Psycho Holocaust

Released by: Independent Entertainment
Released on: 6/21/2011
Director: Krist Rufty
Cast: Trent Haaga, Raine Brown, Vanelle, Billy Garberina
Year: 2009
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The Movie:

Raise your hand if you've heard this one. A group of twenty-something's go off for a weekend getaway in a remote area in the mountains and get stalked, raped, tortured, and murdered by a twisted group of cannibal rednecks, one being a giant mute guy in a mask. One by one they get knocked off until only one is left to fight off the sickos. Oh you've seen that one? Countless times? Well get ready to see it again.

Sure, it's not an original story. Yes, it's the same old hunt-them-and-kill-them scenario. And yes it looks like a no-budget made-for-video movie. But it is an ambitious little flick nonetheless, and the effort to try and make something out of nothing is very evident. The effects range from pretty darned effective to kind of laughable, specifically what would appear to be the “big moment” in the movie. It involves a fake butt, a bottle, and a wood saw dildo (now that would be an interesting movie…“The Wood Saw Dildo Massacre”), and probably would have been a better scene without that effect. But then some of the corpses littering the scenes look really good, and there is a gruesome scalping scene that is really well done. Another thing the movie has going for it is a lack of annoying humor and snappy one-liners from the fun-seekers or the evil doers. They seem to have been going for scares and shocks and there are a few scenes that do a good job of it.

Another good item in the movie is some of the acting. Trent Haaga as the leader of the rednecks does a pretty convincing job of portraying the most human of the inhuman hillbillies. And first-name-only Vanelle stands out above the others as well in her role as Frightened Blood Bag #4. The pacing of the piece is pretty good and doesn't waste too much time in getting to the gore. The music score is worthy of some mention too, specifically one spot with the sound of a chainsaw as an instrument.

It borrows a lot from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (you know the scene where Leatherface comes out of the screen door and grabs a kicking and screaming Pam? They try for that…); it isn't the most polished movie in the world (watch for the boom mic to make its appearance). But it is an inspired piece of micro-money movie making that has its moments despite its limitations.


Video/Audio/Extras:

The film is shown here in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The image quality leaves a lot to be desired. The colors are washed out at times and they never benefit from looking decent throughout the film. The image is pretty muddy and it looks like it suffers from interlacing issues. The audio is come-and-go as well, sometimes with the dialogue seeming muffled, sometimes going from quiet to loud in the same scene.

The extras are plentiful, starting with a director commentary that's a good listen, especially for those who enjoy backyard indie filmmaking. The director does a decent job of keeping things interesting for the entire running time. Next up is a “Behind the Scenes” featurette (15:07) which is an in-the-workshop interview with the effects guys. That's followed by “Making Cheesy Movies In Wisconsin” (27:37), which features interviews with the various people involved in the movie, in front of and behind the camera. Then behold thirty minutes and 34 seconds more of “On the Set Interviews” for an additional look inside the no-budget film world. “At Home With Billy Garbernia”, one of the stars, is just under 15 minutes of him laying in bed and talking. Kind of a waste but he shows his dogs, so he's an ok guy. Eight minutes of outtakes follows that, along with some trailers to for other indie schlock flicks.


The Final Word:

While it may not rate high on the replay scale, and it isn't anywhere on the “What the Fuck?!” chart, Psycho Holocaust has some decent qualities to it. The video and audio quality leave a lot to be desired, surely due to the limitations the makers were under, but the extras give the disc extra value. If you like indie horror, at least give this one a chance. There are worse things you could do with your time.