First of all I am not a heavy metal fan. And according to director Jason Lei Howden this is that one film that could change that forever. Since he is claiming Deathgasm to be the most heavy metal horror movie ever made. While I like his spunk and enthusiasm I think he needs to calm down a little.
Is heavy metal an important theme? Undoubtedly. Will this film make you appreciate it more? Nope. For that this film doesn't go deep enough. It could very well be that references have been made to musicians and songs but they obviously were all lost on me since I don't really care for this kind of music that much. Although I do know enough since other films have tied this kind of music to horror many times before. In that respect Deathgasm is hardly new or original. Horror wise it's surprisingly predictable. Bloody and gory for sure and even a slight build up of dread only not very fresh. Comedy wise it did a lot of things right. There are quite a few scenes that made me laugh out loud. And before you get all worked up and angry I did enjoy this film immensely but to say that it blew me away? Not really. Apart from the death and destruction I did not get scared or terrified nor did I feel heavy metal coursing through my veins.
While Deathgasm does take some time to build up the events it never really makes good on what it promises. It had quite some intrigue going on that could have been real dark and thrilling. Instead director Jason Lei Howden opts for blood and gore. So much so that it completely neglects the terror. It is very clear that Deathgasm was heavily inspired by Evil Dead. Too bad that Howden has overlooked the fact that next to the blood, gore and comedy it also was scary and creepy. Deathgasm is never scary. Everything looks great visually which is not surprising since Howden has done a lot of work as visual effects artist. But in the storytelling department he still needs to learn a lot more.
Overall this film has it's heart in the right place. For the most part it is very fun. But if you were hoping for more like I did it will let you down a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment