Movie Review: Girls Gone Dead (2012)

Directed by Michael Hoffman Jr. and Aaron T. Wells

Starring Jerry Lawler, Beetlejuice and Ron Jeremy

Rebecca is set to spend her first Spring Break home from college with her old high school cheer-leading friends, much to the chagrin of her Bible-thumping mother. The girls have been granted the usage of a rental property in the Florida coastal town of Manatee Creek, courtesy of the stripper-loving father of one of the girls. However, they are soon to find that their vacation is about to turn into their worst nightmare. Just down the road in Daytona Beach, "Crazy Girls Unlimited" - a company famous for it's drunken topless DVD releases - had been throwing an event for their latest video series. However, the shoot ends early when a killer, complete with medieval weaponry, shows up to add his own brand of craziness to the festivities. Unaware of what has transpired at the "Crazy Girls" party, Rebecca and her friends decide to throw a Spring Break shindig of their own. But the girls get more than they bargained for when the hooded, monk-masked killer crashes the party, quickly littering the place with gutted-out co-eds.

Here's a movie that actually sets a nice balance of titties, humor and gore, the three most essential elements for a fun and successful slasher flick.  Its pretty hard not to like a movie that's basically a satirical  take on societies very real obsession with college girls getting piss-drunk and taking their tops off for us. And then capping that off by fulfilling our desire to see those girls hacked to pieces with a battle-axe.

(Spoilers)


Thinly veiled behind the boobs and blood, there was actually some subtle commentary going on here about the brain-dead desensitization of the social-media driven lifestyle of today's youth. I don't think the film makers were trying to make a statement so much  as just an astute observation though.

There were a few moments when the film seemed to drag just a bit, but for the most part it stayed pretty fun. The girls were hot, the bikini's were flying off at a steady pace and the kill scenes were nice and bloody. Add to that, cameo appearances by Ron Jeremy, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and the one and only wrestling icon, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and you've got an unbeatable mix of fringe-genre star power and mindless fun that's built to satiate the 12 year old boy in all of us. Lawler's performance in particular as the beach town Sheriff was undeniably epic, even getting to deliver a perfectly executed piledriver to the masked-killer during the very fun finale of the film.

If your a slasher fan with a sense of humor then this movie should be right up your alley. In the context of its particular genre, its a solid entry.

EXTRAS-
This is where Girls Gone Dead really takes it to the next level with over 90 minutes of bonus material-
5 Behind the scenes featurettes
SLUTS & GUTS: The making of Girls Gone Dead
5 music videos, featuring Amber Pacific, A Day to Remember, and Hawthorne Heights
3 Crazy Girls Unlimited commercial spots
7 deleted/extended scenes
Blooper Reel
Interviews with Jerry "The King" Lawler and heavy metal legend Nicko McBrain (yes!!!)
Audio commentary with director & crew

Definitely Recommended

7 out of 10