Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! has been on my radar for over a year, and although I was unable to acquire a screener back then, maybe because we weren’t a big enough blog yet (Sideshow Review who?), I recently got one from a friend, and was happy to see that Vicious Circle Films, who also brought us Hanger and Run Bitch Run, picked it up for release. Now, if EBKK has even half the WTF moments that the other two do, then it’ll be time well spent.
As you know, many holidays have had horror musings, and Easter’s not exempt from that, with such films as Kottentail and Peter Rottentail. But, this movie centers around a mentally challenged black kid named Nicholas (kid said very loosely since the guy was 19 during filming), who loves Easter and is given a bunny (believed to be the Easter Bunny) by a hobo passing by on the street. His mom is dating a guy named Remington, who recently robbed a convenience store wearing a bunny mask, and decides to put it back on to surprise Nick when he shows up at the house. But, Remy's only half the man he plays out to be, and immediately establishes his dominance by firing the maintenance man (Jorge), verbally abusing Nick when mom's not around, and allowing his pedophile friend to stay over while he enjoys a night on the town.
But, someone in a bunny mask starts killing everyone. Has the Easter Bunny taken human form and gone mad? Is Nicholas merely acting on his pent-up anger? No, it’s mommy dearest who does all the bloodletting, and will do anything to protect her little boy. The creepy friend meets death by drill, Jorge’s friend takes a hammer and flashlight to the dome, Jorge is ripped apart by a skill saw, Stripper #1 is gagged with a broom stick, Stripper #2 is suffocated, and Remy gets gashed in the throat, only to hear how much of a disappointment he is during his last breaths. The final twist, although not too surprising, is that the hobo is Nick’s father (thought to be dead), who has come back to rekindle and reclaim his family, no matter how f-ed up they are.
Starting with the title alone, I really wanted to love this movie and laugh at it’s jokes, but couldn’t, and I’m not really sure why. I like crude humor, but my viewing has gotten rather finicky over the last few years, and maybe even moreso the past few months. Sometimes the simplest things satisfy me, like fart and poop jokes, while other times, I sit in pure boredom, and it’s like juicing a turnip to get a rise out of me. I can’t really pin down what the problem is, maybe I’ve seen too many movies (geez, is that possible?), maybe I feel like it’s all been done and there’s nothing new, or maybe I need to change genres for a while. I really don’t know, but I have to figure it out, as I’m in desperate need of viewing satisfaction (have you noticed that my reviews lean heavily on negativity?), and want to be reassured that creativity still exists. Sure, I’m aware that this problem may be all me, but I can’t discount that some of the simplest films still satisfy me, like Stripes or Porky’s or The Exorcist, so there is hope.
After seeing several films from Vicious Circle, I can see how this fits into their slate, as it has a sort of exploitive grittiness, which we've come to expect from their titles. At first, I was disappointed with Hanger, but as it continues to linger in my head, I've grown to appreciate it, and I put Run Bitch Run as my #1 pick for 2009, even though I never did a review for it and need to watch it again. Sympathy had potential, but failed, and I have a screener copy of Temptation, which I’ll try to get watched before it streets in late June. Not all is lost with Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!, but I feel it would be best viewed late at night as a double bill with Black Devil Doll or Gutterballs, and with plenty of friends and lots of alcohol.
While it’s currently a mixed bag with VCF, I haven’t given up on them, but can only hope that they offer something in the near future to break me out of my slump. Until then, I highly recommend Spirit Camp and Texas Frightmare Massacre, both of which I recently viewed at Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas, and both were more than satisfying.
1 comment:
Found this through google, and it left me wondering....WHERE'S THE TEXAS FRIGHTMARE MASSACRE REVIEW?!
love,
Joe
writer/director
Texas Frightmare Massacre
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