2008 (USA)
Contains
spoilers.
Trailer Park of
Terror, written by Timothy Dolan and based on the comic series of the same name
is a film of two halves.
The first half
concerns the ill fated Norma (Nichole Hilt) and the residents of a small
isolated trailer park in the deep south. Here, ostracised and removed from main
stream society they live in deprivation and squalor and survive day to day by
doing what they must, which for Norma means selling her body like her mum did
before her. Seeing a possible way out, she is about to go out on a date with a
genuinely nice guy from outside the park when jealous and painfully aware of
their own inadequacies, a group of her redneck neighbours take it upon
themselves to cause a bit of trouble accidently impaling the guy on a metal
fence. Raging with grief Norma storms away and encounters who we presume to be
the devil, who offers her a means of retribution. Returning to the park she
releases a lifetime of pent up emotion and anger through the barrel of a gun
but resigns herself to an eternity of damnation.
The scenes
proceeding the massacre are emotional, full of intensity and deeply disturbing.
Director Steven Goldmann whose previous work was all Country music videos
perfectly captures the sense of resignation felt by the people of the trailer
park. Each character is deeply flawed and has depth and a story. They feel raw,
authentic and full of self-loathing and bitterness.
Cut to the modern
day. It's been a couple of decades since the massacre and a group of six
wayward teenagers returning home from a week long mountain retreat with Pastor
Lewis (Matthew Del Negro) find themselves off the main roads. Colliding with a
broken down truck in the middle of the night and in the torrential rain they
see the lights of trailer park and knock on Norma's door seeking help. Offering
them refuge until morning she settles them into the now empty trailers and then
starts on the Pastor successfully enticing him to her bed. During their tryst
the man of god starts to realise something is seriously wrong when part of
Norma's face collapses and unable to continue, angers her to the point where
she pulls off his head; this is when we realise, forty minutes or so in, that
the sociological biopic we've been watching is about to take a rather dark new
direction.
The deal struck with
the devil has turned Norma and the denizens of the park into festering zombies
of the night hungry for human flesh. Over the years they've appeared from time
to time to prey on lone truckers and the arrival of the Pastor and his troupe
this night has got them particularly excited and riled up. The zombies are
exaggerated parodies of their former selves, they're still coherent and they
still possess the same quirks and dreams they had when they were alive but
they're still stuck in their own proverbial ruts; it's the curse of the trailer
park, and the theme throughout of being unable to escape whether alive or dead.
Other than now being gruesome ghouls nothing has really changed for these
people at the fringe of society.
There's no infection
or virus, no pandemic or apocalypse, what we have is straightforward demonic
reanimation. Having sold her soul Norma has condemned herself and the citizens
of the park to an eternal life of preying on lost souls. There's no indication
they can be killed, no talk of head trauma putting them to eternal rest and no
signs that this is a curse that can be broken. They're malevolent, dark and
evil but the way they're portrayed is also still comical especially the redneck
duo Merv (RoachLew Temple) and Roach (Myk Watford), an ex-army vet drug addled red
neck guitar player who struts and sings from the top of his trailer
accompanying all the carnage below with heavy rock country.
As the true horror
of what the kids have stumbled into becomes apparent and the zombies make
themselves known the film soon turns into full parody mode with exaggerated
dialogue, sadistic crude horror, gore and some ridiculously over the top
scenes. It's really quite at odds with the serious tone of everything that
leads up to it and I'm really not sure what I think about it all. I mean, for
the most part the whole thing still works, the background story is beautifully
and authentically told, the characters are all built up and the scene is set
for a dramatic finale, the over top comedy and parody of the second half
doesn't disappoint with shocks, scares and many memorable scenes; it's just I'm
not sure how well it all meshes together. If I'm honest I think I'd have
preferred either for it to maintain its levels of maturity and introspection
through to the end, or push the fun and parody a little harder while it set the
opening scenes. All this being said though, it does kind of all still work.
Trailer Park of
Terror is a fun wacky film full of great effects and memorable moments. It's
sumptuously directed and styled with some of the best special effects and make
up I've seen. It has a thumping good soundtrack, great characters and acting
and for a limited budget I can only raise my hat. I can't help but think though
there's a missed opportunity somewhere; there's something not quite right and
for all I enjoyed the exaggerated mayhem of the last thirty minutes I couldn't
help but question how and why it decided to go quite so mad and ridiculous.
Quite the ride and recommended, 7/10.
Steven@WTD.
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