Theatre of the Deranged presents five short films which I like to classify as 'backyard flicks'. No budget whatsoever and that's part of the charm. Ranging from silly to clever and funny to shameful. This theater has something for everyone. Have a seat *points at seat* and listen to your host, Andy the arsonist.
Andy the arsonist, played by Cory Jacob, individually introduces the segments and gives you the time to catch your breath from all this terrifying nonsense. Simple but effective intermissions with a hell of a improvising feeling to it. It was necessary to keep the entire thing together, because the short films don't really have anything in common. Which is not a bad thing. Lets take a look at the shorts, one by one..
'Lust for Blood'...What was Shawn smoking?
'Bad Dennis' is one of the more straight forward shorts and was directed by Liz Gilbert. In this short, British version of TCM there isn't much room for surprise, but it is all done pretty convincingly. The acting is actually not that bad at all and the effects (although often off screen) do their job. I enjoyed the setting. The English country side has a distinctive empty vibe that works in these simple slasher flicks. It was pretty entertaining and I didn't feel like I could be asking for much more at this point.
'Speak Easy' at this point cranks up the quality by paying a clever little visit in the mind of a psychopath. In this short director James Cullen Bressack takes tiny, thought-out steps towards a satisfying ending for the gore hounds. The dubstep was a nice touch and Jon Bloch did an excellent job! Definitely something you'll have to look forward to when you smack this DVD in your player.
'Doll Parts' starts off pretty interesting and in quite a bit of a contrast with some of the other shorts by giving us a backstory to hold onto, shot in black and white. Though this first part isn't half as good as the second when it comes to acting. Caught me a bit off guard with the violence and that's always a good thing. The calm and slow paced first half really gives the the rest much more impact.
'Cannibal Blood Girl' is about a cannibalistic girl covered in blood. That's pretty much it. Oh yeah, she fires blood from her tits and vajayjay. Loved it.
By lack of any seriousness, in the end this is something I'd love to recommend. To be fair to Shawn C. Phillips, I did think that his short had the true 'backyard' vibe to it (maybe a bit to literally) and it reminded me of Troma in a way. The gay break dancer, the green goo, the synthesizer crap.. yeah, I can't say I didn't have a fun time. Mostly because it was shameful, but also because I can relate to the ideas!
Cannibal Blood girl will stick around the longest as the most eye catching of the bunch. Though, Speak Easy is the most clever and well produced and therefor I think it's the best short Theatre of the Deranged had to offer. It's worth a try if you're drunk, high, or just like me and probably the rest of the dutchies: both.
