Movie Review: Famine (2012)

One of the more anticipated films for us here at Cinema Head Cheese is without a doubt Ryan Nicholson's Famine. Luckily enough, I've gotten a chance to see it before it hits home video and I must say the Canadian King of Splatter has done it yet again.

Every four years at Sloppy Secondary High School the kids hold a 24-hour famine to bring awareness to the millions starving children in various third-world countries around the globe. At the time of the last famine, Mr. Balszack was the victim of a horrible accident thanks to klutzy student trying to put the moves on him. Balszack is one of several possible suspects slaughtering the students during the fundraiser. Donning a mascot suit as "The Nailer" our maniac is on a mission to get things very messy at Sloppy Secondary.

Famine takes the high school slasher made so popular in the 80's to a new level of gruesomeness the others didn't quit hit. It's also pretty fuckin funny. The characters are generally pretty goofy and obnoxious so when they meet their demise it's all the more fun. Nicholson and crew deliver the best gore FX of any of his previous features. I don't wanna really give anything away but I will touch on a few I found esspecially impressive. In one scene The Nailer delivers an amazingly bloody throat-slashing that makes the the Shogun Assasin’s handy work look like a dry paper cut. The mascot suit wearing psycho also drives nails through the skulls of fellow famine-ers and in one esspecially juicy moment he graphically disembowels a student for good measure.The body count is what your here for and we get a pile by the conclusion of the movie.

The performances are over-the-top, fun and pretty much on par with Nicholson’s previous efforts. There effective and appropriate enough for the story considering Famine is a film of the “splat-stick” variety. Beth Cantor stands out as the ultra-nerdy Cathy. Cathy reminds me of the geeky character Gilda Radner played on Saturday Night Live bits with Bill Murray.

I never thought it would happen, but Famine even tops Hanger and Gutterballs (two of my faves) and really shows even more growth in Nicholson’s filmmaking abilty that was evident in Bleading Lady. It’s a nice looking production, the characters are hilarious and we get the signature Nicholson splatter. What more can you ask for?  Highly Reccomended!

Wanna hear more about Famine on Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast? Listen Here.

All screencaps courtesy of Filmbizarro.com