Okay, folks, today let’s examine the horror/comedy subgenre.  Notice first that the name of the subgenre is “horror/comedy”, not “comedy/horror”.  The first denotes a generally pleasant experience watching monsters and gore while chuckling occasionally at dialogue or a random slapstick moment.  The latter is what you feel when watching any Wayans Brothers movie.

Now, history has shown that most successful horror/comedy movies usually come about entirely by accident.  For instance, one of the touchstones of the subgenre is Plan 9 From Outer Space.  The idea of aliens resurrecting an army of zombies to help take over Earth isn’t necessarily a bad one.   It’s the inept execution and frighteningly bad script that make it so goddamn funny that it’s infinitely rewatchable.  It works as a comedy because everyone is playing it straight.  They all believed in Ed Wood’s vision (and you can’t argue he didn’t have one).

Rarely do you find a horror movie that deliberately works in major comic elements and delivers on both levels. Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 is arguably the best example ever put to film.  His lead character is a walking spoof of hero characters, but the horror delivers on many levels.  It’s a fine, fine line and very few directors can walk it.

That difficult balancing act may be why there is a small group of writers and directors within the subgenre who try to deliver horror/comedy movies by mimicking the Plan 9 formula, all the while nodding, winking and letting you know that they are in on the joke. Brett Piper’s Shock-O-Rama is one of those films. Piper obviously loves the horror genre.  He loves the classic b-movies from the 1950s and wants to bring them into the 21st century.  His use of vintage effects and the Creepshow/Tales From The Crypt vignette style of storytelling should work perfectly in his favor on Shock-O-Rama; however it’s the nod and the wink that makes it all fall flat.

Things kick off with Rebecca Raven (B-movie queen Misty Mundae), star of a string of bad horror films, getting upset about how bad her latest film is going to be. Before long, she’s stormed into the producer’s office and is summarily fired. The studio has found someone younger and who is not afraid of breast augmentation surgery.  So far we have no horror, but there is some fun dialogue in here.  Rebecca storms out and decides to take a vacation, alone in an old farmhouse.

Meanwhile the studio needs to find a replacement fast and begins looking at other horror movies for starlets to steal.  These “horror movies” provide the other stories.  First up is a movie about aliens crash landing in a junkyard and terrorizing the owner and his ex-girlfriend.  Having just watched The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad two weeks ago, I can safely say the stop motion animation in this story is pretty top-notch and refreshing to see in this age of CGI.  Piper mentions in one of the interview extras that he liked that the chemistry between thetwo lead actors resembled that of a screwball comedy. I’m certainly glad he enjoyed it. Personally I was hoping for a bloody ending at their expense.

Once that’s over, we visit Rebecca again in her vacation farmhouse. She gets to deliver some fun lines (especially the one where she strips naked to get in the bathtub, remarking, “It’s nice to undress without someone filming me.”).  She also discovers what looks to be a complete matching set of books about all things occult.

Let me take a moment to just ask why the fuck it is that people always find these books in empty farmhouses, when I can’t find them anywhere?  Seriously, I have seen the Time Life WWII collection. I got the Civil War Chess set. Hell, I even sent off for the Franklin Mint commemorative Elvis plates but other than horror movies I have never seen an offer for a collection of books with topics like “How to Raise the Dead”. You can bet your sweet ass that if I did, I’d buy them all. My zombie minions would be chewing their way through the landscape while you sit here reading this.

But I digress.

Anyway, Rebecca accidentally raises a zombie and hijinks ensue. Here is where I get frustrated with this film beyond repair. I should be seeing lots of blood. I should be having some good jump scares. This is, after all, billed as a gorefest and so far I have seen nothing even remotely resembling that. What I get is a Spy vs. Spy style chase scene. There’s even a point when Rebecca gives the zombie a Three Stooges eye poke. No, I am not kidding.

Rebecca gets away, finds a chainsaw and makes quick work of the zombie. Thus ends the second “horror” story in the film.

At this point, there is only one thing for me to even consider looking forward to. That would be the copious amounts of sex that are supposed to make up horror story number three. I read the press material that came along with the film and it even made it a point to mention that Piper went out of his way to enhance the sexual elements of part three.  Okay… I’m game.

Let’s look at the elements we have to work with: 

1.  A house full of scantily clad women all participating in dream study experiments.
(Yay!)

2.  A hot looking female doctor’s assistant who is apparently into chicks.
(Double Yay!)

3.  A gigantic brain from the future that can only experience pleasure through the sensations caused when these girls have sexual or violent dreams.
(Fuckin’ “Hell Yeah” Yay!)

If I had turned off the film there and gone to bed, the story that would have gone through my head would have been infinitely more horrible and erotic than what transpired. Instead, I sat through one of the least shocking and titillating experiences I’ve ever seen on film.  Sure, there are some breast shots.  Sure there is one scene where the female doctor enters a patient’s dream and caresses her naked body while whipping her hair back and forth. However, there is nothing remotely erotic or particularly horrible about it.  In fact, when the doctor’s gigantic snake-like tongue comes out and winds it’s way up the patient’s body while she yells, “No, I don’t like that!”, Piper does the one thing he shouldn’t have done.  He ends the fucking scene. 

Dear Brett Piper,

If you wanted to shock people with this scene, then you shouldn’t have let her get away so easily.  When you make it so the monster respects the “no means no” philosophy, you lose what little element of horror you had started to establish.

Anyway, the one good thing about this story is that the gore is plentiful. Since we’re dealing in dreams we have people pulling hearts out of other people’s chests. We have demons eating said hearts and spewing the pieces across the set.  We have stop motion skeletal rats and swinging pendulums.  We have all the things we should have had in all three of these short pieces if we wanted to bill this as a gore fest.

Finally, after much exposition, the brain dies a campy death and then there’s a wraparound piece featuring Rebecca returning to her old studio’s offices for revenge.  It’s short which is the best that can be said about it.

Effects wise, this movie is fun. I loved that Piper used absolutely no CGI, instead relying on stop motion animation and old fashioned trickery.  Story wise, none of these stories lack for good, fun ideas and I even laughed out loud at one of the jokes that included a pretty dead on accurate description of Julia Roberts. However the script, occasionally forced acting, and lack of commitment to the “horror” part of the equation pulls this movie apart at the seams.

It doesn’t play well as a spoof of 1950s drive-in films because it’s not funny. It doesn’t play as a straight take on those films because everyone seems aware of just what kind of movie they’re starring in. Thus our example of a “horror/comedy” falling flat due to a flaw in the mixture of vital elements ends. 

That said, I should point out that I really wanted to root for this guy. I mean here is a director, writer and effects man who has pulled together his vision and found success of some sort.  The interview extras made him seem like a nice guy who loves the genre. I wanted to watch this film and feel the need to seek out his others.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

How Does It Look?
That’s one thing I definitely cannot fault Piper for. This film looks good. It’s shot on film to accommodate the 16 x 9 widescreen presentation. Piper’s attention to detail is great. The lighting is spot on. The framing is generally well done and this guy is doing everything on a shoestring budget. He’s got the skills for sure.

Additionally, when it comes to the effects, he does a great job of working within his budget and still bringing some pretty eye-popping scenes to life.  Especially noteworthy is the giant junkyard robot in the first story.  The entire effect is done with stop motion animation yet he manages to pull off a moment where a lead actor runs between the robot’s legs; rivaling some of the CGI work I’ve seen in summer blockbusters this year. 

How Does It Sound?
There’s nothing really noteworthy here.  It all sounds pretty good, but you’re not going to be blown off your couch by the bass from your subwoofer or anything. 

Any Other Good Stuff?
Yes.  First, there is an interview with Piper and one of the producers (Michael Raso).  This is pretty much both of them giving you the 10-minute rundown on what it was like to make this film.

Next, there’s a Behind the Scenes feature. This is everyone else on the production getting their 15 minutes of fame. At first, I was digging this but then the zombie guy got really fucking annoying. Plus the one girl who I thought looked the best in this (Caitlin Ross) came across as a king-hell head case, basically telling the camera man to get out of her face whenever he tried to get a word with her.  This extra also included one of the most unfunny blooper reels I’ve ever seen.  Next up is a short piece on the New York premiere. This is more of the same, only now you get to mingle with the actors at the after party.  If you thought Caitlin Ross was a bitch in the Behind the Scenes segment, you’ll truly hate her here.  She can’t even remember the fucking role she plays.  After this, there is a question and answer session with Brett Piper.  This was my favorite part of the DVD.  Piper really makes you want to root for him. The audience (with what seems to be only a couple of ringers) asks interesting questions and Piper comes across as engaging and informative. 

Finally, there’s the feature commentary with Raso and Piper.  This is great for any budding filmmaker looking to get some insight into the trials and tribulations of putting your vision on the screen.  Basically it’s a more in depth version of the interview segment mentioned above.  Again, this was enjoyable and I liked it much better than watching the film on its own. 

So What’s The Bottom Line?
I can’t recommend this movie.  I just can’t.  I spent too much time wishing it was over while watching it.  Still, there is an audience for these films out there.  If you like Troma Films (where Piper got his start) then you should definitely check this out.  If you like your horror films to be scary and somewhat shocking, then do not look to Shock-O-Rama to cure what ails you.