Even more than zombies or maniacal killers, it's DEMONS that provide crazy horror directors with the most opportunities to go tremendously over-the-top in the gore and splatter department! Lamberto Bava knew it when he made "Demons" in 1985, Sam Raimi knew it when he accomplished his legendary "The Evil Dead" movies and apparently some pleasantly deranged New Zealander by the name of Jason Lei Howden knows it too, judging by the humongous gore- factor in his flick "Deathgasm". This recommendable little flick offers nothing new or even remotely original to the genre, but it definitely qualifies as pure and undemanding horror entertainment containing all the essential ingredients such as fast pacing, tongue-in-cheek dialogs, cute references towards movie/music classics and literally gallons of blood & pus! The basic plot concept cleverly plays with the ancient cliché that metal heads are Satan-worshipers and that the lyrics of their songs are aimed at summoning demons and other nasty creatures. In the sleepy little town of Greypoint, the social outcast Brodie coincidentally gets his geeky metal hands on music and lyrics called "the black hymn". When he and his amateur band called Deathgasm rehearse it in his uncle's garage, the universe's most evil force descends to earth and turns all villagers into bloodthirsty demons. Among all victims, Satan is scouting for the most evil human soul to possess and this just might be Brodie's metal buddy Zakk. "Deathgasm" is a fun movie, but certainly nothing more than that, and I wouldn't go as far as some of my fellow reviewers around here that label it as one of the best genre outing of the last years. The gore and make-up effects are well-handled but often too absurd and especially too tasteless for my liking. The best example to illustrate this is an extended sequence in which a supposedly normal middle-class and religious couple are beaten to death by the the sex-toys (like a gigantic black dildo and anal beads
) that are hidden in their bedroom. The funniest thing about New Zealand movies is that pretty much all cast and crew members previously worked on most of the Lord of the Ring movies, either as extras or as visual effects people. There are also a couple of cute references and tributes towards Peter Jackson's earliest splatter movies "Bad Taste" and "Braindead". Ideal stuff to watch late at night with a bunch of friends or – like I did – at a festival in the company of 200 gore-crazed horror freaks.
