Director – Dustin Ferguson (Ebola Rex, 5G Zombies)
Starring – Todd Jason Cook (Horrorscope, Demon Dolls), Donald Farmer (Cannibal Hooker, Hooker with a Hacksaw), and Chris Seaver (The Weirdsies, Death O’Lantern)
Release Date – 2017
Rating – 3/5
I’ve been watching a few indie releases that I’ve been sitting on for sometime now. A lot of these got lost in the shuffle when I had to box up all my movies after the house fire. As I was sorting some things I discovered a great deal that was sent my way for review that I never got around to.
One of those movies is the 2017 indie horror documentary Penny Pinchers: The Kings of No-Budget Horror. I had wanted to see this one for sometime but never did get around to reviewing it once I received it. I hate that I had lost it after the fire but once I re-found it I knew that I had to see it. Thanks MVD and SRS for sending this one over!
**Spoiler Alert** The documentary speaks with indie filmmakers Chris Seavers, Todd Sheets, Johnny Dickie, Donald Farmer, Todd Jason Cook, Tim Ritter, Lloyd Kaufman, Phil Herman, and Dustin Ferguson about the ups and downs of no-budget filmmaking. **Spoiler Alert**
I was really interested in this one because several filmmakers that I greatly admire were featured in it but I have to admit that I am a little confused after actually seeing it about the point of the film. The moniker “The Kings of No-Budget Horror” made me believe that the documentary was following filmmakers that had turned no-budget filmmaking into careers that spanned decades. Filmmakers like Farmer, Seaver, Herman, Cook, and Kaufman made sense to have in the doc but the addition of Dickie and Ferguson was a little confusing. Both are fairly new to filmmaking especially in 2017 and when compared to the others who have 20 or 30 years in the business. Maybe tossing in filmmakers like Henrique Couto, J.R. Bookwalter, Richard Griffin, and Dustin Mills just to name a few would have made the title really work.
The interviews are very interesting. We get some very thorough and in depth recollections from some of the most iconic filmmakers in the business revisiting the make of some of their classic films. It was also great hearing the struggles they faced first hand, as well as, how they got started in the business. All of them are well grounded and really paint a realistic look at filmmaking and not just stories of rainbows and sunshine. I respect Dustin Ferguson and Johnnie Dickie greatly and feature them whenever I can on the site but their stories, when compared to the others, doesn’t really have the impact as the directors that’s been doing it for decades has. The topics discussed are very interesting and people looking for inside knowledge of directing their own movie will find some very interesting things discussed from long time filmmakers.
Finally, the editing in this one is extremely smooth and helps the flow of the interviews. It works very well and information is not lost in the transitions. Overall, Penny Pinchers: The Kings of No-Budget Horror is an entertaining and insightful documentary with some astonishing stories from some of indie’s favorite filmmakers. The title is a little misleading but the documentary still works. Check it out.
