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Beast Mode

Sometimes future cult classics aren’t easy to spot.  This is the case with Beast Mode, a film that is so on-the-nose when it comes to lampooning Hollyweird that its inspired cast, featuring C. Thomas Howl (The Amazing Spider-Man), Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, RoboCop), and Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween), will literally make your head rotate as its Weekend at Bernie’s-like set-up will have you choking on your popcorn and soda. 

"Just how did they pull this one off? Simple: with a fun 1980s throwback vibe and buckets of ooey gooey blood! "


 

 

Just how did they pull this one off? Simple: with a fun 1980s throwback vibe and buckets of ooey gooey blood!  But it starts out with a firm hand on the horror element as a backstory gives us all we need to know about the exotic elixir that will soon be the focus of one has-been producer’s plan to revisit glory.

But his latest project, "Beast Moon", is not the droid he’s looking for . . . and it is completely out of control.

This horror/comedy is what happens when one burned-out producer, Breen Nash (Howell) accidentally kills his lead actor, Huckle Saxton (James Duval, Donnie Darko, American Muscle) and turns to an ancient elixir in order to solve his problems.  We already know it is going to fail, but he doesn't know it . . . yet.Beast Mode

From the out of control budget to the fact that Saxton was banging his girlfriend, Kira (Suzanne Quast, Dark Tourist), Nash discovers that his problems are simply mounting.  But there's no rest for the wicked because this elixir isn’t going to help a damn thing.  The elixir ramps up a person’s inner monster and makes them go all BEAST MODE quite literally, so, when Nash finds a lookalike for his now-dead star, the magical elixir makes him go apeshit for fame . . . and soon intestines are punchlines and fame, as we all now, turns the classiest of people into total werewolf beyotches.   

With practical effects ruling the roost, Beast Mode comes out on top thanks to the movie magic of Brian Wade (who has worked on everything from Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives to Aquaman), who creates a series of bloodthirsty, shape-shifting, ferocious beasts let loose on Los Angeles.  The film is both over-the-top and completely on par with its spoofing of all the jerks that litter the Hollywood scene.

The howls and the screams that follow in these creatures' wake will also be remembered thanks to the hi-jinks created by co-directors Chris W. Freeman (Evil Takes Root, Sorority Party Massacre) and Spain Willingham (First World Problems) and co-writers Aaron Scotti (The Peanut Butter Falcon) and Drew Fortune, who work their asses off to make sure the HollyWEIRDness soldiers on to the break of dawn.

This horror/comedy hybrid - leaning more toward the comedy - might not be your cuppa tea, though.  It’s definitely got a set audience in mind: one that will overlook its budgetary restrictions and laugh in spite - or maybe because of - that fact as Hollywood gets turned on its . . . rear?  I mean, ear.  While it is too soon to say whether or not this one is going to be a future cult classic, I can safely say that all the ingredients are there for something disturbingly delightful.

Get your howls in now! Beast Mode is now on DVD and digital thanks to Devilworks Pictures.

3/5 stars

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Beast Mode

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor:
Available on Blu-ray

Screen Formats:
Subtitles
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Audio:

Discs:
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[tab title="Film Details"]

Beast Mode

MPAA Rating: PG-13 on appeal for crude sexual content and language.
Runtime:
87 mins
Director
: Chris W. Freeman, Spain Willingham
Writer:
Drew Fortune, Chris W. Freeman
Cast:
C. Thomas Howell, James Duval, Leslie Easterbrook
Genre
: Comedy | Horror
Tagline:
This Town Will Eat You Alive.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor:
Devilworks
Official Site:
Release Date:
December 1, 2020.
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
December 1, 2020.
Synopsis: The 80s throwback horror tells the story of a has-been Hollywood producer, who after accidentally killing his lead star, turns to an ancient herbal elixir, in the hope that it will save his career. He makes a dark deal that unleashes a band of bloodthirsty, shape-shifting, ferocious beasts on LA.

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[tab title="Art"]

Beast Mode

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