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  Killage, The Slash up your troubles
Year: 2011
Director: Joe Bauer
Stars: Rita Artmann, Joe Bauer, Dryden Bingham, Daniel Bradford, Andrew O'Sullivan, Jess Thomas-Hall, Mark Theodossiou, Laura Jane Turner, Carmel Savage, Meisha Lowe, Johancee Theron, Cameron Sowden, Michael Gerard Bauer
Genre: Horror, ComedyBuy from Amazon
Rating:  6 (from 1 vote)
Review: Keen photographer Warren (Dryden Bingham), his would-be girlfriend Lucy (Laura Jane Turner) and their hopelessly dumb, guitar-strumming pal Gus (Joe Bauer) are among eleven, not especially enthusiastic recruits on a weekend-long work retreat at the ominously-named Camp Yurulgundie (get it?), somewhere in the wilderness near Queensland, Australia. A randy Gus has his attention diverted by sultry, mysterious late arrival Emily (Rita Artmann) while Warren and Lucy struggle to cope with the wheelchair bound but unbearably obnoxious Dickman (Daniel Bradford). Snooty Hannah (Carmel Savage) balks at sharing a room with death-obsessed goth Madison (Johancee Theron), perky, put-upon Krystal (Meisha Lowe) tries her utmost to entice her boorish bodybuilder boyfriend Jock (Andrew O'Sullivan) who has another admirer in the flagrantly camp Dimitri (Jess Thomas-Hall) while all taciturn stoner Andre (Cameron Sowden) wants is to find a quiet place to smoke his bong. Faced with the impossible task of trying to manage this unruly lot, dorky camp instructor Patrick (Mark Theodossiou) maintains their only worry are low-flying parakeets but soon has his nerves rattled by an anonymous note that reads: "I am going to kill each and every one of you. Very creatively." Sure enough, one of the group turns out to be a homicidal maniac who starts dispatching the campers in creatively grisly ways. Not that this keeps Gus from trying to score with Emily.

When it comes to combining horror with humour, Australian filmmakers seem more capable than most, a tradition upheld in this endearing low-budget slasher spoof. Writer-director-star Joe Bauer and producer-star Rita Artmann skewer the kitsch clichés of an often cheesy sub-genre with infectious glee and an obvious love. Juggling multiple roles behind the camera, the duo have assembled an eye-catching indie venture more inventive and watchable than many more serious slasher films. If The Killage falls short of say, the early gore comedies of Peter Jackson that managed to invest a disarming layer of genuine emotion into their splatter-stick antics, Bauer's snappy script still deftly mixes goofy laughs with smarter satire. The central conceit that work retreats send people round the bend by forcing them into extreme situations (towards the end the killer remarks: "I'm not evil. I'm just ambitious to a frightening degree!") is an amusing and well-thought out idea that recalls the British horror comedy Severance (2006).

Although the near-constant profanity grows a bit tiresome, the gags are generally on-target and the tone somewhat closer to a more gruesome Carry On Camping (1969) than Sleepaway Camp (1983). Especially inspired is the dream within a dream within a dream sequence capped by a punchline at the expense of the haplessly horny Gus. The air of ridiculousness extends to the killings themselves with the first victim strangled in the shower with dental floss before being stabbed with an electric toothbrush. In a neat conceit each victim's demise corresponds with their unique character traits. Amidst such silliness as unintentional shower necrophilia and severed heads that keep yapping away, Bauer and Artmann pull off a few genuine surprises. By killing off seemingly sympathetic characters and switching allegiances they manage to keep the viewer guessing as to who if anyone will survive? The Killage takes a wryly cynical look at how a crisis can unmask certain people for what they truly are. Warren initially seems like an obvious hero yet grows increasingly callous and cowardly while, in a funny twist on the cliché of the naked screaming bimbo, a traumatized Jock spends most of the film stark bollock naked. The fresh-faced cast of Aussie unknowns are entirely engaging (a crucial factor in this genre) with Artmann, Bingham and Turner etching especially memorable comic moments. Bauer himself steals a few scenes especially while performing his hilarious self-penned musical number: 'Mental Jungle Killer.'

Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

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