Austin premier horror movie festival, Fantastic Fest, is known for finding some of the best genre films around. This year they might have succeeded in finding one of the most entertainingly bizarre ones to date in the festivals eleven year run. Slated as a midnight movie, “The Greasy Strangler” is a nut-so bag of demented fun.
Big Ronnie (Michael St. Michaels), a throw back from the 70’s, runs a disco tour that shows tourists where famous performers use to do laundry and hang out. His side-kick son, and truth-sayor of all things bullshit, Brayden (Sky Elobar) assists with the tours. When he meets Janet, a woman to his eyes with no equal, he starts to see the world through rose tinted glasses. With his friends being murdered one-by one, is Janet the next victim of “The Greasy Strangler?” To compound the problem, Big Ronnie and his ginormous penis also find Janet attractive. Will Janet decide to stay with Brayden and his lil’ buddy “Rodney,” or will she tear the family apart and choose Big Ronnie?
Some could say that certain movies are better under certain conditions. This may be one of those films. Certainly a few bottles of craft beer and perhaps the company of like-minded film aficionados would go a long ways to enjoying this bizarre ride of a film. In fact, it’s even better the second time around as the jokes start to rub off on you. Before you know it, you are calling “Bullshit Artist” on your husband who says, “no he didn’t drink the last beer.” A sure sign of a cult film in the making.
“The Greasy Strangler” headlines the midnight selection at Fantastic Fest showing at the Austin So Lamar theater and will certainly be a crowd-pleaser which is a good thing since theater President Tim League also shares an Executive Producing credit. The single most important part of taking an outlandish story and making it work on the big screen is to have the commitment of the actors, and in this film they bring it as ridiculous as it gets sometimes.
What makes the film more than just a gross-out fest with a couple funny jokes is that director/writer Jim Hosking implants a common thread that all can appreciate, the bond between a father and son. As weird and twisted as that thread is, it’s one you may come to admire as the story unwinds and the Greasy Strangler becomes a paramount component of that relationship.
Between the outlandish messy deaths are some long lasting moments of hilarity that can go a long ways even if you arrive sober. “The Greasy Strangler” is a film for those who like to include at least one weird, strange, fun, demented, gross, silly movie a year into their cinema diet. I could see this one going the distance and becoming a cult classic.
Though “Greasy” may not have wide appeal, there is a certain magic that takes place in watching the quirkiness and demented story as it unfolds.
Score: 4 out of 5
Rating: NR
Genre: Horror
In Theaters: Oct 7, 2016 Limited
Runtime: 93 minutes
Studio: Rook Films, Drafthouse Films