Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018
Images from the Internet
Code Name: Dynastud
Directed and edited by Richard Griffin
Scorpio Film Releasing / Reasonable Moving Picture Company Productions
95 minutes, 2018
www.facebook.com/dynastud/
While our
titular alien-induced super-powered character of Dynastud (Gaudette) is
introduced through a near perfect James Bond-ish opening and credits that had
me in stitches, the story proper seems to revolve more around the pure of heart
and noble Bart (Derek Laurendeau), who finds himself in a pickle when forced to
marry Patty (Candace Sampson, the only female main character who ironically steals
some scenes away from the dudes) by her father, the murderous and gay-hating
Senator Hightower (played with glee by Bruce Church, who looks like he’s having
a blast in the role).
Also worth
mentioning are two secondary characters who are sort of the Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern of the story, Vargas (Aaron Andrade) and Sam (Dan Mauro), two
police officers resurrected from Griffin’s earlier Seven Dorms of Death, who are ordered to find our intrepid heroes
Bart and Dynastud. What they find instead are cameos by Griffin regulars and
some revelations that of course I will not divulge. I may have said too much
already…
Griffin
being Griffin, he also hysterically has the whole film overdubbed like those kung
fu flicks in ways that are both obvious – such as Vargas’ British lilt and two
that I particularly liked, “drag queen” Lee Van Queef (Jordan Pacheco) and a
Canadian hostess (Samantha Acampora); others less noticeable.
While not as over-the-top as Seven Dorms of Death (a fave of mine), this is a film that is silly, but far from stoopid [sic]. The cannon fire over the bow is both subtle and not as much so (such as Li’s fight with the Mecha-Trump robot that looks like it came out of a 1940s serial like The Monster and the Ape).
Images from the Internet
Code Name: Dynastud
Directed and edited by Richard Griffin
Scorpio Film Releasing / Reasonable Moving Picture Company Productions
95 minutes, 2018
www.facebook.com/dynastud/
First, as
a disclaimer, I feel compelled to state that I watch this film as a straight
man but who is an ally. Working across the street from the Stonewall in my
youth opened my eyes to a lot of unintentional internal prejudices I didn’t
realize I had, and have worked on since. Anyway, here we go.
If I may
be so presumptuous, there seems to be three great arches in director Richard
Griffin’s filmmaking career. The first was the early learning curve where he
got his feet wet, with releases such as Raving
Maniacs and Seepage! (aka Creature From the Hillbilly Lagoon; both
2005). The second arch began around the time of Beyond the Dunwich Horror and Nun
of That (both 2008), where Griffin developed into a solid and prolific
director that specialized mostly in making films that reflected / honored a
bunch of different styles (giallo, ‘80s
Eurotrash, Christian films, etc.), most of which were comedies, but mixed in
were some amazing serious ones as well (such as Exhumed in 2011 and Normal
in 2013). During this period he came to the attention and gained the respect of
numerous film critics and bloggers such as myself. It was here that he
developed a loose group of regular actors that helped support his output.
Recently,
Richard began his third (so far) arch starting with Strapped for Danger (2017), which is catering to gay, raunchy comedies.
Again, this is supported by some new
regulars, such as Anthony Gaudette and Michael Varrati (also an amazing screenwriter).
Honestly, even before watching this sci-fi tinged “gay romp” (as Mel Brooks may
have put it), I have been looking forward to giving it a viewing. Pressing
start now…
Since
Ronald Reagan first let in the Religious Right to the political arena, there has
been an increasing amount of “Bible over Constitution” on the GOP side. And in
a post-Trump presidency world of 2024 when this film takes place, that
religious power madness has reached its pinnacle, outlawing homosexuality. At
the present time, this hardly seems like a far-fetched idea when considering
our closeted Vice President and at least one Senator Graham Cracker (both allegedly).
Derek Lauendeau, Anthony Gaudette, Mark Garner |
That being
said, there are, again, three arcs to this story: in no particular order there
is the Bart and Patty conundrum, a buddy travel theme (think Trains, Planes and Automobiles), and an
overlapping grand quest (such as the Lord
of the Rings trilogy). At this point, I am not including the underlying
political messaging throughout, which I will get to later.
Candace Sampson |
There are
a lot of subtle nuances throughout the film, such as quotes from the notoriously
camp Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and
The Blues Brothers (1978) – and I’m
supposing there are also some I missed.
Of course,
there is full frontal male shots (though less than I expected; I seem to
remember more in Griffin’s last film, Strapped
For Danger) and a lot of sex, focused natch on M-M. One scene recognizes
the female side of the equation, though more in a stereotypical but hopefully
non-offensive way (plaid shirts, ultra-Liberal, etc.). The same stereotyping
could be said about Canada and especially Canadians in later scenes, that is
non-offensive and, honestly, really funny, eh?
Bruce Church |
At a time
like the present where NAFTA is scrapped in favor of a tariff war by the
government, it seems appropriate to have a whole Canadian/maple syrup sub-plot –
okay, perhaps it doesn’t make sense, but it works in the story – as the last
act of the film is bat-shit WTF sci-fi as we are introduced to the kung fu
master Bruce Li (Mark Andrew Garner) to kinda tie everything together and
perhaps lead to a film sequel.
While not as over-the-top as Seven Dorms of Death (a fave of mine), this is a film that is silly, but far from stoopid [sic]. The cannon fire over the bow is both subtle and not as much so (such as Li’s fight with the Mecha-Trump robot that looks like it came out of a 1940s serial like The Monster and the Ape).
More than
a hypocritical “War on Christmas” (which doesn’t exist except as a distraction,
of course), there truly is a War on LGBTQ(etc.) Rights, and this film pushes that
button. I’m a firm believer that one can get more notice using humor than fear,
and Griffin raises a rally cry that there truly is danger afoot with an ultra-“religious”
(most would say Christian, but I find it to be true across all the ultra-orthodox
of beliefs) base. Griffin switches from “a nod’s as good as a wink to a blind
bat” subtle to a sledgehammer to bring his points around, and they all work
into the story, mostly without being preachy (pun intended).
Meanwhile,
be sure to watch beyond the credits, and pay attention to the Justin Trudeau life-sized
cut-out in the background. Gay or straight, as an audience member, there is a
lot to see, a lot to think about, and most importantly, plenty of good laughs.
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