The opening with the hilarious host Stacy Monroe from the fictional show "All Nite Long" (a homage to "Up All Night" with Rhonda Shear) quickly says that good campy fun is at the forefront of this feature. But underneath the Pulpiness/ 80s grindhouse nostalgia and dark humor, there are some very important and heavy themes that (this being an entertainment page only) we can't discuss here. "Get Out" explored similar themes, but as always, A & P Productions did it first.
Those themes caught us by surprise since we weren't expecting to find them in a micro-budget horror film. But it's what made us such huge lifelong fans of A & P.
There's one scene where the soft-spoken, mild-mannered, and supportive protagonist teacher Humberto (played by Anthony To'omata, whose acting chops always show a sweet friendliness despite his tough-looking appearance-unless he's playing a villain, like in Murdercise) is unfairly accused of being a "radical" and an "instigator." A therapist also diagnoses him as being "predisposed to violence" and having "an Aztec bloodlust." By that point, the only things Humberto had done was try to inspire his students to respect their heritage and point out the violence on the streets around him. Those scenes are darkly humorous and uncomfortable. They hit a little bit too close to home, but also go beyond their overarching theme and can resonate with anyone who was a goth/metalhead kid constantly being associated with evil creeps just because of the way they dressed.
The rest of the plot delves full-on into the slasher genre while still using original concepts, such as mentioning legendary folk hero Joaquin Murrieta (AKA Robin Hood of El Dorado). Delawna McKinney also shows up playing a character that is so different from the badass warrior she played in "Streets of Vengeance" that we didn't even recognize her the first time we watched "Cinco De Mayo." That says a lot about her chameleon acting talent and makes us wish she would appear in more movies. Overall, this was a special film for us for us not only because of its creativity and originality, but also for personal reasons. Thank you for this one, Angie and Paul.
