Horror Theater Video feast movie review

Finally getting it's release after two long years," Feast", the Project Greenlight 3 winner executively produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Wes Craven, and other Hollywood moguls, is unleashed. This film has a long history of troubled production, executive disagreements, the breaking away of Hollywood moguls The Weinstein's, with Bob Weinstein credited as Executive Producer.

"Feast", filmed entirely on a Los Angeles Studio set, began filming in 2004, took less than a month to shoot, but wasn't screened until the Chicago International Film Festival in October of 2005, and now finally released on DVD in October of 2006. Was it worth the wait? Yes and No.

The plot is simple. A group of regulars at an isolated bar in the middle of nowhere are suddenly besieged by a "Family" of unknown creatures. These creatures are mean, crafty, and are determined to get inside the bar to "Feast" on everyone inside. Where do these creatures come from? We're never told. A strangers wanders in with a shot gun and the head of one of the "Baby" creatures. He tells everyone inside "If you want to live, you better listen to me", and then his head is ripped clear off by a creature thru the window.

The remainder of the film is filled with sequences of survival techniques and gory killings. Three specific sequences are standouts. One is when one of the smaller creatures gets in and proceeds to start humping the buffalo head over the bar. The second takes place upstairs when the creatures break in, the door is slammed shut on them but the "male" creatures penis (good-size) gets stuck in the door. The bartender starts screaming "monster cock, monster cock".

The third is after they kill one of the baby creatures and throw it outside (which the female creature then eats), the creatures have sex doggie-style, a glop falls out and two new babies are instantly are born. The characters, for the most part the males, are unlikable. You start wishing that the creatures would get a hold of them. The females are more crafty and level-headed. One of them ending up being the unlikely hero.

I give novice director Gulager credit for trying something different, but I feel he fails more than wins. Though some scenes are creative, such as when one of the trapped gets covered with "Creature Goo" and literally starts deteriating during the rest of the movie, most are standard movie gore scares. I wish novice directors would realize that after watching too many scenes of gory mayhem, the shock value wears off and you have nothing left, especially with a weak script performed by unlikable characters. Many of the likeable characters are killed off too fast.

"Feast" is watchable, a good effort, but I hope the director learns from this experience and puts out a better film.

My Rating:

REVIEWED BY TONY BERNARDINI