WildCinema Presents
Movie Review: Knights Of Badassdom (2014)
The Lowdown
Lets be honest here, in recent years the horror genre has grown stale. Year after year we are subjected to the same old generic PG-13 supernatural shlock. Gone are the days when horror was marketed at adults and kept away from children at all costs, only to be seen by a select few who dared raid their parents video collection. Horror nowadays its targeted towards young teens and is geared towards making the studio a nice big profit rather than actually providing any scares. Such is the movie business. So its nice when a film comes along thats R rated, funny and actually tries to do something fairly unique.
Joe Lynchs Knights Of Badassdom tells the tale of three best friends who take part in a live action role playing game only to find themselves fighting for their lives against an evil succubus from hell.
The film is fairly lighthearted but consistantly violent and gory and clearly takes inspiration from the likes of Army Of Darkness and Hatchet, which is no bad thing as the Horror Comedy genre has a huge fan base which will likely lap this up. Ryan Kwanten does a good job in the lead, playing Joe, a heavy metal loving loveable loser who suprisingly bags a hell of a lot of hot chicks, including Summer Glau, who is perhaps best known for her roles in the ill fated FireFly and Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Its Nice to see Glau in a movie again, especially one thats as quirky and fun as this.
The thing that impressed me the most and made me realize films like this are a rare treat, is the fact that the production team decided to go the traditional route and rely on a lot of practical effects. Theres just something about practical effects that i love, maybe its growing up with all those wonderful horror movies in the 80s or maybe its that they look a hell of a lot more convincing than Cgi when done right, whatever it is Knights Of Badassdom hits all the right notes when we get to see the succubus in its final form, its all constumes and practical effects and it looks glorious. Fans of 80s horror in particular will get a kick out of it, more modern day horror films could learn a thing or two from this, as the effects and costume design really are great.
Final Verdict
A fantastic cast, banging heavy metal soundtrack, unique plot and awesome throwback practical creature designs make this one a must see for horror fans who grew up on 80s comedy horror.
Rating
I wish all modern horror films were this much fun. 4/5
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