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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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5
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: Feb.
27, 2007 |
No,
this is not a film based on an old Eric Clapton
song.
In a
small Maryland town, a mousy librarian named Sally
(April
Monique Burril) leads
a double life as a goth-garbed, chainsaw-wielding
murderess. She believes that
by killing people she's ridding the world of evildoers.
Anyone who pisses her off —
or just demonstrates poor library etiquette —
is likely to end up in assorted pieces. In her
refrigerator.
Of
course, in real life simply being an asshole isn't
a transgression worthy of the ultimate punishment.
Not so in Sally's world (or in the world of horror
films in general, for that matter). The
guilty ones must pay with their lives and their
deaths must never come easy. And while getting
carved up with a chainsaw is bad enough, that
isn't the only method of murder in her repertoire...
Your basic straight razor and a jug of concentrated
acid also come in handy.
A flashback
sequence reveals the origins of her madness. Sally
and her younger brother Ruby were orphaned at
a tender age, when their parents were slaughtered
during a home invasion by escapees from a mental
ward. The siblings, hiding at the top of the stairs,
saw their mother being raped before she was murdered.
Left
for dead, their father
(Gunnar Hansen, the original "Leatherface")
managed to stagger to his feet, grab a chainsaw
and kill the attackers. As he lay dying, Dad made
Sally promise to take care of her brother and
fight back against anyone who might threaten to
separate them.
Now,
15 years later, the family home stands empty,
dilapidated. A source of local legends, no one
has lived in it since the killings. Sally's entire
family is believed to have been butchered and
their remains hidden, since no bodies were ever
found. In reality Sally and her gay, cross-dressing
brother (Alec Joseph) have been living all this
time in a run-down, garishly-decorated trailer
located in the deep woods behind the house. Their
domestic tranquility is disturbed when the town's
mayor and an unscrupulous developer hatch a scheme
to buy the 200 acres on which they live. The landowner
(Mark Redfield, The
Death of Poe) arrives in town to discuss
terms; he's to be buttered up as necessary by
a leggy blonde realtor (Kristen Hudson) who'll
do whatever it takes to seal the deal. Sally gets
wind of what's going on, however, and so lays
plans to nip things in the bud. With a chainsaw.
As much a black comedy as it
is a horror flick, Chainsaw
Sally overcomes obvious budget limitations
to be an entertaining — if decidedly uneven —
little movie. Just when you think you've had it
with the direct references to Tobe Hooper's Texas
Chain Saw Massacre there'll be some set-piece,
some snatch of dialog and/or rockin' good tune
that pulls you back in. The same goes for the
subplot involving the real estate deal that threatens
Sally and Ruby's homestead. We could care less,
but it is necessary to set up the story
(i.e., most of the victims) and at least features
the best performers in the cast, Redfield and
Hudson. The "Godfather of Gore", Herschell
Gordon Lewis, is given a small part as a hardware
store manager simply because he's, well... Herschell
Gordon Lewis. (He's obviously having fun with
the role, though.) The opening scene in the library,
and those involving a pair of yahoo cops, are
the only moments in which the sometimes amateurish
acting truly puts a damper on things.
As the
titular anti-heroine (originally a website character,
fleshed out for this feature-length film), April
Monique Burril can be rather awkward in frumpy
librarian mode, uncertain in her performance,
but she handles Sally's murderous, smart-ass alter
ego with assured enthusiasm. Alec
Joseph's over-the-top drag queen manages
to be flamboyantly funny without becoming an offensive
stereotype. Much like the
psycho Firefly family in the Rob Zombie films
(House of 1000 Corpses
was another obvious influence), these maniacs
possess enough humor and panache to make them
somewhat likable, despite their evil acts. (Sally
does the killin' and Ruby the cookin', by the
way.) Their antics are accompanied by an enjoyably
eclectic soundtrack, ranging from rockabilly to
thrash metal — a soundtrack CD would be
cool.
The appeal
of Chainsaw Sally
will depend on your penchant for tongue-in-cheek
camp that doesn't hesitate to wallow in a lot
of blood (and a bit of viscera). One
thing is certain... After seeing this film you
will never, ever forget how to spell the
world "malt".
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Shot in 2004 and only now getting a DVD release,
Chainsaw Sally is
the latest title to be issued via POP Cinema's
Shock-O-Rama label. The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer
renders the film as well as could be hoped for
given its microbudget digital video origins; despite
a few technical flubs during filming, the pic
is certainly more professional-looking than is
typical for such fare. A Dolby Digital Stereo
2.0 audio track serves the music quite well; as
for the dialog, some of the live sound recording
and post-production looping isn't exactly up to
snuff but it's nothing inordinately distracting.
Some
pretty good extras here, chief among them two
featurettes. The 30-minute Sawdust: The Making
of Chainsaw Sally collates behind-the-scenes
footage of the production with interviews of the
principals, mainly "Jimmyo" and April
Burril (her husband wrote and directed), DP Mike
Flanagan, Gunnar Hanson, Herschell Gordon Lewis,
and April Rouse (co-producer and memorable acid
victim). Gunnar Hansen: Making the Cut
(12 min.) focuses exclusively on the actor's involvement
with the film. Much of the same ground covered
in these featurettes informs an audio commentary
by the Burrils and assistant director Shawn Jones.
It's an enthusiastic discussion but was recorded
too low; the participants are sometimes drowned
out by the film's soundtrack. A music video for
one of the songs from the movie ("Silence",
by the female-fronted band Piss Ant), a selection
of storyboards and
17 trailers for POP Cinema releases (Chainsaw
Sally's among them) are also included.
2/16/07
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