It's the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman (Richard Riehle) has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons.
I had moderately high hopes for this film, and for the most part they were met. "Wadzilla" was better than I expected, and "Diary of Anne Frankenstein" far exceeded my hopes... it was, without a doubt the highlight of the film (the fake German was hilarious, Joel Moore plays a great Hitler, and Kane Hodder as a golem? Perfection). I also enjoyed "Deathification".
The problem comes with "I Was a Teenage Werebear". This is the segment I had the most hope for, and it was just boring. It slowed down the pace of the movie and made the overall film seem much too long. I appreciate the concept and the throwback to 60s beach films, but I think they blew it. I just did not find it very well developed.
I still recommend this one to all horror fans. If nothing else, watch the "Anne Frank" segment. Just downright hilarious. And see how many references to classic films you catch (some horror, some not). It is no secret that Joe Lynch and Adam Green are passionate about horror, and this film proves it.
Chillerama
2011
Action / Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi
Chillerama
2011
Action / Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi
Keywords: gayanthologywerewolfdrive-in theater
Plot summary
It's the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons. Four films so rare that they have never been exhibited publicly on American soil until this very night! With titles like Wadzilla, I Was A Teenage Werebear, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, and Zom-B-Movie, Chillerama not only celebrates the golden age of drive-in B horror shlock but also spans over four decades of cinema with something for every bad taste.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Falls Just Short of Greatness
Troma Trash Galore
(my spoilers are very minimal though! :)
First of all, if you're looking for a high budget Hollywood horror film, this film is definitely not for you. However, if you're a fan of old school b-movie horror films from the 70s/80s or Troma Comedies like Poultrygeist you are so going to love this one.
The movie generally has a type of "Creepshow"/"Tales From the Darkside" setup. You have a main story that features 3 little horror stories. The first story features a giant sperm starting a rampage on an entire city. As random as the plot sounds is also as random as it is delivered. A special treat are the visuals in this one. What makes the visuals so crazy looking is that they use effects that were used around the 50s and earlier when all the films were black and white. Seeing these cheap effects in color really makes it look like nothing I have ever seen before. The second story is a werewolf-beach boy musical with homosexuality as a central subject... Yes... That's right! It sort of reminds us of Elvis-like cheesy beach flicks from the 60's and the werewolf craze of the 80's. What at first sounds like a random genre mix is actually very entertaining. One must also credit the musical numbers because they are very very catchy. The final story is a gritty black and white story in German featuring Hitler and Eva Braun trying to create a superhuman. It's really like Bela Lugosis speech in ed Wood's Bride of the Monster ("I shall create a new race of super humans which will take over the world") coming to life. What makes it quite funny is that every actor is speaking normal German while Hitkler himself speaks this fictional South Park German. This one does get a little lengthy towards the end and isn't so focused on the visuals like the other 2, but it does have a lot of great jokes.
All in all, Chillerama really is a great homage to old school b-movie horror flicks ranging from the 1930's to the 1980's. Everyone who loves old school trash films will really have a lot of fun with Chillerama.
Could have been so much better.
The best segment in this is Wad-Zilla. The rest is really hit or miss, especially the too-long, unfunny Were-Bear segment. The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, if it had been cut down a bit would have been way better. The end bit, with the Zombies was really quite lame and nearly pornographic. It could have been a lot funnier if it hadn't been written by people who must always daydream about sex constantly.