To start, I think Kane Hodder is one love-able looking dude outside of hockey mask. I dont even fucking care how that sounds. Just look at this dude:
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| ahhh. Look at this dude. |
He just looks like the kind of guy that tells the neighborhood kids not to do drugs and then backyard wrestles on the weekends. The kind of guy you can drink in a garage with at 1:00 in the morning while he works on his car or something. And not like my garage, like a real garage with useful shit and things with stories like...wood or something. I just get that vibe. So Im usually down when there is a chance that Mr. Hodder just plays a "regular Joe" or such and the movie Smothered fit the bill. And as more then just a bonus we also got R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), Don Shanks (Michael Myers in Halloween 5), Bill Moseley (he is fucking Bill Moseley) and Moochie from Christine.
After a strange cut up of an intro we are introduced to Kane Hodder (listed as Striper) who more or less is playing himself, gassing up a small mobile home. After he makes a date with the cute one legged horror fan dressed as a nurse, he recruits some other 80s and 90s horror all stars for a job "haunting" a trailer park for which they will be paid $1,000 each. It beats the obviously lousy con but when our gang makes it to their destination, after some goofy back and forth, they are met by the haggard owner Agness (Amy Brassette in white-trash-witch make up), her buxom daughter DeeDee ( Brea Grant). Things get more complicated then they expected and the group of horror icons becomes the victims. People get murdered, sometimes with boobs.
The film is directed by John Schneider, as in one of the Dukes of Hazard and according to IMBD Hodders role was originally imagined for Richard Brooker (Jason in Part III), although I can not find a source. Schneider said in an interview with Fangoria that he originally had wanted Roddy Piper as well and rewrote his role for Dane Rhodes, when he was unable to commit to the project. Bill Moseley stands in for Freddy with a nock off "Teddy", Dane Rhodes, plays a made up horror icon known for a fictional They Live sequel and Shanna Forrestall portrays Trixie an out of work scream queen. The rest of the gang plays comical versions of themselves. Filming took place in Lousiana 2013 and was Schneider's 3rd feature.
Smothered is a fun flick. It deliverers on the "every man" Kane and others behind the mask plus it shows love for the genre in its own goofy way. The interactions are entertaining enough and the actors seem to be having fun which is infectious in this case. The movie seems a little more polished then others in what I perceive is its budget range and uses effects wisely.
Mihailoff's fear of the dark and Shanks play-boy personas are cliche but both ride out the cheese well. I would have never guessed but Bo seems to be a fan of the horror genre and it shows in some of the writing. The film is more comedy then slasher and as always that may be a turn of for some people but it works well if not a little TV-movie-ish. Out of left field Brea Grant does a great job as DeeDee and in a "costume" that could have quickly became an over used gag but actually turned out to be my favorite part due to her delivery.
The gore in the film is minimal and it spends a lot of time with comedic set ups that flounder a little bit at the punch. Schneider is solid in concept and dialog, I was never bored, but the directing seemed on par or below many recent shark movies at times. Even with its small flaws Smothered is a pretty good time. My biggest gripes would have to be the strange intro that gives too much away and the inevitable feeling that the concept was not realized fully.
I enjoyed the flick and found the little morsels of insight, obviously injected by the stars, to be a welcome replacement for the archetype-play of other recent horror comedies. Fans of the genre will have plenty to point at but will find little in the way of gore, tits or sleaze. John Schneider surprised me and I hope he continues to explore the horror genre. Not a great film by any means but well worth my time (*my time is pretty cheap).
Director: John Schneider
Writers: John Schneider
1h 36min | 29 March 2016 (USA)
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