Father's Day
Father's Day is a recent film that for a while managed to elude my radar. I had never heard the title, I had never heard of Astron-6, the genius Canadian comedy team behind the script. What I had heard of was Troma Entertainment, the film's distributor. That got my attention and it's a good thing it did because I would have missed out on one hell of a ride.
I would think that anyone calling themselves a Dark Nerd would have at least a passing familiarity with Troma. Started in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma is a distributor and creator of small-niche movies with little to no budget. They shun big studio politics in favor of making available to us films that we wouldn't have otherwise known existed. Thanks to this philosophy we have cult classics like "The Toxic Avenger", "Surf Nazis Must Die", and my personal favorite; "Blood Sucking Freaks".
Troma's latest project has been a collaboration with Astron-6, a team of filmmakers who share the dream of making movies that live up to the cover art of VHS movies in the Mom and Pop shops of days gone by. Shot over the winter of 2010, Father's Day premiered on October 21, 2011 at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival where it won a total of 6 awards including Best Film. As an experiment in nostalgia it exceeds in spades and as a comedic time-waster, well it is absolutely phenomenal.
In the seedy fog of a decrepit city an old evil has come back to feast. All over the city fathers (dads, not priests) are being attacked in the night. The assailant violently rapes the dads before killing them in gloriously horrid ways. In the dingy basement of a church a blind, dying priest recognizes the crimes as those of Chris Fuchman (yeah, it's pronounced "Fuck-man"), a raging terror of a man he has encountered before. The priest knows that only one man on Earth can defeat the Fuchman.
Enter Ahab, a broken down wreck of a man living with a dark past in a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere. Content spending his days harvesting maple syrup from his trees, Ahab's life is pulled back to reality when he is called upon to rid the world of an evil that got away from him once. Armed with a flask of maple syrup and an eye patch, Ahab and a young priest set out on a mission to send evil back to Hell forever.
If the synopsis of this film sounds interesting to you then let me say something now: This is a stupid movie. I say that with the utmost love and affection and if it wasn't as stupid as it is I wouldn't even be talking about it right now. It is the kind of movie that you can't really watch sober; you need to be drunk, or high or something because it truly is that dumb. But my God is it funny.
If you ever watched the Feast movies at all you have some idea of the pedigree of comedy we are dealing with here. It's a fine balancing act between ridiculous spoof and deadpan sarcasm. In a movie like this it is equally plausible to have one scene showing siblings dealing with serious issues from their troubled past and another scene where a mutant baby is stomped into a pile of yellow ooze. At no point is it anything less than completely absurd and yet in its twisted way still makes total sense.
The gore effects are impressive for a film with basically no money. Many of the kills are achieved in an extreme manner and the effects cover everything from a bitten off penis to eating the end of a chainsaw. Some of the effects are enhanced with quick cuts that show you less than it would seem but some are brutally close to the camera and disturbingly long in duration. Gorehounds everywhere can find at least a scene or two that makes them flinch and say, "Oh, DAMN!".
As graphic as the gore is it manages to be broken up nicely with segments of straight humor. It makes for a smooth ride going from tense and grossed out to laughing and wheezing and back again. Not all of the jokes land and some will leave you thinking "what the hell?". However enough of the humor does hit home and what does is sweet indeed. This is not a movie to take seriously at all. Instead just let it all go and enjoy the ride it offers you.
Even if this kind of movie is not your cup of tea it is still important to appreciate the passion that goes into these no budget movies. These are not big studio a-holes with secretaries and assistants who do no real work. These are nerds like us that have an idea they believe in and money be damned they are going to realize their dream. It might not be a perfect movie but their perseverance should be an inspiration to all of us.
Right now Father's Day has yet to released on DVD as it still makes its way around the film circuit. There is however a screener torrent floating around that you should track down. I don't advocate piracy but with some more obscure and rare titles it can be hard to find any other way. Whatever you have to do, watch this movie. It is a throwback to 70's pulp films with a modern polish to the humor. Do your nerd duty and support an independent film from some guys just having fun.
Get the torrent here: Father's Day
I would think that anyone calling themselves a Dark Nerd would have at least a passing familiarity with Troma. Started in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma is a distributor and creator of small-niche movies with little to no budget. They shun big studio politics in favor of making available to us films that we wouldn't have otherwise known existed. Thanks to this philosophy we have cult classics like "The Toxic Avenger", "Surf Nazis Must Die", and my personal favorite; "Blood Sucking Freaks".
Troma's latest project has been a collaboration with Astron-6, a team of filmmakers who share the dream of making movies that live up to the cover art of VHS movies in the Mom and Pop shops of days gone by. Shot over the winter of 2010, Father's Day premiered on October 21, 2011 at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival where it won a total of 6 awards including Best Film. As an experiment in nostalgia it exceeds in spades and as a comedic time-waster, well it is absolutely phenomenal.
Father's Day Trailer
"Happy Father's Day!"
Enter Ahab, a broken down wreck of a man living with a dark past in a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere. Content spending his days harvesting maple syrup from his trees, Ahab's life is pulled back to reality when he is called upon to rid the world of an evil that got away from him once. Armed with a flask of maple syrup and an eye patch, Ahab and a young priest set out on a mission to send evil back to Hell forever.
If the synopsis of this film sounds interesting to you then let me say something now: This is a stupid movie. I say that with the utmost love and affection and if it wasn't as stupid as it is I wouldn't even be talking about it right now. It is the kind of movie that you can't really watch sober; you need to be drunk, or high or something because it truly is that dumb. But my God is it funny.
If you ever watched the Feast movies at all you have some idea of the pedigree of comedy we are dealing with here. It's a fine balancing act between ridiculous spoof and deadpan sarcasm. In a movie like this it is equally plausible to have one scene showing siblings dealing with serious issues from their troubled past and another scene where a mutant baby is stomped into a pile of yellow ooze. At no point is it anything less than completely absurd and yet in its twisted way still makes total sense.
The gore effects are impressive for a film with basically no money. Many of the kills are achieved in an extreme manner and the effects cover everything from a bitten off penis to eating the end of a chainsaw. Some of the effects are enhanced with quick cuts that show you less than it would seem but some are brutally close to the camera and disturbingly long in duration. Gorehounds everywhere can find at least a scene or two that makes them flinch and say, "Oh, DAMN!".
Even if this kind of movie is not your cup of tea it is still important to appreciate the passion that goes into these no budget movies. These are not big studio a-holes with secretaries and assistants who do no real work. These are nerds like us that have an idea they believe in and money be damned they are going to realize their dream. It might not be a perfect movie but their perseverance should be an inspiration to all of us.
Right now Father's Day has yet to released on DVD as it still makes its way around the film circuit. There is however a screener torrent floating around that you should track down. I don't advocate piracy but with some more obscure and rare titles it can be hard to find any other way. Whatever you have to do, watch this movie. It is a throwback to 70's pulp films with a modern polish to the humor. Do your nerd duty and support an independent film from some guys just having fun.
Get the torrent here: Father's Day
