Tuesday, September 29, 2015

GRAVY (2014)

GRAVY (2014)
Label: Scream Factory 
Release Date: October 6th 2015 
Region Code: A
Duration: 90 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: James Roday
Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Jimmi Simpson, Lily Cole, Michael Weston, Molly Ephraim, Paul Rodriguez, Sarah Silverman, Sutton Foster

On Halloween night a trio of deranged costumed misfits enter Raoul's Mexican Cantina and weld the door's shut,forcing the staff to engage in a late night of party games and cannibalism. This dark comedy is a fun mash-up of horror and comedy, a very twisted and strange sense of humor. The deranged psychopaths are lead by Stef (Jimmie Simpson), with cohorts Anson (Michael Weston) and Mimi (Lily Cole), a strange trio of weirdos with a hunger for human flesh, and tonight the staff of Raoul's are what's on the menu, beginning with funnyman Paul Rodriguez as Chuy, the beloved owner of the cantina. 

The staff are forced to play party games like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and such, the losers are killed and eaten while the the others are forced to watch and endure the nightmare carnival of cannibalism. What makes it so fun is that everyone is so damn neurotic, from the staff to the deranged flesh-eaters, everyone is slightly off, some more than others.Jimmi Simpson is the wild-eyed leader, not an imposing figure but clever and witty, his punchlines are deadly, you can see why he's in charge, a charismatic guy with a keen sense of humor and a hunger for flesh, when he tastes the savory human flesh cration is is overcome with delight, fun stuff. I was honestly shocked when I found out that actor Michael Weston was not Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia! The two are so similar, nutty and neurotic, and opening scene with Anson at a convenience store opposite funny lady Sarah Silverman is a lot of fun, unfortunately Silverman is only here in a brief cameo, so don't expect to see her a bunch. Back to Weston, he is delightful in the role, a straight-up loon but somehow very likable. Lily Cole as the lunatic Mimi is fun, she's the most crazed of the three, thoroughly enjoying playing with her food before savoring their flesh. 

The cantina chef Yannick (Lothaire Bluteau) is chained to the kitchen and forced to prepare his coworkers one by one for the consumption of the deranges cannibals,who love his savory creations, beginning with poor Raoul (Rodriguez), who was loved by everyone. The cast is great all-around, a lot of familiar faces who I recognized but didn't know the names of, but we do have Gabourey Sidibe from American Horror Story: Coven appears as a smart-mouthed security guard who adds some flavor to the fun, then there's Bert (Ethan Sandler) who plays a dope in a blue leisure suit who has just been dumped by his girlfriend for another girl, who is a singer in Siouxie and the Banshees cover band. Everyone is spot in this blend of cannibal comedy and deranged party movie, but it is more in the camp of gory comedy than straight-up horror movie, there's plenty of blood and guts for the gorehounds, a surprising amount of it actually. 

Audio/Video: The Blu-ray disc looks solid from Scream Factory, presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) with a nice palette of vibrant Halloween appropriate colors and some atmospheric lighting, looking fantastic in HD with nice with some good depth and clarity, strong color saturation and a good amount of fine detail, the gore looks especially great! The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround comes through plenty strong with some serious oomph when called upon, crisp and clean through and through. 

Extras are limited to a cast and crew commentary track, two featurettes and a trailer for the movie. Given the comedic nature of the movie and the myriad of gore gags I am very surprised there's not a blooper real of blown takes or a few deleted scenes. The release includes a sleeve of reversible artwork with a slipcover featuring an illustration by Paul Shipper. 


Special Features:

- Audio Commentary With James Roday, Sutton Foster And Jimmi Simpson
- What Is Gravy? Featurette (6 Mins) HD
- EPK (6 Mins) HD
- Trailer (2 Mins) HD 


This Halloween season if you are looking to add something new to your usual classic line-up of Halloween favorites the cannibal-comedy Gravy (2014) should be at the top of your list, I had a lot of fun with this one, the comedy is awesome and the gore is gruesome, this is a very highly recommend, I would dare say this is a new horror-comedy classic. 4/5