Format: Streaming video from Tubi TV on Fire!
I love horror movies, but there are two subgenres of horror that I tend to struggle with. I have a long history of being frustrated with anthology films, since they don’t really provide enough depth to genuinely care about the characters, and I stand by the idea that horror works best when we actually care about the characters. The second subgenre is horror/comedy. Most horror/comedies either aren’t scary, aren’t funny, or both. I actually love a good horror comedy, but the good ones are so rare that I’m always a little nervous going in. Deathgasm, though, had solid bona fides, so I was prepared to enjoy it.
The joy of Deathgasm is that it does exactly what you want a horror comedy to do. While it’s not particularly scary in the sense that you’ll sleep with the light on or something like that, there are plenty of gross out moments that feel like an homage to Dead Alive. It’s also genuinely funny in places. It gives us characters that we can like, and while there are moments where people act like idiots, most of them aren’t completely over the top. It’s funny in the way Shaun of the Dead or Slither was funny, and that’s a good thing.
When his mother is institutionalized, Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) is forced to live with his uncle Albert (Colin Moy) and his aunt Mary (Jodie Rimmer). This wouldn’t normally be an issue, except that Albert and Mary are fiercely religious and Brodie is deep into metal. It’s also a problem because Brodie’s cousin David (Nick Hoskins-Smith) is a bully and Brodie is a convenient target. Initially, Brodie’s only friends are nerds Giles (Daniel Cresswell) and Dion (Sam Berkley).
Things change when Brodie meets Zakk (James Blake). Zakk is not just a metalhead, he’s someone who has been kicked out of school for attitude issues and violence. The two quickly decide to form a band with Zakk on bass, Brodie on guitar, and power nerds Giles on drums and Dion on keyboards, which is rare for a metal band. After a few possible name choices, Zakk settles on Deathgasm and brooks no interference or other choices.
Shortly thereafter, Zakk convinces Brodie to commit a little breaking and entering. The house they break into belongs to metal legend Rikki Daggers (Stephen Ure), who is a bit more than just the stereotype of metalhead. Rikki actually has a demonic connection. Specifically, he is the keeper of the Black Hymn, a song that can actually summon demons. Zakk and Brodie leave with the song and miss the fact that Rikki is murdered shortly thereafter, since other people want the song as well.
So what’s going to happen? Brodie is going to insist on learning the song and playing it, especially once he finds out what it can do. Why would he do this? Because he’s got a bit of a crush on Medina (Kimberley Crossman), who is cousin David’s girlfriend, and who Zakk seems to want as well. So they play the song, demons rise, and all hell breaks loose in their town quite literally. Now they have to figure out if they can play the song backwards to undo the demonic possessions happening all over town, but they’re going to have to get through a lot of blood and guts to get there.
The difficulty of a good horror/comedy is making the comedy work without making the characters complete idiots. That’s not always that easy to do—it’s fine to make the characters a bit stupid or a bit clueless (see Tucker and Dale vs. Evil), but making their decisions ridiculous or the kind of thing no reasonable person would do is what spoils the fun. Deathgasm hits it just right. The characters might act in unpleasant ways or do the wrong thing, but it never feels like anything happens specifically for the plot.
Even better, a lot of these characters are likeable. Zakk is a bit of an asshole, true, but a lot of this feels like a front specifically because he thinks he’s supposed to be metal and hardcore. Brodie is genuinely a sweet guy, and his interactions with Medina are cute and rather sweet. We want these characters to survive the film because we like them and because it feels like they should.
This is a film that really needs to be seen by any horror fan. For those who are less fond of gore, Deathgasm is going to be a difficult sit. Once that demonic plague starts, there are decapitations, blood lettings, and guts a-plenty. This is not merely a gross-out film and a solid comedy, but a film that clearly wants to pay homage to the Evil Dead franchise and to Dead Alive.
This is a film more people should know. If you want to do horror comedy, you should study the films that do it well, and Deathgasm does it very well, indeed.
Why to watch Deathgasm: Gore, jump scares, and actual comedy.
Why not to watch: No good reason, honestly.
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