Tweet
Released by: Camp Motion Pictures
Released on: 8/14/2007
Director: Polonia Brothers
Cast: Polonia Brothers
Year: 1987
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
From the Polonia Brothers, the team that brought you Peter Rottontail, the Feeders films and Holla If I Kill You comes their 1987 debut, Splatter Farm!
Alan and Joseph (played by Mark and John Polonia) are two brothers who promise their older Aunt Lacey (Marion Costly) that they'll spend some of their summer with her. They head off into the sticks to her desolate old home expecting little more than dull conversation until they arrive and quickly learn that Aunt Lacey doesn't live there alone. Keeping the woman company is a man-child named Jeremy (Todd Rimatti), a big dumb brute who happens to really dig mutilating people.
When Alan and Joseph learn Jeremy's secret and begin to discover just why exactly he's so attached to their aunt, they realize that they are in grave danger - a fact that is completely solidified for them when they discover the hidden room under the house and remnants of Jeremy's activities which lay partially hidden in the old barn. The problem is, Aunt Lacey really likes having the boys around and she's willing to do whatever she needs to do to ensure that they don't leave anytime soon.
An interesting exercise in camcorder shot creative cruelty, Splatter Farm is actually a pretty depraved film. The effects usually don't work so well and the acting is awful but the Polonia's pile on the gore and the film seems happiest when wallowing in its own filth. The movie puts perversion front and center and rubs it in the viewers face, and while more often than not the techniques don't work the brothers definitely deserve credit for trying. An ambitious and obviously extremely low budget movie, the picture never the less impresses with a few inspired moments and some unique set pieces.
Sadly, it's all done with such a complete absence of style that the film is, at times, pretty hard to watch. Amateurish to the point of ridicule, it's amazing in this day and age of digital video and home editing software that this movie saw distribution as even by eighties camcorder standards it's pretty rough. Amazingly, however, the film found an audience thanks to the rental market of the day and the Polonia's have been a staple of the indy mirco-budget scene ever since (a whole bunch of their films are readily available on DVD from Sub Rosa).
The film does benefit from some pretty eerie locations. The farm where the bulk of the movie takes place is honestly rather creepy looking and it helps the film maintain some small sense of integrity. The same can be said of Todd Rimatti's performance as Jeremy. He's not a great actor by any stretch but he's convincing enough during a couple of key moments that if he isn't scary he's at least deranged enough to get under your skin a little more than you'd probably expect. In the end, however, Splatter Farm is pretty awful. The Polonia's would go on to improve with age and obviously every body has to start somewhere but the film is so crude and unpolished that it literally feels like we're watching a bunch of teenagers goofing off on a weekend where they had nothing better to do than make a crappy horror film with some stage blood and a few props found at the back of the drama class.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.33.1 fullscreen transfer presents this shot on video opus in its original aspect ratio and it looks about as good as a of two decade old low budget cheapie has any right to look. The picture is soft, as is the case with most 'camcorder' productions of the era, and everything is a bit on the fuzzy side but it's perfectly watchable. Not a reference quality disc by any stretch but it's doubtful the movie looked any better when originally released than it does on this DVD. If you've been happy with previous transfers from Camp Motion Pictures, you'll be fine with the presentation on this disc.
The audio is on par with the video, in terms of quality, in that it's far from perfect but it's acceptable enough when you take into account the low budget nature of the production. Dialogue can be distorted at times though the score and effects don't sound half bad even if sometimes they are muffled in the mix a bit. Don't expect any alternate language dubs, subtitles or surround mixes here, all we get is the plain vanilla 2.0 tracks, but it does the trick even if it isn't going to melt your brain with sonic wowness.
First up is a quirky audio commentary courtesy of the Polonia brothers who speak candidly about their legacy as independent filmmakers and low budget schlockmeisters. They're pretty upfront and honest about the film's very obvious flaws and they also point out bits and pieces of the picture that work better than others. The cover casting and shooting the film on a micro-budget and generally just fill us in on the history of the picture and how it basically launched their careers. As harsh a watch as the film is, the commentary goes a long way towards making this package interesting. It doesn't quite redeem the feature but it at least puts it in context and explains its interesting genesis.
Once that's over and done with, check out the Back To The Farm featurette where the Polonia's take us on a guided tour of the locations where their epic was shot more than twenty-years ago.
Rounding out the extra features is an assortment of short films that the Polonias worked on, trailers for a few other Camp Motion Pictures DVD releases, menus, chapter selection and a booklet of liner notes.
The Final Word:
Splatter Farm stinks but it is interesting to see the Polonia's feature-length debut and Camp Motion Pictures have put together a decent little package for this quirky, if horrible, camcorder epic.