DVD Review: Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! (2006)

EASTER BUNNY, KILL! KILL! (2006)


STUDIO: Vicious Cirlce Films
RATING: Not Rated
REGION: 1
GENRE:  Slasher, Dark Comedy, Holiday Horror
RUN TIME: 90 Min.
DIRECTOR: Chad Ferrin
CAST: Timothy Muskatell (Remington), Charlotee Marie (Mindy), Ricardo Grey (Nicholas), David Z. Stamp (Ray Mann), Trant Haaga (Bum/Donald)
TAGLINE: This Year There Will Be No Resurrection


PLOT: From Chad Ferrin, the acclaimed director of the cult hit Someone's Knocking At The Door, comes this twisted and frightening low-budget shocker, a stylish and totally original confection where gore, violence, suspense and humor all intersect for a creepy and shocking good time. It's Easter, sixteen-year-old Nicholas' favorite holiday. When the mentally and physically disabled youth's mother, Mindy, begins a relationship with a psycho killer, bizarre events begin to unfold - especially  after Nicholas takes a seemingly normal rabbit into the house. But when home intruders, prostitutes and street trash are murdered in bizarre gruesome ways, just who is the bunny-masked killer committing these horrendous crimes?


FILM: Every holiday and cause for celebration seems to have it's own series of slasher films, Christmas has BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984), Halloween of course gets HALLOWEEN (1978) and TRICK R TREAT (2007), THANKSKILLING (2009), MOTHER'S DAY (1980), APRIL FOOLS DAY (1986), MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981), HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) and so on, there's a ton. The awesomely titled EASTER BUNNY, KILL! KILL! gives us one more reason to celebrate the resurrection of the saviour. The film is directed by Chad Ferrin (SOMEONE'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR) and this is the first time I've viewed one of his films. I've since seen THE GHOULS (2003) and that is also a fun watch.

The film begins as lowlife drug abuser Remington  (Timothy Muskatell) is knocking over a convenience store at gunpoint on Easter's eve, he's also wearing a bunny mask. The teller hands over the cash and begs for his life but being the sick fuck that he is Remington sticks the gun in the clerk's mouth and blows his brains out all over the counter. He then casually grabs a chocolate Easter bunny and a bottle of cheap champagne and heads off to the girlfriends house. When Remington arrives at his girlfriend Mindy's (Charlotee Marie) door he discovers that she has a 15 year-old son Nicholas with special needs. Remington is none too pleased by this revelation but he plays nice with Nicholas while Mindy's around but as soon as she leaves the room he torments the kid to no end. It's despicably delicious the way he turns from sweet to nasty on the turn of a dime, he's such an unpleasant guy but a great character.

Remy stays the night and on Easter morning Mindy asks him to watch the kid while she goes to work. Remington obliges but as soon as the door closes behind her Remington calls a pedophile friend Ray to come over where the two exchange drugs and money in exchange for some alone time with Nic while Remy goes out whoring. The pedophile Ray is one of the creepiest characters I've seen in a quite while; a wheezing, overweight invalid who arrives with a briefcase full of drugs, sex toys and a camera. My skin was crawling as Remington explained there were to be no-marks and no-memories, stomach churning stuff. An agreement is reached and Remy leaves the boy alone with Ray as he hits the streets in search of hookers. At this point I'm thinking I have no interest in seeing this, but thankfully a mysterious rabbit masked avenger arrives on scene and brutally kills the child-rapist with a drill to the head.

Eventually Remington makes his way back to the house along with two coked-out whores he's picked-up as do a couple of disgruntled day laborers out for revenge against Remington. All are dispatched in a variety of awesome kills, not super original stuff but bloody awesome just the same. The film teeters from nightmarishly vile to grotesque dark comedy, it's a fine balance and extremely well done.

One of my few gripes is that Ricardo Grey as Nicholas takes it "full retard" and the performance is a bit too much. Muskatell steals the show as the sleazy boyfriend Remington, you just can't take your eyes off the guy, a ton o' fun. David Z. Stamp as the pedophile also give a strong but brief performance, you'll need a bath after his scenes. The gore in the film is great, very bloody and gruesome - a lil' bit of everything for the gore inclined.

DVD: The EASTER BUNNY, KILL! KILL! DVD from VICIOUS CIRCLE FILMS is presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen with 2.0 stereo surround sound. A good looking film on DVD, a bit of grain during the darker night scenes but no real complaints, good stuff. Unfortunately my DVD was a screener and contained none of the special features.

Special Features:
- 15 Minute Making Of Featurette
- F%@& UP Featurette
- The Casting Woes
- Director's Commentary
- Chad Ferrin Trailer Gallery


VERDICT: If you're making a indie-horror film please take note - this is how you do it. EASTER BUNNY, KILL! KILL! is a blast of sickening fun. Chad Ferrin's next project is a horror-western DANCES WITH WEREWOLVES and is slated for a 2012 release, definitely a talent to keep an eye out for. **** (4 out of 5 stars)