It’s the last night for the Kaufman Drive-In and a quartet of rare horror and exploitation movies are on the bill. Directed and written by Adam Rifkin, Adam Green, Tim Sullivan and Joe Lynch, Chillerama is an ode to a bygone era where you could pile all of your friends into a car and catch a bunch of movies cheaper than you can probably watch a single movie now.
I am not the biggest fan of horror-comedies, because so few of them get it right in my eyes. And yes, horror and humor can go wonderfully together, but it’s a very delicate balance. This movie however is more of a lowbrow comedy with a lot of body fluids thrown around... a lot. Anthology movies are always a hard sell, and Chillerama doesn't do the genre any major favors.
The film’s opening is in black and white. It looks appropriately chintzy, a nod to Ed Wood’s set “designs” from Plan 9 From Outer Space I’m sure. A man is digging up the grave of his long dead wife and he’s looking for some carnal relations. So he does the dirty in the dirt only to have her rise from the dead and bite off his testicles. He’s now infected with some glowing ooze and has been turned into a zombie of sorts. Instead of going to a hospital, he ambles on over to the drive-in theater where he works (hey at least he’s a loyal employee!) and where the rest of the film proper takes place.
Cecil B. Kaufman (Richard Riehl) isn’t feeling too good about his beloved theater being bought by a major corporation only to be plowed down for a shopping center to be put in its place. So he’s decided to commit suicide to join his dearly departed dead wife. That’s two, count ‘em TWO dead wives in the span of about ten minutes. This movie really doesn’t like the institution of marriage!
Among the crowd assembled at the theater are various cars full of characters and types. We meet the son of the drive-in's new owner and his long-suffering girlfriend. There are also four friends in a car out for a night on the two, two of which are movie buffs (Corey Jones and Kaili Thorne) who quiz each other throughout the story as a mode of flirting. Lastly, there is a young couple with their infant child. As the shorts continue, the story at the drive-in unfolds as the wraparound story in the anthology, and in a rather interesting move, it becomes the last story in the film, truly acting as an extended wraparound.
The first film screened for the maddening crowd is Wadzilla, written and directed by Adam Rifkin. It’s a play on the atomic age monster movies; sort of Godzilla meets The Blob. Rifkin plays the lead character Miles Munson, a mild mannered man who has a fertility problem. At the behest of his doctor he begins taking an experimental drug to up his sperm count. However, there is an unfortunate side effect of making the single sperm he can produce grow to gargantuan size! As the creature grows, so does the mayhem! Easily the best looking of the bunch, the short really nails the period look, even down to the cinematography.
The post-production work is quite nice, erasing some of the digital look of HDV and making it look more like cheap 35mm film. The “special” effects look convincingly bad for what they are mocking, and the practical work done by the Chiodo Brothers of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame is worth noting as well. I never thought I’d see a sperm wiggling around a bathroom floor the size of a small cat. There are a few fun cameos by Lin Shaye, playing a rather horny homeless woman, Ray Wise as Miles’ doctor, and Eric Roberts as General Bukkake.
On the other side of the spectrum is our next short, Tim Sullivan’s I Was a Teenage Werebear. Mainly known for his “splatstick” movies: 2001 Maniacs, and its sequel 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams, it’s back for more of the same this go round only not as extreme. Although there are some great things here if you’re willing to give it a go. I just wish Sullivan, who clearly has talent, would step out of this little box he’s put himself in. As hetero as Wadzilla is, Werebear is gay as can be. How “gay” is it you ask? It’s a musical! Now don’t go screaming for your mother, because the songs are actually good and easily the best thing about the short.
Sean Paul Lockhart plays Ricky O’Reilly, a teenage boy with everything any red blooded American boy would want: an attractive girlfriend, smoldering matinee idol good looks, and his own party van! The only fly in the ointment is that Ricky isn’t really interested in all of this. He is yearning for something more, and by more I mean, other guys. His girlfriend may be blonde, but she has noticed something is amiss.
And the first musical number kicks things off with a bang. “Don’t Look Away” is a cute song about Ricky’s nascent attraction to boys. I should note here that all the performers in the film sing their own songs, and Sullivan wrote them all along with Patrick Copeland. Kudos to not having the singers dubbed; their untrained voices really add to the charm of the thing, especially Lockhart. If Bill Shirley’s voice had jumped out of his mouth, it would have sunk the entire piece. “Purge this Urge” is another favorite of mine, and not just because Lockhart slithers around on a bench with his ass hanging out. It’s just cute, and makes me laugh... in all the right ways.
Throughout the half hour film, Ricky learns what a Werebear is: a gay version of a werewolf that appears when someone is coming out and yearning to be free. It’s a silly concept that some will sneer at because it could be coded as homophobic. I guess it’s clever that this creature is a play on the “bear” in the gay community; a hairy, overweight man; but this one note juvenile humor is where the film falters. It is one gay joke after another. And much like the repetitive joke cycle of Sullivan’s Maniacs films, it cripples the project. Easily the “controversial” film of the bunch, it is a well acted, well-intended romp with a message of social and more importantly, self-acceptance.
Sandwiched into all of this is a smaller piece called Deathication that really is just as shitty as it sounds. It consists of a scientist reminiscent of the opening of John Waters’ Polyester explaining well, feces and sex. For a few minutes people shit on everything around them, and well, that’s it. Sure it has a shit-eating grin, but it doesn’t wear it properly.
The final film is Adam Green’s The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, which while a clever concept on paper really outstays its welcome. It’s a comedic take on the famous discovery of the Frank family in their attic during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Obviously the family is discovered, but the diary is nowhere to be found. Instead it is Hitler’s idea to write it and make tons of money off the family’s misery. Long story short, Hitler has created a Frankenstein’s monster type of creature, only it’s an orthodox Jew with big Popeye arms. The cast speaks faux German and everyone certainly is game. I especially liked Kristina Klebe as Eva Braun and Joel Moore as Hitler gives it his all as well. Unfortunately, out of all the films presented, it is easily the dullest because it is literally one joke for a half an hour.
Visually, the shorts all look good, the modest budget was put where it belongs, and the Blu-ray from Image is really clean. The cartoon color pallate of many of the films really leaps out. A top-notch job! Aurally, everything sound good. Dialogue is always clean; the only issue I had was some of the music in Sullivan’s segment was a bit hollow sounding. I don’t know if it’s the sound mix or my speakers, but there really isn’t any bottom to the sound. I could have made another gay joke. But after watching Werebear, I really think they’re all used up!
Bring on the bonus features! There is an entertaining video commentary that is better to listen to than watch because it takes up the top left of the screen. It’s annoying on two levels. One, because you can’t watch the movie, and two it’s too small to really see what the guys are doing. It’s picture-in-picture that just doesn’t work. Then there is a behind the scenes and trailer for Wadzilla, the making of The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, I Was A Teenage Werebear "making of" and deleted scenes, Zom-B-Movie deleted scenes, interviews with the directors and a trailer for the feature. It’s a nice set of features that represents all the shorts well. Any fan of the film will be anxious to dig in!
A tribute to drive in fare of the past, Chillerama oozes with, well, let’s just says it oozes! A fun if overly long film that is a good diversion for two hours. I’m sure people who like horror comedy more than I would get more from this. But I can respect it for what it is, and what it is trying to do. It’s just not my bloody cup of tea.
Film Score: 2.5/5 Disc Score: 4/5
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