FRESH MEAT DELICIOUSLY DISGUSTING by Pamela Powell

Fresh from the Tribeca Film Festival comes "Fresh Meat."  In seeing films at any film festival, I try to hit one film from all the different categories.  This feature narrative was considered a crime, comedy, and horror flick.  Yes, that is quite accurate!  Although, I think I might reorganize the categories and name "horror" first as I have never  needed an air sickness bag in a movie until I saw "Fresh Meat!"

A group of misfit criminals botch a rescue attempt to free the fourth member of their gang from the police transport.  In trying to escape, the inept clan invaded the wrong house.  What they found inside made jail-time look like a cake walk.

 As the leader of "the gang" was being transported in a police truck with two other criminals, the other three less than capable gang members followed closely behind.  While stopping at a convenient store for snacks, the explosions and shoot-out began.  The disgustingly realistic special effects have been cued and continued from this point forward.  A successful rescue of their leader, Paulie Tan, had occurred, but the police were now hot on their trail.  An open garage door in a nice suburban development was just the opportunity they were in need of.  Parking the car, shutting the door, and taking all members of the house hostage was now on their plan of escape.  What wasn't on their plan was how to deal with the type of people they were holding hostage.

The family appeared to be a typical middle-class family comprised of a mom, dad, and two teenage children.  Hemi, the father, was always in the shadow of his wife; a successful cooking show maven.  The daughter was home on break from boarding school, struggling with her sexual identity and the son outwardly appeared to be a normal boy.  As the gang of misfits attempted to overwhelm this seemingly normal family, what they got in return was much more overwhelming!  You see, this family had adopted a cannibalistic lifestyle.

"Fresh Meat" capitalized on all aspects of this genre of film:  sex, humor, and disgustingly well-done special effects.  The entire movie was truly over-the-top, but it did make me laugh as well as have a gag reaction.  Thankfully, these two did not occur simultaneously.  The characters in the film were definitely unique and exaggerated, but paired with some of the situations and dialogue, this was where the humor occurred.  Temuera Morrison played Hemi Crane with the utmost passion.  Kate Elliott played Gigi, the true leader of the gang.  She was drop-dead gorgeous and depicted the cartoon-like character perfectly.  The remainder of the cast rounded out this exaggerated film.

"Fresh Meat" was the perfect movie to cover the horror category.  I did appreciate the humor and the style in which the film was made.  The cartoon feel to the characters and the colors made the gruesome aspect more manageable for me.  If you love movies with disgustingly real special effects, you will love this one.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396495/?ref_=sr_2