A heavy metal band accidentally summons a hoard of demons in the horror-comedy Deathgasm. Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) is a metalhead, who is forced to live with his ultra-religious uncle Albert (Colin Moy) and bully of a cousin David (Colin Moy). After befriending Zakk (James Blake), the only other metalhead in town, they form a band named “Deathgasm” with Brodie’s more nerdy friends Dion (Sam Berkley) and Giles (Daniel Cresswell). After playing a mysterious piece of music found within an LP sleeve, the band accidentally causes the whole town to get possessed by demons. Along with Medina (Kimberley Crossman), Deathgasm fight back against the demons and try to stop their king from descending.
Deathgasm is a heavy metal splatter comedy from New Zealand, which is heavily reminiscent of films such as Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead and fellow New Zealander Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive. The film brings to life everything that people fear heavy metal to be all about, particularly the belief that it is the devil’s music. However, at the same time, the film shows heavy metal as literal escape for people feeling immense pain and rage, where they can envision themselves on top of mountains, accompanied by beautiful women.
The film takes a little while to get going, but once the demons arrive, the film is full of fun ultra-gory mayhem. The film find multiple creative ways to kill the demons in some very bloody ways, including ax hits to the head and quite a bit of chainsaw action. Deathgasm also continues the trend of New Zealand generating some very enjoyable horror comedies, which includes last year’s Housebound. You don’t really need to be a heavy metal fan to enjoy Deathgasm, which is a very enjoyable and bloody good time.
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 | REALLY LIKED IT
Screenings:
- Wed, Aug 5, 5:30 PM – J.A. De Seve Theatre