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Nlneff
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
84 Posts |
 Posted - 10/22/2008 : 1:01:12 PM
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Note, I'll probably post this over at stomptokyo under Eric45 someday.
Watching Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds, I’ve come to a couple of conclusions about low budget horror movies.
1. It is impossible for a movie that features a couple of Midget wrestlers fighting bizarre demonic monsters to be entirely without entertainment value.
2. Nevertheless, you can come pretty close.
I enjoyed the original Feast, a low budget horror/comedy that made up for in enthusiasm what it lacked in budget and polish. Feast 2 generally has all the problems Feast had and very little of what made it work.
Sloppy Seconds picks up right where Feast ended, with a Biker chick searching for Harley Mom from the original film. She finds the bartender instead, who proves to be remarkably durable as he survived both his heart attack and having his throat slashed. After a little persuasion, he relates the somewhat undignified last moments of Harley Mom. (Getting a leg sawed off by one critter, then after being assumed dead is tied up and used as bait, then being orally raped and nearly…um drowned, before being blown to bits by Bozo.) Head Biker chick takes him hostage takes her gang to the nearest town to hunt down Bozo.
When characters are introduced, they no longer have the freeze frame and text giving basic details about them, instead we are given a Titusesque monologue from the character explaining when and how they will die. I can appreciate the decision to try something different, but I miss the old subtitles. Likewise the characters themselves are more self aware, in particular the Bartender makes repeated comments that show he knows what kind of horror movie he is in.
Anyway, it turns out that the attack on the bar was not some isolated event but the beginning of something much larger. The entire town is being attacked by dozens of the creatures. Inevitably we have the meeting of the two groups, holing up for the siege, and working together (or not) to survive.
Of course it was not the originality of the situation that made me like Feast, it was the tweaks on the expectations of a clichéd setting, and the style in which it was pulled off. Somewhere along the line Feast 2 forgets about that.
Lets start off with the editing. Feast 2 still has the shaky cam, hyperactive editing that annoyed me in the original. I was willing to cut the original some slack since this was usually used to cover up the limitations in budget and use of actual physical costumes and props for the creatures. The sequel simply goes over the top with it, not only do we have shaky cam during the attack scenes, but we have it even when the characters are just moving between buildings after a attack. Instead of helping to disguise the limited budget, the shaky cam is more often used to disguise that basically nothing of note is actually happening.
(Aside. While the monsters are still realized for the most part with traditional FX, there are a lot of CGI background shots and stunt work. It looks awful. I’ve heard that is the point, to which I say, I don’t care, it still looks awful.)
Next, the pacing. While the original was hardly perfect, it did a good job of setting up its characters, having its initial carnage, and having just enough action to keep your attention until endgame. Feast 2 really doesn’t have a middle act or last act, just various problems and scenes that have so little to do with each other you could actually change their order without effecting the narrative much. Scenes start off running, then slow to a crawl, then to a dead stop, and then start up again.
Next, the length. Feast 2 clocks in at 100 minutes. That doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it drags. Not only is the movie too long, but virtually every single scene runs forever. If there is a over the top gore scene, you can depend on it being seen from multiple angles, again and again and again. Once is plenty IMHO. There is a tremendous amount of padding in the movie as well. For example, the power keeps going out. You might imagine this would be important to the plot, but all it really does is allow a extended scene involving Midget wrestlers making a key for a local jail to be split up and take longer. (Now there is a sentence I never thought I’d type.)
Following from the length, there are a lot of missed opportunities. You might imagine that a film with Midget Mexican wrestlers and a Lesbian biker gang fighting monsters would be fun, and you would be right. However, we really don’t see much of that here. Between the agonizing skaky camera editing, and the endless padding there isn’t much real smackdown between everyone. Which unfortunately means we will still have to wait for the definitive English language Midget/Lesbian Biker/Monster movie that is hopefully still to come.
Ah yes, the Baby scene. Talk about a missed opportunity. There is a baby in the movie, and this is Feast, so we know it won’t end well. But the movies attempts to be shocking and offensive are overplayed. Imagine the most shocking, offensive result possible, and now chop it up, play some parts in slow motion, others at normal speed, from multiple angles…essentially beat it to death and drag it out and you have this scene. Many people were offended by this (Why are these people watching a sequel to Feast?). I was disappointed that the most editing excess of the movie basically ruined the scene, dragging a punch line out does not make it more effective.
(Final aside. Obviously complaining about being offended in a movie like this is rather pointless. However I will note the original Feast had a degree of charm in that it tried to be a equal opportunity offender in this regard. Yes, Harley Mom had a horrible end, but was it that much worse then Beer guy? In Feast 2, most of the horrific things, and all the gratuitous nudity, seemed designed to offend women.)
There are nuggets of gold in this movie. Midget Wrestlers are always fun, there is indeed some funny dialogue, gore is in ample supply. But it’s a major step down from the original.
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Feast 2 Sloppy seconds...
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