Feeding Frenzy

Having just watched "Space Cop" and being disappointed with it, I was worried that this earlier movie made by RLM would be worse...but it was much better! Plus the budget for this movie was about 1/3 of what "Space Cop" was. Weird, but it fits with how the budget doesn't matter so much as the writing/acting does for a film.

The story is basically a very comedic take on the movie "Critters", and even though that movie did have some comedy to it, "Feeding Frenzy" has a lot more. I was laughing so much during the movie that I even did some rewinds to rewatch the humorous scenes again. Seeing Mr. Plinkett was a bit of a surprise, and he does a great job in the film. This movie stands on its own and has enough originality, so don't think that it's just a different take on "Critters".

Acting was great and not a single character gave a bad performance. My favorite character was Maris Hilton played by Lora Story. She nailed her lines and had me laughing till my sides hurt. I just wish that she was in the movie more. Jay Bauman as Martin was my second favorite. He did a great job playing a character that has a heart condition. The word play was also very funny, since it was right up my alley.

The cinematography was very professional, especially in the night scenes. I was very impressed with how nice everything looked. Editing was also done extremely well with no plot holes or weird jumps between scenes.

The special effects were okay to average, but with such a low budget it's understandable. The creature design looked original, and definitely stood out from what a "Critter" looked like. I also liked how the creatures moved since it's basically "throw the creature." I'm surprised that so many shooting locations were shown in the movie. This movie also doesn't follow most horror movie tropes. Sure, some end up being done...but a lot of them don't, which is refreshing.

I am so glad that this movie ended up being as fun and as humorous as it turned out, since this is as close to how I would imagine an RLM movie being. Too bad "Space Cop" wasn't this good.

I purchased this movie for one reason, I liked the Mr. Plinkett character and wanted to see what they could do with him in a feature film. However, he doesn't actually have a lot of screen time in the movie. The focus of the film is obviously Jesse and Christine. When Plinkett is actually on screen, he is far creepier than his movie reviewing persona. Usually I want to sympathize with the villain a little bit (that old cliché of the villain you love to hate), but you don't really get that until the end of the movie. By then, you've kinda settled on disliking Mr. Plinkett. Watching this movie without expectations, and/or while drunk or high is advisable.

If you're an aspiring filmmaker or a student of film, then this will amaze you. It's a whole movie with plenty of creativity and innovation. Corny and stupid at times, but have you seen Transformers 2? Transformers 2 had a budget of 2 trillion dollars, and all you get is Shia LaBeouf rolling around in aluminum foil for 3 hours. If Feeding Frenzy had an A-list star in the leading role, it would have made 100 million dollars the first weekend of a general release.

If you're a filmmaker, buy the DVD. If you're a film lover, buy the DVD. If you're a passive film-goer and enjoyed The Hangover, this isn't your cup of tea.

Here's my problem with this movie: Since this is horror-comedy and done very cheaply, I keep wondering which parts were supposed to be funny and which parts were unintentionally funny. I sort of feel this is perhaps more a parody on how cheap knock-off movies come to be than those cheap knock-off movies themselves. Obviously this isn't something I should concern myself, but I do.

But hey, even though its like jazz and the "artists" are clearly enjoying themselves much more than anyone in the audience, there are good parts. Some of the jokes do actually work. Not many, but some. We know from all those Plinkett reviews and Half in the Bag that the movie makers have some unique insights on films, so perhaps if I had being more familiar with all the movies they were thinking about when making Feeding Frenzy, I would have enjoyed it more.

The real actors in the movie are pretty good, especially considering how cheaply this was probably made and the material they had to work with.

All in all, the best I can give is a very mild recommendation, but tread carefully, this is probably the kind of movie some people will enjoy immensely, perhaps in some sort of twisted "ironic" way, others will see it as a complete waste of time.

The film hits all the notes of a B-movie horror classic. Messy/unbelievable gore, ridiculous looking monster effects, off beat dialog and out of place erotic scenes.

But the movie has some features that most B-movies don't have: Good acting, a plot that makes sense, a lot of funny moments(intentional ones), a good pace, great camera work and a well used score.

There is pretty much nothing to be scared of in this film though and it seems to just be making fun of or holding a candle to 80s horror films like Gremlins, Critters and Deadly Spawn.

Overall I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys monster movies(especially the low budget ones) or the comedy stylings of red letter media. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone outside those groups. If you are outside those groups... lighten up and get into one of them.

So, I am bitter when it comes to indie films.But I am also a victim, of being pressured and conned into purchasing indie films that absolutely sucked.

I now equate them to snake oil, as that is exactly what it is. A lie packaged as something else, promising something good, created only for profit, as the production value alone will tell you, and if you fell for it, you are a sucker out 15 or more bucks.

This means that while I entered into the scene, wanting to support indie films and film makers and aspiring actors, I now want to kill them all, as well as their families. Because they all deserve to die.

Now, saying that, Feeding Frenzy has turned a page in my bleak outlook. I wrestled with the idea of purchasing Feeding Frenzy...I did not want to end up hating and wishing death on Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman.

But I finally gave in, and wound up watching it 3 times in 1 week. It helped being a fan of RedLetterMedia, and their, well...media. Their Star Wars reviews, short films, and what really got my respect and attention, their brutally honest, and articulate reviews they do on their series, "Half in the Bag".

Another thing I have come to appreciate from these guys is sort of a new brand of humor...It is like a "Dry" meets "Dead Pan", and Mike Stoklasa, who is pretty much the most popular of the duo and company, delivers this beautifully.

And in the movie, Mike Stoklasa continues to deliver this bizarre, awkward dead pan performance. My friends who had never seen anything RedLetterMedia has done commented on Mikes commanding screen presence, and remarked how charismatic he was on film. And he isn't even the main character.

Every scene Mike Stoklasa appears in heightens it, and makes it better. The same kind of awkward/dry/deadpan humor is present through Jay Baumans writing of the script as well. This duo works very well together.

Rich Evans, a friend/contributor to RLM, reprises his role as Mr. Plinkett, and he does this wonderfully. He is funny, original, and you want to love him despite his sinister character.

The two main actors, Gillian Bellinger and Ron Lipski, however, were not very good. They were outsiders to RLM, and maybe this is why. The main actress was very unattractive. I know that shouldn't be a problem, but ugliness combined with unfunniness and not very good acting is a problem.

She just came across as annoying and loud for the most part. Ron Lipski was semi-competent in his own bland way when it came to acting, but in the end, he lacked charisma, and was so stiff and not animated, he's actually forgettable despite being the main character.

The worst was his mugging. Often throughout the film, the camera would cut to his face for reaction shots. His expressions were either overly hammy, or robotic.

There is a scene in which the little mouth monsters escape and attack Ron and Gillian. This by far is the worst scene in the film. It lasts way too long, and the characters lack of talent shines at this moment.

A joke of Gillian trying to choose a weapon to get a monster off of Rons leg ensues, for over a minute, resulting in Gillian choosing a fly swatter as a weapon of choice.

Ron "mugs" again, raising an eyebrow, in a robotic, unfunny fashion, and Gillian, for no reason at all, screams obnoxiously. But the scene continues, the monster still biting away at Rons leg.

Gillian continues to search, until Ron grabs a drill and kills the monster. Gillian then screams obnoxiously again as she grabs an ax. She runs over to Ron....and screams again.

It is the worst scene in the movie, because of the horrendous acting of Ron Lipski, the over acting of Gillian Bellinger, and for some reason, Mike and Jay didn't shred this scene in the editing room, cutting a much needed minute out of it.

The soundtrack was great. Very Danny Elfman sounding music in it, which fit the goofiness of the over all story. Overall, I enjoyed this film, and am glad I bought it. I've already gotten 3 views out of it, and will probably view it more.

Certainly more than "The Disco Exorcist" which I wish I never bought, and "The Severed Inn", for which I hope everyone involved in that gets cancer and dies. Seriously.

I hope my review isn't too biased, because like I said, I was a fan already of RLM and their content online. So maybe I have been warmed up to it and their sense of humor and style. However, friends that watched it with me that had not heard of RLM before enjoyed it as well. So who knows.

This is pretty much a fan movie, to some extent. It does give a few subtle winks to "their" audience. But production-wise, it trumps all indie film company movies I have seen. It was certainly better than any movie made by the SciFy network.

Unfortunately, the two main actors do haunt it. I hope in the future, RLM makes more of an effort to get better and more talented actors.

Oh, one last nod: One actress stood out. She was GREAT. And she was in the film for literally 1 minute. Jocelyn Ridgely is her name. She has appeared in some of RLM's stuff, most famously she played Nadine in the famous Plinkett Reviews of the Star Wars films, that drew attention from Simon Pegg and Roger Ebert, due to their brilliance and entertainment value.