Feast
FEAST: B MOVIE GOOD
Let’s get one thing straight. I like campy horror films, no matter how bad they are. With that being said, I enjoyed Feast in all its badness. It has all the characteristics of a popcorn movie: gore, bad acting, and a low budget. Feast is the product of the last Project Greenlight, where a director and screenwriter(s) are chosen to make a film. The making of this film was documented on the reality show of the same name.
The tale begins unoriginally in a run down bar with a bunch of losers. There is Bozo (Balthazar Getty), the town screw-up. There is Honey Pie (Jenny Wade), the waitress who wants to get out of town and become an actress. There is Coach (Henry Rollins, playing against type), a motivational speaker who is introduced as the Poor Man’s Tony Robbins. And then there is Beer Guy (Judah Friedlander), who isn’t even important enough to have a name. This group along with a few others become trapped in a bar when indescribable monsters decide that they are going to eat them and even in some cases do unmentionable things to them. They band together to try and save their sorry butts.
No, the story isn’t unique. And none of the cast is going to win an Oscar anytime soon. But is has its witty moments. One such moment is in the beginning of the film when we are being introduced to all the characters. The camera focuses on character, freeze frames, and then has a clever summary for your reading pleasure. The film is straightforward and doesn’t take any cut shorts when it comes to the violence, with eyes popping, faces being ripped off, and body parts a-flyin’. But the effects do reflect its low budget. The monsters look like a knockoff of a combination of movie monsters. The dialogue does provide some of the worst that I have heard in a while. If I had to hear Heroine (Navi Rawat) say one more time, “Let’s lock this place down”, I think I may have screamed. And there is even an attempt at a touching moment with Heroine where she is looking at her locket that contains a picture of her daughter. It just comes off as cheesy and sappy. But even though most of the cast was bad, I have to recognize Krista Allen for turning in a standout performance as a tough single mom. Maybe she will get past her Emmanuelle days.
This movie became well known even before its release because of its documentary. One of the biggest obstacles during the filming was its lack of a budget. This, like I mentioned earlier, is apparent in the film. But camera shots where it looks like the cameraman is just jumping up and down to create movement is not due to lack of funds. It’s called lack of time and laziness. Some of the fight scenes were poor due to this method and could have easily been corrected.
Feast is not Academy Award material. But its not “Razzie” award material either. If you want a mindless, graphic, and sometimes cheesy movie to enjoy for about 90 minutes out of your day, this is your film. It’s guilty pleasure fun.
Report Card:
Story-D
Acting-D+
Visuals-C
Originality/Innovation-C
Enjoyability Grade–B+
DVD Features-C
Overall Grade-C
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