31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Chillerama

Chillerama (2011)

Directed by Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, Joe Lynch

Starring Adam Rifkin, Sarah Mutch, Ray Wise, Eric Roberts, Sean Paul Lockhart, Anton Troy, Gabby West, Adam Robitel, Lin Shaye, Ron Jeremy, Tim Sullivan, Joel David Moore, Kristina Klebe, Kane Hodder, & Richard Riehle

On the last night of operation, a drive in theater is having a final blow out. Four of the rarest, most vile B movies ever made will be shown for all in attendance. First, there’s the atomic terror of a man’s libido gone monstrous in Wadzilla. Next is the beach blanket bingo musical about our changing bodies and sexual metamorphosis; I Was a Teenage Werebear. Third, the unspeakable account of the Nazi’s secret weapon in The Diary of Anne Frankenstein. Finally, the last film is the offensive classic Deathication. But, one of the theater workers is sick with something highly contagious. The last night of this drive in theater might be the last night on earth as everyone is forced to survive a zombie apocalypse.

You’ve got to be in a very specific mindset to watch Chillerama. The film is what would happen when you combine Creepshow with the sensibilities of Troma. There are four parts of this movie including the wrap around story, with a different writer-director for each one. It’s raunchy, disgusting, and goes for the broadest of humor. Every segment of Chillerama is centered around a rather risqué twist of a familiar horror style and then pushed well past the furthest reaches of your imagination and personal taste. If you’re up for watching a group of neon blue oozing zombies hump a guy to death or for seeing a monstrous sperm get it on with the Statue of Liberty, than this movie delivers.

The first segment is Wadzilla, the 1950’monster movie parody from Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City). Rifkin himself stars in the story, with great supporting performances from Ray Wise and Eric Roberts. The giant sperm of the title is a stop motion creation that looks kitschy and cool. The Chiodo Brothers of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame did the special effects and they have a certain vintage cool to them. The segment is tasteless but a lot of fun.

The second story is Tim Sullivan’s (2001 Maniacs, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams) beach-blanket-bingo/sexual awakening/werewolf musical, I Was a Teenage Werebear. Of all the segments in the movie, this one feels the most out of place. That’s not a slight against it; this story is the most ambitious part of Chillerama. The musical elements work well enough and the werebear makeup is intentionally cheesy. These creatures have the classic greasepaint face of old werewolf films and the leather chaps of actual bears (Google it). The main male actors are gay porn stars trying their hands at more mainstream film work, so their acting and singing isn’t quite where it should be. But overall the music, campy tone, and sheer audacity it took to make this carry you through. In fact, this segment might work better as a feature with a full budget.

Next is Adam Green’s (Hatchet series, Frozen) old school monster horror spoof The Diary of Anne Frankenstein. It’s crass, absurd, and so very funny. What could be a terrible offense is a work of awesome absurdist humor thanks to the cast. Joel Moore plays Hitler as a cartoony buffoon in the mold of Daffy Duck. In a cast that speaks fluent German, Moore’s take speaks absolute gibberish for every line. Couple that with the hilarious homages to low budget monster movies of the 40’s and the off the wall humor of the script and this segment is easily the most entertaining of the four.

The last segment is the wrap around story that frames the film, Joe Lynch’s Zom-B-Movie. Lynch had the hard job of writing and directing the segment that framed everything else and he mostly succeeds. It’s hard to keep an audience interested in characters you see every 20 minutes or so, but the script does a decent job distilling everyone down to the essence of their characters. The special effects are quite good, giving every zombie oozing orifices filled with bright blue goo. It’s an impressive accomplishment to pull off the look of this stuff. Richard Riehle steels the show as the drive in owner dealing with the last night of his business and passion. His performance encapsulates the love of the drive in experience that these filmmakers clearly have.

If you like crass humor, gross out gore and turning taboo subjects into silly horror stories than this is a fine movie. Even if you don’t like those, give Chillerama a try. This was clearly a movie made by guys who really love anthologies and had a specific voice in mind. If anything, in what other movie can you see Hitler get beaten to death with his own arm?

8 out of 10