Gruesome (DVD)

By Lucy O'Brien

Gruesome epitomizes ‘low-budget’ filmmaking, and not in a good way.

Shakespeare this aint, folks. Nor is it an Evil Dead or a Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as Gruesome is far too slight a film to achieve cult status. Simply, Gruesome is a straight to DVD piece of hell if ever there was one – a laughably low budget horror that will have you wishing someone would come and cut your face off, just so you don’t have to sit through one more minute of its god-awful sincerity.

Like a psychopathic Groundhog Day, Gruesome tells the story of Claire Parker (Lauren Currie Lewis), a sweet Alicia Silverstone type who is forced to relive her own murder day after day. Her killer, Duke Desmond (Chris Ferry) is a hick from a salvage yard who seems intent on slicing up Claire and her dunderheaded boyfriend Jimmy (Cody Darbe). Pointlessly joining them in the fray are friend Jen (Jess DeLong) and creepily mannish ‘Mom’ (Maureen Olander).

Beyond that, not much happens in the film. Claire runs a lot and is confused, Duke is sinister, ‘Mom’ is mannish. There is a lot of angry-grrl music that plays at inappropriate times and is inexcusably overt (‘come out, come out wherever you are’ warbles the lead singer). Everyone is creepy with no explanation. After an hour and a half of this vague business we get a ‘twist’ in the last five minutes, which by that stage is like eating a mint after a salmonella-inducing curry.

If all of this sounds overly harsh keep in mind that there is no semblance of irony in the film, which means it’s ok to bag it. God bless student filmmakers, but really, Gruesome’s avant-garde tinkly piano pretensions send it into the ‘bad-bad’ category of low-budget filmmaking. Rent at your peril.

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ReplyPosted by nightmarishrequiem on 17 July 2008, 09:29PM

This film was a joke!!!!!!!