Review of Feast (2005) by Bryan P — 30 Jan 2011

A few years back, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck started Project Greenlight in a way to find new, unique directors. The winner of the third season was John Gulager and his debut feature is the incredible horror film, "Feast," Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton.

"Feast" is, at its core, a terribly simple cliche of a film in terms of the bunch-of-people-trapped-in-a-remote-location-by-a-monster angle. However, what sets this film apart from the dozens of others is execution.

Everything you expect to happen doesn't...and that is where Gulager shows his brilliance. In the vein of horror brilliance like "Evil Dead 2," "Feast" is both funny without being stupid and horrifying without being cheesy while still offering up some genuine scares.

Another spectacular thing about this film is it's cast. Damon and Affleck must have called in many favours for a debut horror film to attract the likes of Balthazar Getty (who has never looked hotter), Henry Rollins, Judah Friedlander and McSteamy himself, Eric Dane (in a hilarious cameo). No doubt, this film was made in a very tight budget, so despite these being b-list stars, they would still cost a hell of a lot...and Gulager needed some money for affects...

...and yes, if there is one detracting feature of this film, it's some of the affects. As the camera mouvement is so frenzied at times, in an obvious attempt to avoid needing to spend too much on the carnivarous monsters themselves, it is sometimes hard to tell what is going on. But knowing it's a low-budget film, this is easily forgiveable when looking at the grand vision of this potentially brilliant horror director.

If you dislike fun, screwball horror films, then yes, obviously skip this one, but for fans of the genre who are looking for something new to taste, this film is definitely, wait for it...a feast.