Review of Feast (2005) by Liam U — 20 Nov 2010

The opening to this 2005 horror comedy quickly and effectively establishes our key players in a unique and original style. Whenever we are first introduced to a new character, the camera pauses and a brief bio pops onto the screen, giving a name, fun fact, and life expectancy. It eliminates the need for awkward exposition, for this scraggly group of misfits are your typical bar-dwellers. It also promising a horrifiying death for one unlucky character in the next seventy minutes. There's a brief but humorous cameo from Jason Mewes too, playing himself. It's your usual bar setting, with the regular clientele drowning their sorrows and spoiling for a fight, until the arrival of Hero (Eric Dane) bearing a decapitated monster head - with the revelation that there are more monsters, and they're on their way. This mismatched group are going to have to put their differences aside and learn to work together if they hope to make it through the night in one piece.

'Feast (Gulager, 2005)' is a fun gore-filled horror romp which keeps its tongue firmy in its cheek. It pays an obvious homage to under-siege horror films, recalling memories of 'Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)' and, more recently, the pub climax from 'Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004)'. The events play out blisteringly fast, with the characters quickly thrown into a hellish scenario and a few swift dispatches to get the messy action rolling.

There's enough deftly handled characterisation for unlikely heroes to soon emerge, and villainous cretins deserving of a painful death. Despite the fact this does parody the horror genre quite effectively, it's careful to never become too predictable. It also never takes itself seriously, featuring monster sex and dismembered monster members. Some may find these gross-out diversions disgusting and unwelcome, while others will embrace the randy monster madness.

Unfortunately, 'Feast' is not without its flaws. All too often it finds itself subjected to frantic fast-paced editing, which gives certain events a distinct lack of clarity. There's little need for such confusion, and while director John Gulager employs this as a means of keeping the full monstrous being relatively well hidden until the blood-soaked climax, it is an unfortunate distraction that could have been avoided. The lighting also leaves much to be desired, with it often difficult to make out exactly what is happening on-screen due to an all-encompassing darkness.

The acting throughout is distinctly average, but believable enough, and the story does contain a few pleasant surprises. The monsters themselves are well designed and suitably grotesque looking, and when they're not busy humping or raping they prove to be quite formidable foes. A sense of fun pervades the screen, and without this 'Feast' would be a tired gorefest in the same vein as 'Hatchet (Green, 2006)'.

Thankfully, due to a brisk pace and good running time, this monster movie never outstays its welcome. An open ending and unanswered questions pave the way for a sequel, which has potential to build on this solid start. While not quite a fearsome feast, this tasty snack should keep horror fans pleasantly satiated.