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The Great Pantheon of Horromedy gets a new member, and it’s a plucky little bugger.

In the tradition of mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap, Living in Oblivion, and Comic Book: The Movie, the Stevan Mena film Brutal Massacre: a Comedy does almost everything right.  The story is a behind-the-scenes look at B-horror director Harry Penderecki (a director on the outs with the Hollywood machine) as he attempts to film his latest opus called Brutal Massacre, a straight forward slasher flick.  Harry, the crew (including First AD Jay, Cameraman Hanu, and Production Manager Natalie), and the cast try with differing levels of success to maintain there composure as the movie comes crashing down around them.  Not everyone makes it to the end of this arduous but hysterical journey.  Idiocy, betrayal, miscommunication, and violence plague every chamber on the downward spiral.  And it’s great fun to watch.

David Naughton (star of the classic horromedy An American Werewolf in London ) plays Director Harry Penderecki superbly.  His line reads and facial expressions are so funny, but he sells them with a palpable passion for making the fake schlocky movies Penderecki is “famous” for (ex. Garbageman, The Fish Who Ate Flesh, and Sasquatch at the Mall).  One of my favorite lines is a badly dubbed one where Harry says, “I don’t like dubbing.  It doesn’t look right.”  Ha!

Natalie the Production Manager (Ellen Sandweiss [Cheryl from the original Evil Dead]) and First AD Jay (Brian O’Halloran [Dante from Clerks) are great foils for Harry.  They try to believe in him and help him, but every disaster wears them down a little more.  Natalie has a great freak-out moment when she gets drenched in human feces.  And if you don’t laugh at poop jokes, kids, you need to learn to lighten up.

Other genre notables have roles as well.  Ken Foree (who was in both versions of Dawn of the Dead) plays Carl the jack-of-all-trades grip/electrician.  Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface from the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is the f-bomb dropping, creepy local who allows the crew to shoot the film at his house.  Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly (Linda and Shelly respectively from the original Evil Dead) also appear.  Director Mick Garris (The Stand, Desperation, and the upcoming Bag of Bones) and Fangoria Editor Tony Timpone show up as themselves.

The whole moviemaking business receives a send-up throughout the film: discussions on the necessity of showing breasts in horror films, pissy Assistant Directors, investors dictating the art, etc.  Anyone who has been involved with the industry from film student to film mogul will tell you how accurate some of these jokes are.  Dead-on funny.

Extras include trailers for Malevolence, Behind the Mask, Hatchet, and of course Brutal Massacre: A Comedy.  Other than that, there is a behind-the-scenes segment that was a little disappointing.  All the actors stay in character for this bonus feature so we don’t get anything new really.  I just didn’t see the point.  I mean the whole movie is a behind-the-scenes thing; why do we need this extra bit of fluff?  To be fair, though, some of the improv in it are pretty funny.  Deleted and extended scenes round out the extras.  Some are funny, some not so much.  And while I think the elevator ride inside the investor’s house is hilarious, I can see why it was cut.  It’s a loooooong gag.

All in all, a movie about a man who makes things like Killer Koala (a slasher film for kids) is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, and Brutal Massacre: A Comedy delivers.  I won’t ruin it here but the line that had me almost shoot Pepsi out of my nose is the explanation for Harry’s company name, LMB Productions.  Go rent this one whether you’re a horror-nut or not.

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