Decampitated

Title: Decampitated
Rating: 2.5/5
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Mike Hart, Jonathan Scott, Bethany La Voo
Director: Matt Cunningham
Duration: 90 mins

"Advil won't help you now... KA-CHANG!"

For the most part, horror comedies have been given a bad name by those that fall under the "horror spoof" category. Scary Movie was a sad attempt at bringing back the Airplane-humor we all love, as was the knock-off Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th. The recent torture-porn spoof, Otis, was also a let-down. Horror spoofs may have had a humble beginning with Student Bodies, but if you learn anything from me it's that 99% of them suck (exception being Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers). When horror comedies are not satirizing sacred slasher icons, they usually fail at combining horror and comedy (exceptions here are Hatchet, Dr. Giggles, and Evil Dead II). So what are we to do? Well, luckily there are some "splatstick" comedies out there that completely eliminate the horror element altogether and ride on gags alone. Enter Troma's 1998 film, Decampitated.

Garrett, his girlfriend, April, and their buddies decide to hike up to a cabin to spend a happy camping trip together (a personal favorite premise of Yours Truly). When they get lost in the woods, they are split up (in more ways than one!) when they encounter a skipping maniac wearing a beekeeper mask. They must find a way to civilization without being slowed down by infighting, flesh wounds, or a horny transvestite.

First of all, let me say that there is a LOT of duct tape used in this film. It is the running joke throughout the whole picture when our campers mend any wound, no matter the severity, with a stretch of duct tape. The gags and jokes are many, and while most of them will not have you laughing out loud, they do find a way to keep the movie interesting and charming. The humor is like that of Airplane, Naked Gun, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and, yes, Scary Movie, but it predates the latter so a comparison shouldn't be hastily made. On a budget of under $15,000 and featuring a cast of no-names, Decampitated actually has the look and feel of a much larger production and fits in perfectly with the rest of Troma's catalog. Lastly, the soundtrack can be rad, if sometimes uneven. There is swing music alongside songs from hardcore bands such as Sheer Terror, Hatebreed, H2O, and Strife, and they all often drown out the dialogue.

The ensemble have a few things going against them. Mike Hart, as Garrett, has an obvious Jim Carrey worship going on. Now, most critics compare any physical comedy actor with Jim Carrey, but here I'm being fo'real, right down to the mannerisms and Dumb & Dumber quotes. The rest of the characters are pretty stereotypical: the bitch, the bimbo, the nerd, the dickhead, the jock, the normal girl. Seeing as these people are the only things worth watching in this film, it gets disappointing. Fortunately, the movie is fast paced and interesting enough to engage the viewer for the entire running time.

If you are like me and can't stand the crude humor for crude humor's sake attitude of the Scary Movie series or the snobby, tongue-in-cheek winks at the audience in the Scream series (and their wannabe spawn), then I suggest that you take a break and watch a completely retarded flick like Decampitated.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QloB77HDOo

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