‘Feast 3 : The Happy Finish’ (2009) Movie Review
The survivors are saved by the mysterious prophet, Shot Bus Gus, who seemingly has the ability to control the beasts. He leads them into the sewers as they travel to the big city. Along the way they get help from karate expert Jean-Claude Seagal and learn that the beasts originate from a place called “The Hive.” Armed with this knowledge, they decide to fight back and destroy the beasts once and for all (Internet).
“Feast III: The Happy Finish,” starts off with some good initial action sequences and a flair for the comedic; y,et the film’s cohesiveness seems to fall apart in the second act. One scene where a local hero shows the character, Secrets how to load a .35 revolver, which then goes off accidentally in his face is a comedic highlight, but the scene also showcases the films poor treatment of characters within the film. Several characters are given entry into the story with an initial build-up and back story. Then, five minutes later they see a quick, surprising, and pointless death, which chops up the pacing and story of the film. Other comedic scenes including a homeless bum, who literally gets the crap beaten out of him and a black man who dies while an alien copulates with him are over-the-top funny; however, director John Gulager leaves the comedy behind halfway into the film. Possibly, in an attempt to wind up the movie in the prerequisite ninety minutes to save on production costs, Gulager moves the film into a series of action scenes that do not add anything to the darkly lit story of the film and the scenes seem to come out of nowhere. If Gulager could have kept the comedic tone going through out the film then “Feast III: The Happy Finish,” could really have been a more enjoyable watch.
Once the film switches from a rural small town into a series of sewer systems under the downtown core the darkness in several of the scenes makes the film almost unwatchable and annoying while the film’s story fumbles along to some sort of a confusing ending. The introduction of Jean-Claude Seagal, while hilarious in tone adds nothing to the story and the character is given little to no dimension or powerful dialogue. Instead, this armless hero fights off a horde of undead creatures, while a strobe assaults the camera, single-handedly or maybe on his own is a better choice of words. This scene and others generate a few laughs; yet, production designer Ermanno Di Febo-Orsini forgets that an audience needs some lighting in order to see what is happening in the picture, despite the setting.
Twenty minutes of the film is shot in almost total darkness and plot holes begin to develop in the structure of the story as characters die without explanation. Why is there a group of undead zombies in the sewers? How does an armless man fight off twenty attackers without bleeding to death? How can a sewer grate be kicked in by a three foot midget, but not by regularly sized people? And how can a man survive through two sequels with a pipe stuck through the upper portion of his skull? These are questions that while funny are not given an answer and the incoherent story might drive some viewers away from the film.
Without spending too much time on analyzing a film that tries hard not to make sense, the ending of “Feast III…” sums up the story of the film nicely. A giant robot, which comes out of nowhere kills two thirds of the remaining cast with a large mechanical boot and the confusing scene only gets more bizarre with the introduction of a guitar playing Mariachi. Yes, I gave away the ending, but where were the robots earlier in the film? Oh, right there were none and the ending disappointly finalizes a three part series of comedic style, horror films in a ambiguous way. On the other hand, the reward of a Mariachi singing soloist, while bizarre does highlight Gulager’s sense of humor. Yet, even for a Spanish guitar playing lyricist explaining the story of “Feast III:…” is a Herculean task.
Lastly, the initial few gags in the first thirty minutes of the film are some of the funniest this reviewer has ever seen; unfortunately, the film seems to breakdown from there and “Feast III…” turns into a car wreck of a film. Feast II: Sloppy Seconds,” is a much funnier film whose story is slightly more cohesive and watchable. So, see “Feast II: Sloppy Seconds,” first and if the humor suits you then give this second sequel a shot, and turn the lighting on your monitor/television way up if you want to see anything in the middle portion of the film.
Release Date: February 17, 2009.
Rating: Restricted for pervasive strong horror violence and gore, disturbing images, language throughout, and nudity.
Cast: Jenny Wade, Martin Klebba, Clu Gulager, Diane Goldner, Craig Henningsen, William Prael, and Carl Anthony Payne II.
Director: John Gulager.
Writer: Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan.
4 Gasping Skulls out of 10.
No trailer available.
Watch now online:
Feast III: the Happy Finish at the Horror Blogspot
Sources:
Feast III: the Happy Finish at IMDB
Feast III: the Happy Finish at 28dayslateranalysis.com
