All genres of suspense, terror, and horror will be reviewed by Richard Gary. His address to send preview copies supplied upon request to rbf55@msn.com.
This film has been a back burner
project of love for star, co-writer, and co-director Paul Chomicki for
literally decades. With the help of his buddies Christian Voss and Long Island
director Dave Campfield, his dream has become a reality.
Stories of fathers looking
for daughter who have become involved with serious situations is not new, including
Hardcore (1979) starring George C. Scott. But Chomicki updates it and
adds in ritualistic elements to up the ante. While Chomicki is mainly known for
off the wall comedies, such as the Caesar and Otto franchise, he sets down some
serious roots here.
Paul Chomicki
In the prologue, Alyanna Blackwater
(Katie Otten) escapes from a violent religious cult in Nevada (around Hay Spring)
called the Church of Ascension (aka Ascend), run by spooky “Father” Lucien Reed
(Avi K. Garg). Her disappearance is discussed over the radio newscasts throughout
the first act. You know this will be expository information for what is to
follow.
Meanwhile, Harry (Chomicki,
with his thick Long Island accent) is down on his luck. He is an unemployed alcoholic
who lives alone, and separated from his wife, Krista (Rae Hartwell). He is also
estranged from his daughter, Robin (Jama Bourne), though the division between
the two is not really examined here; she wants the connection, he does not.
When she vanishes, leaving a cryptic message on Harry’s phone, he sets out to
find her.
Katie Otten
Harry heads north towards
a First Nations/American Indian reservation (Cheyenne), where he believes her to
be held by the (white) cult, in a desolate part of the state (not surprising,
as Aboriginals were screwed out of their lands and placed in places that tended
to be nearly inhospitable, both in the US and Canada). But more about that
later.
There is a large, mixed
and overlapping bag of goodies here, from a religious cult (non-Satanic for once)
to human traffickers, to scavengers, and each one more dangerous than the
other. Add Harry searching for Robin and a revenge-fueled Alyanna, and you have
violence, mayhem, and a bit of a time clock as Harry needs insulin, and soon.
Also searching for Robin in a separate-but-equal storyline is Sherriff Ritter (co-director
Christian Voss).
Christian Voss
The landscape is stark,
and we see numerous (and beautiful) abandoned buildings and ruins among the windy plains to its desolate and disparate
foothills. Voss’s cinematography brings the area to life, to symbolize a form
of near death.
The social commentary is
deep and widespread through the story. It explores the dangers of cults and how
they prey on the lonely and scared/scarred, and how it is easy to fall victim.
But more central to the story is the long history of the plains (and of Western
Canada, as well) as far as the incredibly substantial number of Indigenous
women who go missing every year. There is an organization dedicated to this occurrence
called Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MIWW). It is of overwhelming numbers. Currently, I am watching a television program based
on a series of novels by Louise Penny called “Three Pines,” which centers around this topic.
There are some decent gore
effects, though it is happily limited, as this is more about the story than a
splatterfest. Most of the body effects are SFX, while there is some CGI used
sparingly, such as a rainstorm.
I have always known Chomicki
as a comedy actor in slapstick films, so it is good to see him get serious. While
his acting remains in a certain range, he shows that he can manage the drama as
well as the goofiness, when needed. The rest of the cast also does well,
including Dave Campfield, who literally phones it in (Zoom on a computer and by
cell phones), in a role that’s key to the story, however.
While recognizing this is
a life dream for Chomicki as lead actor (rather than co-lead), he has done
himself proud. The film is a good B thriller with bit of violence and a social
conscious. I like that.
Be sure to stick around
after the credits. Perhaps a sequel, with Disney nurse Scott Aguilar? I am hoping.
Caesar is pissed off, not at any single
thing or person specifically, he just always thinking – or let’s say believing – that life should be with him
at the center, and in control of it. His older half-brother, Otto, isn’t
necessarily running on all motors, but is fueled more on emotions than anything
else, and has a lot of loss and failures behind him. Together they spar, but
they are each other’s yin and yang. Their shared father, lothario Fred, is a huggable,
lovable rascal who doesn’t take crap from anyone, but can charm the wallet out
of your pocket and you’d be glad. The only thing he can’t control is his sons,
but he is joyfully along for the ride to see both how he can help keep some
peace in the family, and what he can get out of it.
Caesar and Otto can now be considered
part of a film franchise, with director and writer Dave Campfield at the helm.
He also plays the anal and the occasionally somewhat sexually ambiguous Caesar.
Otto is faced by the slovenly looking Paul Chomicki, who has a natural talent
for comedy timing. Both of these gents
grew up in the Commack/Kings Park area of Long Island, and have been friends
since teenhood. Joining the brothers is
real-life Disneyland Nurse Scott Aguilar, who has found a way to medicate his
acting bug through Caesar and Otto’s dad, Fred. Scott manages to occasionally
steal scenes with his natural charm (hey, he doesn’t work for the Magic Kingdom
fer nuthin’).
As I was saying, there have been a
series of these films, including shorts, such as Caesar and Otto in the House of Dracula (2009) and Caesar and Otto Meet Dracula’s Lawyer
(2010), to some features, including (but not all) Caesar and Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre (2009), Caesar and Otto’s Deadly Xmas (2012), and the most recent Caesar and Otto’s Paranormal Halloween
(2015). As the series progresses, we are getting to meet some other wonderful
recurring characters and actors, as well. The films are available through Wild
Eye Releasing and MVD Visual.
Over time, the three main characters
have evolved (unlike, say, the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers, who’s
wondrous personas pretty much remained the same throughout their runs), I
believe for the better. For that reason, along with the fact that their films
are quite funny while remaining in the genre, that I asked the three main
actors in this series some questions I was pondering. For honesty’s sake, I
asked Campfield for an interview, and he suggested I should include Chomicki
and Aguilar, and he was totally right.
Oh, and Campfield has directed (and
acted) in other films beyond the Caesar and Otto timeline, including a
hysterical one that is quite relevant now: a short called The Perfect Candidate (can be seen HERE).
Now, here are the humans behind the
cinematic Denovio clan.
Otto and Caesar
IndieHorrorFilms.BlogSpot (IHF): Let’s start off with some obvious questions and build. How did Dave and
Paul get to know each other, and then become friends? I’m assuming, in part,
it’s because you grew up 5 miles from each other in the Kings Park/Commack area
on Long Island. And how did Scott, who lives in California, come aboard?
Dave Campfield (Caesar): My older brother had a friend named Dan. He was the
filmmaking prodigy of the High School that I went to. Dan could take pots,
pans, and construction paper and build the cockpit of an airplane. His big
effort was a VHS camcorder feature length thriller named The Highest Fear, about a hijacking. One of the stars of that movie
was a twelfth grader named Paul Chomicki. I thought he was great and let him
know that during one lunch break. We became good friends. I was thirteen and
just starting to make my own movies on a camcorder. Paul became my go-to actor. Paul Chomicki (Otto): He was two grades below me. We lived about 10 minutes from each other.
We became friends as we were both into filmmaking and movies in general. Scott Aguilar (Fred): I'm in Southern California (born and raised a long, long time ago...).
There was a newspaper called Dramalogue.
It later changed to Backstage West and
Backstage East. Now it's just Backstage.
It's a newspaper that one can list casting notices. Dave put an ad in and I
sent him my photo and acting resume. I met him and Paul. He had a first draft
script for our original Caesar and Otto.
We've now made 4. It was a take-off on reality TV which was still pretty new.
That was 2005 [released in 2007 – RG].
IHF: Where did the concept of Caesar and Otto come from?
Dave: When
Paul lived near me, we’d get together a few days a week and work on sketches.
It was in that time that the characters of Caesar and Otto emerged in a short
movie we made. Eventually Paul moved to Los Angeles, and I, in time, had the
idea of expanding the characters into feature films. Paul: As Dave
[said], Caesar and Otto started as a little sketch we did on video. One big
difference though is I played Otto as Mentally Challenged. I then acted in a
play with Dave and he was kind of inspired by how I played my character, who
was a bit lazy and silly.
Caesar and Fred
IHF: Many seem to compare the series to Abbott and Costello or the Three
Stooges (I’m guilty of this, as well). Do you see this as a good thing or a
hindrance?
Dave: People
gravitate toward what they know, so it’s a good thing. I also happen to be a
fan of the above mentioned so I’m quite flattered by the comparison. I don’t
set out to copy them, as we’re our own distinct characters, but they were
certainly an inspiration. Scott: I think
any comparison to well-known comedy teams is an amazing complement. I've always
thought we were closer to the Marx Brothers. Paul: Yes, we
are kind of like the Three Stooges, especially with Scott Aguilar as our dad as
the third Stooge. Inspired for sure by the Odd Couple as well. I think of Caesar
and Otto like Ren and Stimpy, which I was a fan.
IHF: The characters have undergone some transformations since Caesar and Otto, the first film released in 2007. How would you describe them?
Paul: Dave's
character of Caesar is certainly more cartoonish in the earlier movies. Otto's
character hasn’t really changed too much. Dave: I used
to simply think the bigger the better in terms of performing Caesar. Paul
likewise felt so and would spur me on to be bigger! Louder! But at one point I realized I was annoying about 80 percent
of the audience and decided to dial it back some.
IHF: There are a lot of genre actors who appear in the films, such as Debbie
Rochon, Felissa Rose, Brinke Stevens, Andre Gower, Vern Wells and the late
Robert Z’Dar, to name just a very few. How do manage to wrangle such amazing
talent?
Dave: Largely
through Felissa Rose, who’s been in the producing department of these movies.
In the case of Linnea Quigley and Lloyd Kaufman, that was the work of Joe Randazzo
(producer as well).
Lloyd Kaufman as grandpa talking to kid Caesar
IHF: Lloyd Kaufman is known for being such a wild card; what was it like to
work with him [Caesar
and Otto’s Dead Xmas, as Caesar’s maternal
grandfather]?
Dave: Easy
going, fun and relaxed. I wish I had something juicy for you, but he was just a
normal guy as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. He also gave the cast and
crew lots of Troma posters and memorabilia, which was great. Paul: I never
met Lloyd Kaufman as we didn't have a scene together.
Dave Campfield, who plays Caesar (and directs the films)
IHF: While so many pictures that spoof major genre tropes, such as A Haunted House (2013) and most of the Scary Movie franchise seems to fall on its face (no matter how money much they
make, in my opinion), how is it that the Caesar and Otto films seem so much
more accurately biting, even though not bringing in the big bucks (although
ought to be) the same ways? Dave: Well,
thank you for that. Clearly those movies are made by people with major talent
but often it’s far from the artists’ best work. Though truth be told I did very
much enjoy the first Scary Movie[agreed; they do just keep getting worse, though
– RG]. In the case of Caesar and
Otto... I think what helps is that it’s really focused on the plot as a whole.
And the characters: Caesar, Otto, Jerry, Dad, aren’t spoofs of other characters
you see in horror. We have our own history, likes, dislikes... Cindy in Scary Movie [2000] is just an exaggerated
version of Sid in Scream [1996].
Whereas Caesar and Otto are their own people. You can get more involved with
their stories as such. As far as the style of comedy, I have my feelings about
the state of horror and I just let the screenplay reflect that. If I made it
for a big studio they’d probably tell me to keep it simple, and in turn, I’d
probably lose the satirical edge I hope these movies have. Scott: Between
you and I, I think it was lack of publicity and marketing. None of us were
involved in that. Dave oversaw it all. Paul: Caesar
and Otto has a much bigger audience out there. We need to find them any way we
can. We simply don't get the publicity of a major studio. IHF: Dave, how do you go about getting ideas for the gags? Do you see other
genre films and write notes about things most people don’t notice? Is it a solo
input, or do you have feedback from others, like Paul, other actors, the
producers, etc.? Dave: Paul and
many of the actors tend of offer their two cents on set. Pretty much the
writing process consists of me locking myself away from the world and
committing it to paper. Rich Calderon, however, who provides the practical
effects and Production Design, probably has the greatest input. He reads the
script, lets me know what can and can’t pull off for the budget, and offers
some great gag suggestions as well. For the writing on Paranormal, I broke out every haunted house movie I could get my
hands on and tried to find parallels in them all. There were plenty. Scott: Dave
usually has the major bits already in the script, but he's always open to
ideas. We would always shoot it his way first but always had a chance to try
other things.
Paul Chomicki, who plays Otto
IHF: Otto seems to be searching for a specific someone to make him happy, be
it a childhood sweetheart [Deadly Xmas] or his mother [Paranormal
Halloween], to no success. Comments?
Paul: Otto has
had a lot of people abandon him in his youth. He needs Caesar as Caesar needs
him. Dave: Otto’s
just a lost soul looking for love... So, you’re right. All though meeting his
mother certainly does make him a more complete person.
IHF: Gratuitous, tongue-in-cheeky question: there is always one topless scene
in every film. Is this a social commentary on genre films, or is there another
point, such as a sneaky way of getting to see someone topless?
Dave: Actually
Summer Camp Massacre didn’t showcase
any on screen nudity. I was asked to by its executive producer (then the
distributor) to include some nudity, and had a good gag lined up for it, but it
fell through. So, I plugged that same joke into Deadly Xmas. When Paranormal
came along, a collaborator said he knew an actress he thought would be great
for the stripper character and said she’s very comfortable with on screen
nudity. I just threw my hands up in the hair and said what the hell. In other
words, the only film I wanted to have nudity in didn’t, and the other two did.
Go figure. Scott: To be
honest I liked the way it was done in Summer
Camp because it made fun of the gratuitous T&A in other movies. He did
use a bit in Deadly Xmas, and the gag
was her boobs were pixelated. I don't think we really needed it in Paranormal Halloween. Same with
language. In the first movies we never used four-letter words and it worked as
a joke. That also changed. Paul: There is
nudity in the films because it's in my contract. I refuse to do a Caesar and
Otto movie without seeing boobs. In our [forthcoming] Spring Break movie there must be three pairs of tits or I walk. [The full title is planned be Caesar and
Otto’s Spring Break of the Living Dead – RG.]
IHF: I hope you don’t mean three pair on the same person… Speaking of which,
there is a lot of Troma in your films, including acting talent (such as Rochon
and Tiffany Shepis; and, of course, Kaufman). How much of an influence was the
Troma films on your childhood, and can you give an example or two of how it
changed your life (such as particular films, or scenes)?
Paul: I
personally was always a fan of Toxic
Avenger since my youth, so it was cool Lloyd got in one of our movies. Dave: Troma
was a later discovery in life. My love of comedy horror was forged by The Simpsons Treehouse of Terror
episodes and the Abbott and Costello comedy horror installments. But when I did
discover Troma, I found a voice that was completely unique and off the wall...
and it was my cup of tea (well, a lot of the times at least).
Scott Aguilar, who play Fred
IHF: Scott, you’ve done a lot of medical/nursing work on some major films.
Any anecdotes you’d like to share? And how did you make the transition to the
front of the camera? You seem very comfortable in the role of Fred.
Scott: You've
been peeking at my IMBD page, I see. Yes, I have a pretty mixed resume. I
started on stage as an actor in 1970. It wasn't until 1984 when I was studying
Theatre at the University of Southern California that I began directing stage
shows. At that time I also was introduced to a USC Film School student (Glenn
Burton) who was trying to write a stageplay and needed help. We collaborated
and I did do it as a stageplay at the University, but we decided it would be
better as a screenplay. We wrote it as a romantic comedy and started making
rounds in Hollywood trying to sell it. By 1988 we had written three more
romantic comedies. One of the professors at the film school liked our stuff and
got us a meeting with Henry Winkler (who had just opened a production company
at Paramount Studios [Fair Dinkum
Productions – RG]). [Winkler] liked our stuff and things were going to move
forward. The next morning the Writers Guild of America went on strike; we were
not union members. Our scripts were never seen again. I got into V work in
1983. I was on a research team at the USC School of Medicine, working on AIDS
(which was brand new). My boss assigned me to work with Jack Klugman and his
production team to work up a Quincy M.E.[television program, 1976-83 – RG]
script about AIDS. During that same time I was assigned to help a production
company called West 57th[a news-focused television program,
1985-1989 – RG] who had a new news magazine TV show. They were doing a
story on AIDS. That lasted about half a season. Anyway that how I first got
over being a theatre snob and found it was okay to do other things. I received
a random call from a guy at Termite Art Production Company [their programs include “Made in America,” 2003-present – RG].
Someone (and I never found out who) had given him my number because he was
looking for a medical advisor. They were a contractor for the newly formed
Discovery Channel. On more than one occasion an actor wouldn't show up for a
shoot and I would step in and be the doctor or whatever. They finally put me on
a show as a co-star when we did More Than
Human[2003-present – RG]. During
that time I was also acting in a lot of student shorts and independent films.
The problem with the consultant job was it wasn't steady. I still needed a day
job.
IHF: The two main actors of Caesar and Otto are from New York, and yet it is
filmed in LA. Why is that, and will that change over time?
Dave: We’ve
shot some shorts in NY together. So, ya never know. Paul: Our
shorts are shot in NY and features here [in LA] pretty much. Easier to get our
horror movie cameos being shot in LA. Scott: Pretty
much only Dave and JoJo [Josephine Iannece,
who was in Paranormal Halloween, and
is Dave’s significant other], are in NY anymore. Everyone else, including
Paul, live out here in SoCal.
Avi Garp, who gives the film a hand (or two).
IHF: What’s with Avi Garp’s character and the limb removal-and-replacing
cha-cha?
Dave: I really
enjoyed how Avi played the scenes of his limbs getting pulled off in Summer Camp; so much that I decided to
make it a reoccurring gag. Scott: That
was a one-time gag in Summer Camp
that got so many laughs it had to come back.
IHF: I really enjoy the “Ask Caesar and Otto Anything” series on YouTube [Example
HERE].
It reminds me of the 2000
Year Old Man recordings. What are some of
your favorite questions?
Dave: Let me
avoid this question as there are so many I literally can’t remember them well
enough. We had about 30 questions in the last edition alone. Paul: I like the
“Ask Caesar and Otto Anything” shorts because the questions are from real fans
and not made up by us.
IHF: I understand that the next film you will be working on, Dave, is a more
serious one (check out his acting reel HERE).
Yet at the end of Paranormal
Halloween there is a hint of Caesar
and Otto’s Spring Break of the Living Dead.
Is this really an idea (I’m hoping), or just a continuation of putting a “coming
next” at the end of every Caesar and Otto film?
Dave: I’d like
to make it, but at the moment I need to make a movie that’s very person to me (ironically,
it’s a horror movie). Scott: I was
talking about a Caesar and Otto Spring
Break Alien Abduction, but I think Dave wants to do a zombie one instead.
IHF: I’ve always told new filmmakers / photographers / writers / musicians
the same two things when asking how to start: first, volunteer to work on other
people’s films to learn what to do and what not to do, and to follow Lemmy’s
advice to a singer I know (Dava She Wolf) who wanted to learn guitar, which is
ask everyone in the field to teach one thing. The second piece of advice I have
is to just do it, and learn as you go (or do both pieces). What advice do you have to get into the field?
Dave: If
you’re willing to spend most of your life being financially destitute, just do
it. I’ve been at this for years, glad to have met so many wonderful people
along the way, but it’s not for the faint of heart. If it means as much to you
as it does for me, just do whatever you can. Find your own unique voice, and
get involved with as much as you can. And don’t lead with your ego. Even when
you don’t like a colleague’s movie, don’t go badmouth them behind their back.
It makes you appear petty and vindictive. We’re all artists, and we’re all in
it together. Paul: Working
on other people’s films is a good way to learn. Experimentation is key to
figure out your own style.
IHF: Anything you’d like to add, such as what you always wanted say to people
asking questions and never got the chance?
Scott:Don't know if it's interesting, but I studied
Theatre at USC and Cal State Los Angeles. But with all the TV and film work I
was doing I went to Columbia College/Hollywood after I came back from operation
Desert Storm and finished my degree in motion picture production. Dave: I'm all out of anecdotes! Paul: I love
and appreciate our fans. It makes my day to get a good review or a compliment
on the movies. Stick with us folks! We love
you!
This is not your father’s Caesar and Otto.
Let me ‘splain.
The Caesar and Otto franchise is like the Abbott and Costello collection (and I certainly
am not the first to make that comparison) in that they are a series of films
about the same two characters; here, they are half-brothers who share a dad, and
have a deeply conflicted love-like-hate relationship.
Caesar (Dave Campfield) and Otto (Paul Chomicki)
In previous films, Caesar and Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre (2009) or Caesar and Otto’s Deadly Xmas (2012), Caesar
Denovio (Dave Campfield) was pretty unlikeable, kind of like Stinky Davis (a
pre-Three Stooges Joe Besser) character from the “The Abbot and Costello Show” (1952). The character also had a weird,
halting, annoying voice. Well, here’s the change: Caesar has matured – a bit –
and some of what made him so criticized has been taken away. He’s not as one-dimensional
and shallow, he’s not as mysteriously girlish (despite the opening sequence),
and he’s definitely not as mean. Don’t get me wrong, Caesar’s not a guy you
necessarily want to hang out with, but Campfield has done a spectacular job
revisioning him as a fuller, more realistic character, and occasionally
likeable, which makes it easier to identify with him without taking away what makes
Caesar Caesar. Oh, and that voice is mostly gone. From the commentary, that
also works well with/for Campfield.
Less is changed about Otto Denovio’s (Pau
Chomicki) slovenly demeanor, but he is also softened a bit. He was always
likeable, but here he becomes more of a big, smelly (wash that orange shirt
already!) teddy bear, still looking for love, or for this film, his long-lost,
thought-to-be-dead mommy (Beverly Randolph, one of the leads in 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead). One
thing that hasn’t changed I’m happy to say is that Otto’s voice, or rather his Lon’Gyland (aka Long Island) accent, is
still front and center.
With many horror comedy films, you can view
this as just plain silly, but if you are wise to the ways of indie spoof horror,
you will recognize just how smart a film it actually is; definitely the
strongest of the series to-date. I may be giving away too much too early, but I
enjoyed all of this film.
One of the smartest things about the premise,
which I’ll get to shortly, is that Campfield breaks down the fourth wall to
make many meta comments, such as the fact that in most of the Paranormal Activity franchise, nothing happens, until the very end, the
rest being dull. But the meta part is the indication that like reality
television, the found footage subgenre
is actually a sneaky way to make inexpensive films with little crew (e.g., no
camera people because it’s either the actors who are doing the shooting, or the
cameras are just mounted on walls), yet tend to bring in decent bucks.
Another
finger to the side of the nose is the in-jokes that follow through all of the
CandO films, such as Avi K. Garg’s Police Chief character getting seriously
hurt but being okay, and losing limbs that are just resewn on again and agan
(his “Oh, come on!” line reading is
hysterical; oh,
and shhh, check out the Easter Egg commentary by him). Additionally,
there is the main villain, the nearly Satanic Jerry (Ken MacFarlane) and his
minion, Roberta (Samantha Barrios), who return from previous CandO excursions.
Also, CandO themselves have some shticks they repeat, such as jumping out of a
moving car when mad (it’s a humorous bit).
JamieLee Ackerman
The
plot is, well, bizarrely fun and a bit all over the place, as is almost always
true in spoof comedies because there is so many references (more on that
later). Our hapless bros and their scene-stealing father, Fred (Scott Aguilar)
take a job housesitting for Jerry’s mysterious mansion for the season, where
lots of weird and Ooo-WEE-oo (hear
that as played by a Theremin) paranormal
activity seems to be happening. There are also two servants, one a lovely
lass gardener named Gilda (Josephine Iannece, aka JoJo, aka Campfield’s
real-life girlfriend), and the other a quiet and kind of scary chef, Kyla
(JamieLee Ackerman, posessing a lovely Irish lilt), who always seems to be
carrying something sharp. Next door to the abode are a couple of high IQ’d retired
Playboy bunnies, Jamie (Troma queen Tiffany Shepis) and Judy (Stef Barkley).
Like
most of the CandO franchise, it always feels like it’s a mix of horror and a
kind of twisted 1930’s farce in that the action and the dialog happen really fast (thus I recommend more than a
single viewing since I had noticed things all the times I watched it). It’s
important to pay attention, because things come
and go so quickly around here. This is true of the especially subtle bits,
such as someone getting slapped and the sound is off-sync’d, or words and hints
that are written in the background with magnetic letters.
Some
of the references are pretty obvious (Halloween
[a mix of 1978 and 2007], Paranormal
Activity [2007], The Shining [1980],
etc.), but picking out some of the hopelessly obscure ones are also fun. For
example, and I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, the half-circle openings
on the porch reflect nicely on the “eyes” of the house in The Amityville Horror (1979), also referenced within the story. Adding
a clip from the Campfield short Piggyzilla
may also reference the pig seen in the window of the original Amityville. Perhaps I am overreaching?
Brinke Stevens and Brinke Stevens (check your pants)
Every
opportunity is taken to inject some humor with a nod and a wink, such as some
title cards; for example a church called Our Lady of Low Production Values.
Most of the dialog is filled with nuggets: Jerry mentions that previous
caretakers at his house went crazy from isolation (sound familiar?), but when
we see the house, it’s just on a suburban street. Or there is a brief
commercial for stronger deadbolt locks, reflecting on an earlier, funny gag.
Another throwaway bit, again about previous housesitters, is mentioning “that
guy who resembled James Brolin and tried to kill his whole family, and then
married Yentl.” Then, as the Fred tells Otto, “…Your mother died a couple of
years before you were born.” Did I mention that two grave diggers are named
Lenny and George (no mention of rabbits, though)?
There
is also a very sly bit with an exorcist priest named Fr. Jason Steiger, named
after two horror priest actors, Jason Miller (d. 2001) of 1973’s The Exorcist and Rod Steiger (d. 2002) of
The Amityville Horror (joyfully
played by CandO regular Deron Miller), where he’s turn over to the “Vatican
Police” by a fellow priest named Jude (John Thomassen) for $30. These lines are
spoken so fast, it’s easy to miss some of these gems. And if you think I have
said too much, I have barely put my paddle to the water.
Maximo "Frank" Sorrentino and Felissa Rose
An additional gem is the maaaaaany cameos
that show up frequently. To name drop just a few, there is the ever lovin’
Debbie Rochon (too many great films to credit just one), Andre Gower (lead kid
in The Monster Squad [1987]), Sean
Whalen (Twister [1996]), Vern Wells
(the main mohawked villain of Mad Max 2:
The Road Warrior [1981]), Brinke Stevens who is one of foremost scream
queens of the modern VHS-and-beyond era (as a twin wallet-stealing ghost;
again, too many credits to pick), and Paul Guay (creator and co-writer of 1987’s
Liar, Liar). In a really nice and
thoughtful placement as a media-minded married couple who deal with psychic interactions,
are Maximo “Frank” Sorrentino (of the TV show “The Sorrentinos,” and brother of
“Jersey Shore’s” “The Situation” Sorrentino) and Felissa Rose (actor / producer of indie films).
Why is this so exquisite? Because they were both together in the early slasher
classic Sleepaway Camp (1983); Rose
was the lead.
There is some well-done gore (e.g., head
smashed under a car wheel) as well as some cheesy stuff (a mannequin head, for
example, in a fantasy sequence). For nudity, as is consistent with a CandO film,
there is a single acknowledgedly gratuitous topless generic scene (in Deadly Xmas, it was in a shower, here it’s
at a strip club). Doesn’t matter, it’s the story that still keeps you in your
seat.
Now, let’s talk about some of the extras on
this loaded disk. First, there is an interesting commentary with Campfield, Iannece and Ackerman.
A second commentary has a number of cast and crew, including Chomicki and Aguilar;
it gets a bit hectic telling who’s who, and there is some talking over each
other, but there’s lots of good info, as well. The viewer also gets a short
Blooper Reel, a Facebook promo video with Campfield and Ackerman, a really nice
tribute to the late cult actor Robert Z’Dar (d. 2015), a 50+-minute on-set audio
podcast interview with Campfield and cast members (including Rochon), and the
complete “Son of Piggyzilla Trilogy (commentary available), which lasts 6
minutes. Of course, this being a part of Wild Eye Releasing, there are a number
of cool trailers, some of which I’ve had the pleasure to review.
For everything I whined like a little bitch
about the last film, that’s how much I liked this one. It is a really good
laugh, a well-researched film, and an attention keeper – especially for those
genre geeks – from the first second to the last. There have been plenty of horror
spoofs, such as the Scary Movie
franchise, A Haunted House (2013; the
sequel was in 2014) and Vampire’s Suck (2010),
with the exception of the first Scary
Movie (2000), they all fall to the wayside in comparison.
So make sure you stick around for the final
credits, as always with a CandO film, and I’m looking forward to the reported
next film in the franchise, Caesar and Otto’s Spring Break of the Living Dead.
This film has been compared to the
Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, but it really is a bit closer to the Dumb and Dumber franchise. Not a
judgment call, I’m just sayin’.
Caesar DeNovio (director David
Campfield) and his half-brother Otto (Paul Chomicki) live together in a squalid
apartment, the former wanting to be an actor in the worst way (which he is),
and latter is, well, a slovenly man who always has a 2-day beard stubble (and
not in the Miami Vice kind of way). Between
the two of them, their IQs are probably double digits. Mind you, I grew up in
Bensonhurst, so I’m familiar with the type.
It seems that Caesar has an obsessive
fear of Mr. Coca-Cola….I mean Santa. His grandpa (played by Troma kingpin Lloyd
Kaufman) played some mind games with him when he was just a tyke, and he’s been
terrorized since. Of course, he gets hired to play the man in the red suit.
What to do, what to do… And now there’s a disgruntled Santa (Deron Miller), whose
name is Damien, of course, who is out to kill Santas, and has his sights on
you-know-who. This all involves an evil company named Xmas, so naturally, this
is a [fill in name of this film].
Yes, there are lots of Christmas themed
horror films since the likes of 1946’s It’s
a Wonderful Life (yeah, it’s a horror: a ghost scares a man into believing
he’s never being born, including his young brother drowning), but an evil Santa
with an ax seems to be a key plot turn. Also like Abbott and Costello, this is
part of a series of both features and shorts with the same characters. This
film is the only part of the collection I’ve seen other than the trailers, so I
will stick with this one.
Caesar (David Campfield) and Otto (Paul Chomicki)
This is similar to many two-man buddy
pix over the years, actually. Caesar is thin like Norton, Abbott and Laurel,
and Otto is a large man, like Kramden, Costello and Hardy. Otto is childlike
and dumb, like Norton, Costello and Laurel, and Caesar is a self-imposed leader
who not as smart as he actually thinks he is, like Kramden, Costello and Hardy.
Caesar is fey like Costello, Laurel and one could argue, like Norton. You see,
they’re sort of playing against types, where the small one is the obnoxious
one, and the heavy one is the goof. Saying that, you could also say that Caesar
is similar to Lewis (could almost be his son…or perhaps Eddie Deezen), though
Otto is nowhere like Martin.
The one flaw with this film, or should
I say the characters, is that even though Caesar resembles all these bullies,
the others are still lovable. Caesar is shrill and uncompromising. The others
had a heart under their gruffness, but not as much Caesar. Otto is definitely a
more loveable-yet-unrequited guy, yet he’s so ultra-Oscar Madison in the unkempt
department, that he doesn’t necessarily seem like someone you’d want to hang
with. Hopefully, as time goes on, this will evolve. Even Bugs Bunny was obnoxious
in some of his earlier films (“Ain’t I a stinker?”), before being whitewashed
in the late ‘50s.
One of the joys about this film is the
myriad of cameos that run throughout. I’ve already mentioned Kaufman, and then
there’s Linnea Quigley as an agent to gets to revive an infamous scene in one
of her earliest films, Brinke Stevens reprises a role from an earlier Caesar
and Otto release, Joe Estevez makes a hysterical appearance as himself, sorta, the
amazing Debbie Rochon shows up for a quick comic turn as a clueless emergency
operator, and even Felissa Rose, the main character of 1983’s Sleepaway Camp, has a bewigged and
unrecognizable romp. Oh, and Robert Z’Dar appears (uncredited) during the funny
end credits (stick around for ‘em).
Another reason to watch is the sheer
volume of references to other films in the genre. While I consider myself a
horror maven, I admit that I lean more towards the monster / alien /
supernatural area than the slasher, so I am grateful for director Campfield’s
commentary, where he points many of them out. I recognized all the films he
mentioned, though I haven’t seen many of them since the ‘80s.
This is a comedy of the most base,
child-like, gross, pandering type, but in the context of the film, most of it
works, and I laughed through the film. Some of it is Adam Sandler level, but in
this case it is funny (don’t think I ever even cracked a smile on a Sandler
disaster). There’s a lot of low-budget self-references which are hysterical,
such as the use of incredibly obvious blue-screen, which makes some of the
comments made all the funnier. The blood and violence is cartoonish, making it
somewhat palpable, such as a guy who keeps having his arms cut off and
surgically reattached (similar to a character he played in an earlier film). Then
Caesar is always beating up Otto (to the point of annoyance), surely a
reference (homage?) to the Three Stooges, whose shorts are also a good
indicator of the humor. The female lead, Summer Furguson, looks realistic, like
she could have come from next door, which is always refreshing. Don’t get me
wrong, there are some incredibly beautiful women here¸ too, and even a
requisite topless shot for a second.
An amusingly confusing thing is that
while the film takes place in Bakersfield, California (I’m sure there’s a joke
in that alone, that I am missing), including flashbacks to childhood, many of
the characters have (purposeful) Long Island accents. Another of the many bizarre
choices Campfield makes that gives this a unique edge while borrowing from so
much.
Lots
of cool extras come with the DVD, including all the Caesar and Otto trailers
and some from Wild Eye Releasing, which have been reviewed here. There are also
a Behind the Scenes Featurette, some alternative takes, and a couple of short films:
“Otto’s First Job” and “Pigzilla.” Included as well is an excellent short
called “The Perfect Candidate,” where Joe Estevez (again, playing a version of
himself) is picked by a cabal to run for president (since his brother played
one). Again D’zar shows up, this time credited. It really is quite funny. There
are two commentaries just for this short.
For
the main feature, there are three – count ‘em, three – commentaries. I listened
to the first one with Campfield, but I honestly just did not have time to watch
the other two, one with the producer, and the other with the cast. While I
enjoyed the film, it’s rare that any
film deserves this much of a time commitment. Perhaps at some time I will be
able to get to them.
At
the end of the film, they announce the next one, Caesar and Otto’s Paranormal Halloween (though it's not even listed on IMDB yet). I’m looking forward to it. So,
if you get the chance, check out the Websites listed above because you really don’t
even need to wait until next holiday season to enjoy it. And remember, when you
order it, to keep the X in Xmas.
