since the Johnny Depp death scene in the first "Nightmare on Elm Street." OH! I almost forgot Wes Craven is also credited as a producer on this gem.
Filled with crazy, disgusting monster sex and castrations, to a guy rotting from the inside out, this one is guaranteed to reside in your memory banks long after you wished it would leave.
Since 2006, "Feast" has spawned two sequels, “Sloppy Seconds” and “The Final Course." While each had wonderful titles, they ultimately fell short of furthering the story and opted to just tell new versions. Neither captured the raw, new feel of the original. However, in addition to "Feast," Project Greenlight has done a tremendous amount of work to give independent filmmakers a shot to tell their stories and make films that would never otherwise be able to have been made. So thanks to Damon and Affleck for giving back and making this crazy, goofy horror film a reality.
Eric is a writer, artist, horror aficionado, and Hüsker Foöd Zine's resident film/TV guru. You can check out some of his work here.
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