Rabid Grannies
Grandma what was it like to be on that holiday sight?
Titles are very important, especially for movies. The title can be smart, creative, and make you think. Sometimes the title can be so ridiculous that you avoid the movie at all costs, just because it sounds silly. Sometimes you can figure out what an entire movie is about just in the title. This is one of those times.
Rabid Grannies (originally Les Mémés Cannibales) is a Belgian horror movie from the late 80's. The story revolves around an extended family attending the birthday of their two grandmothers. Most of the family is generally reprehensible and feign love for the grandmothers in order to get their inheritance. A strange present from the devil-worshiping black sheep of the family arrives and transforms the grandmothers into maniacal cannibalistic monsters. Escape seems to be impossible and weapons have no effect. How will the family survive and how will they stop their rabid grannies?
The Belgians have a terrible dental plan
Rabid Grannies has a simple story and gets it out of the way quickly. Most of the characters are pretty detestable, so you're happy to see them get snapped in half, gored, or eaten alive. This was done before heavy computer animation, so it's nice to see the creative use of makeup and prosthetic. Nowadays, the grannies would be shot with full motion suits on green-screens. The makeup is very good and the grannies look especially terrifying. The acting is ok, but since it is dubbed, I can't really give it a complete grade.
I don't know much about the Belgians besides their delicious waffles. This is the first Belgian horror movie I have ever seen and, boy, they do not hold back. The movie is not just violent, it's ultraviolent. Apparently, there is an unrated European version of Rabid Grannies with even more gore and violence. This version had plenty, so no need to rush out to find it. There is a strong undercurrent of black humor to go along with the violence, so its not a total shock and awe bloodbath. One problem I do have is the quality of the film itself. While I wasn't expecting HD quality, the footage feels like it was shot in the 70s, not the late 80s. It made watching a bit difficult at times and hard to focus in darker scenes.
If Wolverine and Freddy Krueger had a baby...and then puked on it
With a name like Rabid Grannies, you're not going to get high culture entertainment. You're going to get demonic old ladies ripping about people while gleefully cackling. The 80's were a crazy time. Just look at Budweiser spokesdog Spuds MacKenzie and Rambo being marketed as a toy for kids. You can practically hear the writers and director doing lines of coke off a Belgian discotheque toilet while WHAM! plays in the background. Its hyper violent and super gorey. If you're looking for bloody kills and some sick humor, this is your movie. If you want story, pacing, and a well-planned plot, Rabid Grannies, shockingly, is not for you.
6.5/10
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