Director – Chas Buchanan (The Tale of the Voodoo Prostitute)
Starring – Cory Werthen (Deadfall: Ground Zero, Streets of Harvest), James D. Pruitt (Grey Agenda, Stories in the Night), and Kevin A. Green (Meathook Massacre 3: First Hunt, Bad Kids Go to Hell)
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 2.5/5
When it comes to indie horror flicks there is very few companies I can turn to that will deliver the laughs, absurdity, and gore. Troma just happens to be one of the few companies out there that caters to the sick and demented. Over the years Troma has released some of my favorite indie horror films like Fear Town U.S.A., The Slashening, The Taint, Father’s Day, Fangboner, Gay for Pray, along with all their awesome productions of their own.
Recently Troma has been allowing me the opportunity to check out films before they get a physical release which is a dream come true. I’ve been a Troma fan for sometime now and even have a tattoo of Toxie on my arm. When they asked me to check out one of their newest acquisitions Moonshine Meat Market Mayhem I jumped at the opportunity. Thanks Troma!
**Spoiler Alert**The film takes place in the not so distant future where the water is no longer drinkable and doing so would result in immediate death. Those that are punished to still be alive are riddled with cancer and rely on chemotherapy and moonshine to live. Those that can not find either soon perish and brought back as one of the undead known as cancer dancers. Surviving is brutal but so is death.**Spoiler Alert**
When I review a Troma release I always consider the film’s budget and the experience of the crew. Troma has released several films that just happened to be the first project for many directors South Park‘s Trey Parker’s first feature film Cannibal: The Musical. A lot of these films are fun but rough around the edges. Moonshine Meat Markey Mayhem is one of those films that has a pretty solid story but struggles to rolling amidst some choppy editing that makes the film rough to watch.
The acting in this one is Troma-rific. The cast little to no experience in front of the camera but still does a solid job creating entertaining characters. There was plenty room for improvement but the cast still held their own. With that being said, there was a few scenes where it looked at is the cast was struggling to find the right direction to go with the story so director intervention would have went a long way here.
The story for this one has a lot of promise and would have been an exciting indie venture but the editing and mesh between story angles made this one a struggle to watch at times. The future apocalyptic setting filled with cancer and the walking dead was oddly eerie and almost satirical considering our health care system. I really enjoyed this portion of the film but the random cuts of the cannibal cult roaming the streets killing and fucking people slow the flow of the film down. The two stories should have been left separate to make for a better viewing experience.
Finally, this film is a filthy one for you that like the darker side of horror. The film has tons of guts and great practical effects along with a few scenes that left me scratching my dome. Some of the kills are fucking brutal with great gory practical effects. Most of which were really impressive. Then we have a few scenes where the effects looked like they lost focus or money and just tossed something together. These scenes are few and far in between but they were still there.
Overall, Moonshine Meat Market Mayhem is a bold and gruesome horror film that leaves a bloody trail in it’s wake but struggles to find it’s footing. The story could really be reworked and some of the scenes cut to make the story flow a lot better. The film is still worth checking out but could be easily forgettable.
