Fantastic Fest 2025 Review: DEATHGASM II: GOREMAGEDDON Lives Up to Its Explosively Brutal Title

Back in 2015, Deathgasm brought a goregasmic metalpocalypse to SXSW’s Midnight showcase. Since then, fans of the hard-rockin’ horror comedy—myself included—have dreamed about another demonic headbanger’s brawl. Almost a decade later, and thanks to a $300k+ crowdfunding campaign, writer and director Jason Lei Howden is finally unleashing his long-awaited sequel: Deathgasm II: Goremageddon. It’s got gnarly shreds, idiots running amok, and gallons of early Peter Jackson-esque gore, which combats the reality that while evil may cum again, it’s a little less potent on this second tour.

Howden’s reunion gets the band back together, despite half of Deathgasm perishing during the prior flick’s climax. Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) is your scuzzy-bearded, directionless alcoholic of a failed musician toiling in his sadness. Medina (Kimberley Crossman) has left him to become a successful lead singer, one-armed Giles (Daniel Cresswell) is the only one who can tolerate his misery, and pretentious knobs like Jesse Dead (Kieran Charnock) are tarnishing the metal scene with limp movements like “Heartcore.” Brodie’s a pathetic mess, but there’s hope: Noizequest, an upcoming battle of the bands. If he can win, maybe Medina will take him back and he’ll become death metal royalty. So, Brodie flips to the Necromancy pages of the Black Hymn and resurrects his fallen comrades Zakk (James Joshua Blake) and Dion (Sam Berkley)—who return as hungry, guts-munching zombies.

Deathgasm II: Goremageddon is a departure from the original’s unholy war against Aeloth. Howden steers the sequel into buddy-comedy territory with heavy comparison to Uncle Peckerhead and Fido (compliment). The more Zakk and Dion feed, the more they return to their human selves. Commence scene after scene where Brodie can’t control his starving bandmates, as the residents of Greypoint become a civilian buffet for dimwitted Brodie’s undead besties. Humorous gags emerge when Zakk declares himself a zomb-vegan, refusing to kill despite his urges, while Dion, sick of being abused by Giles, turns to his Dungeons & Dragons obsession to become the ultimate reanimated Dungeonmaster.

Or, sorry. “Leviathans & Labryinths.” Because the film, as it references by breaking the fourth wall, can’t afford the rights to the popular tabletop franchise.

I use the above to exemplify the film’s sense of humor. Howden’s a bit cheekier here, which gets away from the more sinister tone of Deathgasm. His script boasts the maturity of graffiti scribbled on middle-school bathroom stalls. It’s all puke, dick, and jizz jokes on repeat, which isn’t different from Deathgasm, but feels a tad retread-y this time around. The scope is also smaller, relying on relationship comedies instead of death cults and monsters, which puts a heavier reliance on the overuse of jokes about Brodie’s jerk rags and such. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed plenty, but there’s less malevolent excitement to cut through the sea of juvenile indecency.

That said, Deathgasm II: Goremageddon lives up to its explosively brutal title. What Howden accomplishes kill after kill, on a restricted budget, places him squarely in conversation with titles like Dead Alive (aka Braindead), Body Melt, Evil Dead—any independent horror stunner motivated by outstanding practical effects. One of the very first murders sees Brodie’s neighbor swallow Zakk’s stinking-rotten fist as he pulls the woman’s intestines out her cartoonishly stretched-wide mouth, and that’s just the appetizer. Howden’s originality bursts through extreme bloodshed, whether a glory hole massacre that might showcase the largest quantity of male genitalia mutilated on screen, or bicycle-riding rent-a-cops who get their heads smashed down into their bodies. Your appetite for carnal destruction will be paramount to enjoy Deathgasm II: Goremageddon, but those who feast on nostalgic 80s carnage that’s rubbery, over-the-top, and gushing with crimson juices, you’ll leave stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.

As for the music, it’s another soundtrack I’ll happily own on vinyl. Trivium frontman Matthew Kiichi Heafy handles composing duties (and has a hilarious cameo), ensuring a second metal injection like an adrenaline needle to the heart. There’s more protest against “false metal” as well, since Jesse Dead’s band “Rewind Her Funeral Tape” takes a rainbows and hugs approach to their “Heartcore” metal. Brodie’s slavish dedication to the Vallhalan icons like Megadeath and Iron Maiden becomes his weapon against posers, as Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon leans into satirical stereotypes about the metal scene itself. But, most importantly, Heafy’s influence and Howden’s expert mixtape curation lead to another banger of a soundtrack, whether original score tracks or hyped needle drops.

Ultimately, your appreciation for Deathgasm II: Goremageddon will require a deep adoration for Brodie and Zakk’s first rodeo in the Brotherhood of Steel. Howden’s sequel is doofier and even more lowbrow, so it’s the wrong entry point into his Deathgasm universe. There’s also an unavoidable roughness brought about by budgetary limitations that sets a low ceiling for some ideas that can’t come to fruition. But, the good news is, Deathgasm II: Goremageddon brings the metal, drowns viewers in spectacularly sloppy violence, and does so with a mischievous smile. Howden lets chaos reign through meta filmmaking gags, raunchy illustrations, and however else he can make an impact (given his production’s means). Heck, I’d take another encore.

Movie Score: 3.5/5