Review of The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) by Beta G — 16 Jun 2010

Just a very entertaining, fun and sometimes hilarious way to spend an hour and 17 minutes :) It's very tempting to rewatch it straight afterwards. Pretty much through the beginning, I was beginning to think that it's not something I'm going to enjoy. But it grew on me thanks to various elements, such as a few characters in particular.

I've never really seen much of Rob Zombie's efforts in film, although I sure as hell intend to (I've seen the remake of Halloween, which I thought wasn't bad). It is clear from this film that he is a massive fan of classic horror movies and grindhouse movies. There are many references to classics such as The Shining, Carrie, Halloween, Alien, look out and you'll spot Edward Scissorhands, and many more. I read about this afterwards (as I do with most films after watching) and found people moaning and complaining because they fail to see the art in this film. Now, granted, I see that these people are filmgoers and appreciate film very much. I do aswell, I love the art of filmmaking. But this film is just for people who love grindhouse movies and those types of films, and have a particular sense of humour, there's not much beautiful art to it. Just enjoy it for what it is. A big bundle of sleazy fun. You could probably see what it was going to be just from the plot and it's rating anyway.

Now, with the cast it's not too bad at all :) Tom Papa was the perfect voice for El Superbeasto's personality. Some great quotes come from him (Aaaacheckily-doodle-doo). Danny Trejo, I could notice his voice from anything. Rosario Dawson had a great voice for the raunchy Velvet Von Black. Biut of course, Paul Giamatti was an excellent choice for Dr. Satan. Maybe this character stuck out for me because Giamatti is one of my favourites, but still. It was just imagining him putting on this devilish voice when they recorded the voices. The strange noises he made for some scenes. :P.

My favourite characters would have to be Dr. Satan's ape and the lift conductor that appeared three times. The ape just tickled me with his quite pompous accent and he delivered the best lines in the film. The lift conductor I think is a seriously underrated character. They could have used so much more of him, I thought he was hilarious. So it was great when these two were in the same lift ;).

Anywayy, it was a fun way to consume some time :) Nothing amazing at all and not overlly memorable I guess, but still. Just a little bit of crazy fun.