April 1, 2012

Ultra-Filthy Review - Father's Day

Father’s Day (2011)

Review by Jude Felton

If there is one thing that can be said about the movies of downtown Tromaville and Troma, it’s that more often than not they are quite unique. You aren’t going to see anything else like them, even when they went as close to the mainstream as they are ever likely to get with The Toxic Avenger. I’ve seen Troma flicks I love, and I have seen some that I downright loathe. The uniting factor though is that they are truly a one of a kind phenomenon.

This all brings me kicking and screaming to the latest opus to crawl out of Troma Towers; Father’s Day. Directed by the delightfully named Astron-6, the movie is an atomic bomb of controlled chaos that at times had me scratching my head, at other times laughing out loud, but most importantly I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. To say that Father’s Day was bloody mental would be to do a total disservice to the film.

The plot, which I will break down into its most simplistic form due to so damned much going on, concerns a priest named John who seeks out the help of a Plissken-esque character named Ahab, along with a hustler named Twink, to hunt down one Chris Fuchman who they believe to be the Father’s Day killer. There’s plenty more, believe me, there’s chainsaw wielding strippers, cock gobbling, suicide, murder, blood, guts and gore, Satan, God and no doubt some goddamned lions, tigers and bears hidden away in here.

I could probably write several more pages on the storyline, but I won’t (I never do), because part of the joy, because after a lot of thought I did enjoy this, is that you just never know what Astron-6 is going to throw at the screen. And give the guy credit, most of it sticks. There is the odd occasion where things fall a little flat, I mean the acting in places is pretty poor, but overall this is the visual equivalent to a ride on the Devil’s rollercoaster.

Visually, the movie itself looks like the bastard offspring of exploitation, slasher and really bad porn, all shot in a Grindhouse throwback style. And it does work believe it or not. There’s also some cracking tunes accompanying the movie, my favorite being the church organs, which give it an almost ominous feel to certain scenes.

Where Father’s Day excels though is in the scenes, and there are many of them, of claret-washed gore. The screen is bathed in brain matter and guts, and for a movie of this budget, which I read at being less than a new car, they really do look good.

Now, Father’s Day is most certainly not going to float everyone’s boat, it’s a movie that I can’t see there being any middle ground on. I, myself, was torn on it after it finished; I wasn’t sure if I hated it or was madly in love with it. I am guessing from this review that you have a rough idea now though. This is a movie that isn’t scared to push the limits, it reeks of bad taste and delightfully so. Some movies you can almost feel the creators setting out to shock; what can we add here to get the people talking? In Father’s Day though it just seems that it couldn’t have been made any other way, and this is just how Astron-6’s mind works. Hell, it’s a bloody Troma movie after all.

Father’s Day is sick, twisted, funny and completely over-the-top, you’re either going to run from it screaming like a spoiled child or you’re going to embrace it like a long-lost member of your family.

Father's Day is currently on a limited theatrical run and will be released on limited edition 3 disc Blu-ray, DVD and CD set by Troma on June 12th.

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