Feast

Feast is just like Thanksgiving dinner. You splurge with those extra helpings of sweet potatoes and pecan pie until your body screams stop. And when you look back, you know it was worth every second. But when characters are served an extra heaping of their own blood and intestines, they may not ask for seconds. Nevertheless, the cast and crew members of Feast are clearly having fun, and they pass it on to the viewer who will leave quite satisfied.

The film is a product of Project Greenlight’s third season but its joke-laden dialogue can be credited to writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, and buckets of blood to director John Gulager. After viewing the film, and hearing it confirmed in the commentary, the filmmakers’ intention to flip the usual expectations of the horror genre is very clear. They succeed in doing so due to a reversal of gender roles, plenty of dark humor and an overall lack of CGI effects.

Patrons of The Beer Trap, a tavern in the Californian desert, are getting along just fine until Hero (Eric Dane) barges in with a monster’s head and warns that more are sure to follow. Also included in his introduction, as well as each character’s, is a title card that gives the character’s name, job, a fun fact, and their life expectancy. With little time to establish the characters (since it is a low-budget, independent film), the title cards provide a good laugh as well as enough background needed to understand their motivations. A personal favorite is that of Grandma’s (Eileen Ryan), whose fun fact is “Blew Mick Jagger…recently” and has a life expectancy of “May be dead already.”

Each character is typecast within their introduction. The following list covers the major, but not all of the cast, in order of appearance: Bozo (Balthazar Getty), whose bark surpasses his bite, Hot Wheels (Josh Zuckerman), little brother to Bozo, Coach (Henry Rollins), a motivational speaker whether he’s on the job or not, Beer Guy (Judah Friedlander), who takes the meaning of loser to the extreme, Bartender (Clu Gulager), Tuffy (Krista Allen) the single mom and career waitress, fellow waitress but aspiring model/actress Honey Pie (Jenny Wade), their employer, Boss Man (Duane Whitaker), and finally hero’s wife, Heroine (Navi Rawat).

There are plenty of characters, but not many who embody the typical patriarchal lead for a disaster situation. The filmmakers make sure both characters that represent all things male: Hero and the soldier, Vet (Anthony ‘Treach’ Criss), are among the first to be killed by the monsters. Heroine immediately establishes herself as the active and aggressive leader of the group. After the Boss Man is briefed on the monster situation, he asks if there’s anything else, and Heroine replies, “Yes, we have to lock this place down.”

Thus the female order is established and maintained throughout the film.

Heroine continues her role as the boss when beating Beer Guy until he gives up trying to leave the bar and endangering the group. She does not only assert herself over male humans however, she even castrates the monster father, slicing his penis off with a machete. Also of note is that Heroine encompasses many female characteristics, such as a strong maternal instinct since she is fighting in order to see her daughter again, as well as sporting a tank top and long hair. Thus, Heroine possesses both typically female and male traits, rather than falling into a stereotype of either gender.

At this point, you may be thinking, “So what?” But those with a liberal arts degree (neither boasting nor putting it down here), know that Hollywood’s films tend to represent the society it was produced in; that being a male-dominated one (read: leaders of the state, church, family). Progressive films such as Feast act as responses to the slasher movies featuring females chased by monsters and/or killers (see: Psycho (1960), Halloween (1978), Sorority House Massacre (1987), and Scream (1996)). Feast breaks the traditional concept of the passive female, and allows her to actively lead.

Case in point: As in many horror films, the dominant male gaze is provided with a scantily dressed female. In this film, Honey Pie strips down to her underwear and wipes the blood off her body while being gawked at by Hot Wheels and Bozo. The next sequence is a response to the males, essentially castrating them by taking away their gaze. Heroine stamps down on a long, metal pole by the bar with a loud clank, which immediately follows a shot of the brothers turning away from Honey Pie, with Bozo even getting up from his seat on the pool table. Heroine looks over to the boys and explains, “We can’t risk letting them in,” and barricades the door, actively substantiating herself in charge.

Meanwhile, the other side of the gender pool isn’t shown in the most positive light. Bozo talks big, “We gotta start clearing these bodies up,” but is often scared, as he jumps up screaming after one of the bodies he’s near has a death spasm. Later Bozo and Boss Man fight each other, which leads to an unnecessary death, while the rest of the group attempts to fight off the monsters. The filmmakers certainly do not go at lengths to make a point of female empowerment. Rather, they provide a different take on the traditional horror story.

Feast is a movie worth the rental fee, with plenty of blood and jokes as well as a smooth pacing to go along with it. That is, except during the heavy action, when the editing becomes

way too fast and some shots are missed. But this editing choice makes sense since they are frantic moments. The cast members all play their part well, especially the Beer Guy who remains the perpetual slob, dead or alive. First time director John Gulager shows promise, as well the writers who are working on their next project, The Midnight Man (2007).

Special Features

An eleven minute featurette, Horror Under the Spotlight: Making Feast, provides some trivia and background information such as which scenes weren’t approved by the producers. Gulager explains the pressure that comes with Project Greenlight, and interestingly, how he avoided them. Towards the end, the cast and writers simply praise Gulager for his efforts, adding little to the featurette.

There are five deleted scenes including an alternative ending, which, for the most part, thankfully were deleted. A few jokes were taken out, along with some unnecessary character development. The alternative is just too close to the ending of From Dusk till Dawn (1996) that most viewers will be happier with the original ending.

What would a DVD be without the feature commentary with the director, writers, producers Mike Leahy and Joel Soisson, and creature and makeup effect designer Gary Tunnicliffe? Some insight is provided, such as that the monsters’ noise is made up of chainsaws and pig squeals (although its unclear if the latter is the result of the former). But mostly the filmmakers joke around like they were doing while making the film, which leaves their viewers smiling just the same.

Movie Grade: A-

DVD Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A-