“You don’t call a man a tree.”
What’s it all about? There is a man raping, maiming and murdering fathers. Three recently fatherless men are determined to stop him — Ahab, a patch-wearing vigilante with a maple syrup obsession; Twink, a rent boy and friend of Ahab’s stripper sister; and Father John Sullivan, a young priest with faltering faith.
From Astron 6 and Troma comes FATHER’S DAY, a grindhouse film that tries to pack in as much fun as it can into its 100 minute run-time — murder, rape, cannibalism, prostitution, strippers, eye patches, vendettas, priests, sodomy, chainsaws, hallucinogenic drugs, cross-dressing, heaven, hell and STAR WARS references. You know, fun for the whole family.
FATHER’S DAY starts with more ultraviolence than I care for, and I’m not that squeamish, really. There’s only so much rape/mutilation/murder that one can take before having to look away from the screen, especially when everything is shown as frankly and with gruesome detail as it is in FATHER’S DAY. Thankfully, the father-killing section of the film ends after about thirty minutes, at which point FATHER’S DAY forgets its title and stumbles into a mash-up of a buddy comedy, road trip and vendetta film. It’s here where Astron 6 and Troma hit their stride. Whenever I review a film, I make sure to write down a stand-out quote. While watching FATHER’S DAY, I wrote down numerous bits of dialogue. The film is overflowing with ridiculously funny one-liners derived from its equally ridiculous circumstances.
Lloyd Kauffman, Troma– Please keep the STAR RAIDERS trailer in the film. The “Woman” joke got the biggest laugh of the night.
Favourite scene: Ahab and Twink dress up as women to get by the cops. Ahab actually puts a picture of an eye on top of his eye-patch. It’s pretty remarkable. Also, Ahab saying, “Sorry. I’m tapping this tree for syrup” after throwing an axe at Father John Sullivan’s head (who was in the way of the tree). Oh, and Father John Sullivan’s sermon. Or maybe that random shot of the grizzly bear? I really cannot choose.
Toronto After Dark Film Festival runs from October 20-27, featuring gala parties, nightly pub social events, Q&A’s with filmmakers and a zombie appreciation night with reduced tickets for the undead. For complete festival and film info including trailers and advanced tickets, visit www.torontoafterdark.com.
Notes: Directed by Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney; Written by Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney, Steven Kostanski; Written by Adam Brooks, Mackenzie Murdock, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney.
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Where’s God? Huh? Is he under here?!
“Let’s tear this place apart!!!!” Awkward pause. Sits down.