A collection of tales so terrifying you’ll want to save room for seconds.
I admit that I’m developing quite the nerd crush on the art collective known as SCABFARM as of late. Not only can they create some amazing horror-themed illustrations, but it seems as though they’ve got some pretty gnarly film chops as well, evidence by the Barf Bag compilation DVD I received in the mail last week. The DVD, which is currently available as part of a set in the SCABFARM store, features several short films by multiple directors and ranges from the sick and twisted to… well, they’re all pretty sick and twisted but in their own special ways.
Check out some of these highlights…
Revenge of the Teenage Werewolves
An odd short, Sam Eidson’s Revenge of the Teenage Werewolves is like a metal head’s version of Glee minus all of the annoying dialogue (replaced by grunts, screams and howls). Essentially the film follows a group of high school football players who are also werewolves as they do battle with their coach (also a werewolf) both on and off the field. While it’s obviously low budget, the absurdity of it all — from the effects to the acting and especially an operatic old werewolf — are done in such a way that you can tell the director meant for the “zippers” to show through. I could easily see this right at home on the shelves among Kevin Tenney’s work (Witchboard, Night of the Demons).
Headcheese
Rule numero uno when working at a butcher’s shop: never trust a talking pig head because chances are it’s evil as hell. That’s the important lesson I took away from Headcheese, an independent short film directed by Laura Android that’s probably been on my obscure watch list for the longest (since 2008 actually). With the tagline “Blood, Guts, Bacon” this hog-themed horrorshow finds a lovable loser named Benny who is stuck working back-to-back shifts at a local butcher’s shop where everbody generally hates him (his boss, customers, even the meat delivery guy). However, when a mysterious pig’s head arrives to offer Benny the chance to change all that and become one of the “chosen,” things take a turn from bad to worse.
Shh… It’s Alive
Directed by Ryan Cadima, Shh… It’s Alive is an over-the-top PSA for eating beef that finds an average dinner party transformed into an all-out “shitfest” courtesy of an unexpected guest. Again, the acting is average and the effects are limited, but the imagination of Cadima is anything but and he manages to make good use of what he has here to create a horror-comedy worthy of a few good laughs. There’s nothing quite like seeing a grown man beating the hell out of a clay-animated turd with a copy of Entertainment Weekly as his weapon of choice and that’s only the beginning of the skidmark-themed shenenigans the film unleashes as it reaches the bowel-releasing conclusion.
FINAL RANKING
There are a few more shorts not mentioned in this review such as Quiet Country and Night of the Milk Beast that are all equally as strange as the ones mentioned above which makes this compilation even more worth a look for fans of obscure and indie short films like myself. All in all, SCABFARM’s Barf Bag manages to bring back the “urge to regurge” that I can remember fondly from movies like The Willies.
