In part one and two of this series, I discussed no budget movies from the 60's. However, the advent of cheap video cameras and cheap tape created a new market for no budget films. Anybody with a camera could now point and make movies. And that's what a creative young teen did with "Woodchipper Massacre."
Woodchipper Massacre
Jumping ahead to 1988, a teenager named Jon McBride gets a hold of his mother's video camera and decides to make his own movie. Jon was a big horror movie fan but also had a rather odd sense of humor. He decided to film a dark comedy with a few of his younger friends that would focus on what kids are capable of doing when left to their own devices.
Jon and his younger siblings are left alone by their father. They are baby sat by their cruel aunt who dies a few days later. Instead of doing the logical thing and fessing up, they grind her up in a woodchipper. However, this is not the end of their problems. The script amps things up in a manner that can either be considered comical or ludicrous depending on your patience.
Although Jon had swiped his mom's camera, he wasn't filming this movie behind her back. In fact, Jon actually had the approval of his mother. She approved of his creativity and in fact stars in his movie! Her acting, as well as Jon's isn't bad for amateurs. McBride already had one movie behind his back with the incredibly gory (and even cheaper) "Cannibal Campout."
However, problems plague this movie and make it difficult to sit through. The sound quality is very low, with the only audio input being on the camera. Lines often come in too loudly or too softly as the children have difficulty moderating the volume of their voices. Special effects are essentially nonexistent.
The script, while occasionally funny, is also as sophmorish as you'd expect from a teenager. A few gags, such as a clogged woodchipper work wonderfully. Most of the jokes will be too immature for most viewers to enjoy.
Ironically, the movie is very low on gore which may disappoint horror movie fans looking for gore and a massacre. This disappointment, combined with the slow pace and sporadically successful screenplay makes this a difficult movie to enjoy.
Sources
- "Woodchipper Massacre." Judge David Johnson. January 16, 2007. Link here.
Eric Benac - I hold an MA in Writing from Northern Michigan University in Marquette as well as a Bachelor's in English from the same institution as ...
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