Poor John Gulager, this man has had a tough ride on the way to his feature debut. For those who don’t already know, Feast was the third feature produced as part of the Project Greenlight series, in which contestants from across the world are given the chance to have their own feature film produced. While the first two films have been coming of age independent-driven films, Summer Catch and The Battle of Shaker Heights, Feast is an extreme departure from that mold.
Executive Produced by Wes Craven, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Feast is a monster movie of the most extreme variety. Written by fellow contest winners Patrick Melton and Marcus Dustan, Feast draws on everything from Alien to Evil Dead to create a very self-aware, occasionally humorous and often bloody take on modern horror.
The result is a pretty mixed bag. Gulager’s direction is strong, creatively shot and rarely dull. Unfortunately, no matter how talented Gulager may be, he is saddled by a pretty generic horror script. These are comments even Greenlight judges made about the script when it was initially chosen.
Some of the acting is rough. Gulager may want to stray away from casting his whole family next time around. Many of the jump scares are overdone, and the disgust-variety horror gets old fast. For fans of the genre, it’s certainly better than a lot of the studio-produced dreck (Grudge 2, Hills Have Eyes, anyone?) but that doesn’t make it great by any means. It’s passable entertainment, good for some laughs, a few jolts and likely aided by a good crowd and a dose of inebriation.
ReelzChannel.com Score: 6
What’s on the Disc
A decent package of extras highlights this “Unrated” Edition.
First is a feature-commentary with Gulager, Producers, Writers and the Effects Designer. This is a pretty straightforward commentary, considering the nature of the project, but there are still some interesting tidbits that offer insight into this unique process. The opening sequence, for example, wasn’t budgeted by the studio, so Gulager simply gathered a small crew and shot it on his own.
“Blood on the Cutting Room Floor” is a collection of five deleted scenes that will offer those who didn’t get enough gore from the feature film just that much more.
“Horror Under the Spotlight: Making Feast” is a making-of doc that goes behind the scenes of the films making. Much of this will probably feel like a retread for fans of Greenlight.
“The Blood and Guts of Gary Tunnicliffe” is a doc on the very gory and grotesque make-up by horror make-up extraordinaire Gary Turnicliffe.