FLESH FOR THE INFERNO (2015)
Label:Scoprio Film Releasing
Release Date: March 8th 2016
Region Code: 0 NTSC
Duration: 78 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Richard Griffin
Cast: Anna Rizzo, Jamie Dufault, Michael Thurber, Sarah Nicklin, Monica Saviolakis, Sean Leser, Kevin Michael Strauss, Samantha Acampora
Director Richard Griffin always brings a ton of fun to his low budget horror movies, blending wit and camp with gruesome and bloody frights. From sci-fi and Lovecraftian horror on through to a straight-up slashers the man has toured through many of the beloved sub genres of terror with aplomb, and few have failed to make me giddy with delight. His latest movie available on home video to the masses is the supernatural nunspoitation entry Flesh for the Inferno (2015).
The movie opens in 1999 when a group of nuns confront a naughty priest about his penchant for molesting the young boys at the Catholic school. In response to the accusations Father Renault (The Sins of Dracula) pulls out a gun and shoots one of the nuns in the head and forcing the remaining three into basement below, where he bricks them up inside a wall, adding a touch of Edgar Allen Poe's Black Cat, or maybe Luci Fulci's The Psychic (1977) to the movie. While bricking them up behind the wall the nuns renounce a God who would allow such awfulness, they make a pact with the Devil, swearing their souls to the dark Lord.
Sixteen years later the Catholic school has been abandoned and a neighborhood youth group arrive on scene under the direction of Mr. Maupin (Michael Thurber, The Sins of Dracula). The group have volunteered to do some clean-up work at the school before re-construction begins on the dilapidated building. They are greeted by the "caretaker", a sloppy young man named Halsey (Sean Lesser, Future Justice), who warns them that they should leave. The group are a fun and dynamic bunch, an array of teen stereotypes ripe for the picking-off, we have the Churchy Meredith (Jamue Lyn Bagely, Frankenstein's Hungry Dead), the straight-A student Gwen (Laura Minadeo), the honry douche Chester (Andrew Morais), young couple Becka and Patton (Ryan Nunes), the guy who is not gay Ian (Kevin Michael Strauss), redhead Kat (Anna Rizzo, Future Justice) and the new guy Noah (Jamie Dufault, Murder University), who is the visiting nephew of Mr. Maupin.
The group arrives and begin cleaning-up around the old school with varying degrees of commitment, some are there to do good in the neighborhood while others are clearly there to get laid. Of course the goody-goody Meredith begins judging the other teens right from the start, but she doesn't have too much time for judgement, for when two horny teens accidentally unleash the trio demonic nuns they all find themselves on the run for their lives.
From here on in the teens are picked off one by one in a myriad of gruesome ways. The first victim is peeping through a hole in the basement wall when she has her eye plucked out from her skull, another has his tongue ripped out, and a third bashes her face into a bloody pulp. The nuns themselves are fun, they interact with the teens and play around with them a bit before they kill them, poor horny Chester is seduced by all three before he is forced to leap to his death. The gore is cheap, plentiful and fun, not all of it worked for me, but it was still plenty fun. The garish green, red and blue lighting of the film gives the movie the look of Lamberto Bava's Demons (1985), as does the way that the nuns stalk the kids throughout the sprawling school.
Like most of Richard Griffin's best movies this one features some great teen characters who throw off witty and fun dialogue, both of the straight and campy variety, blended to perfection with just the right amount of wit and snappy line delivery. t makes me think that part of his process must be rehearsal time, honing each line to perfection before committing it to film. I love that the annoying Meredith is set-up as a character that is a bit too easy to hate, but she does not necessarily hold that distinction for the duration of the movie. Early on I was hoping she would die off quick and painfully, but Griffin gives her some heroic moments and a very slight character arc, which is played for laughs, of course.
Other characters of note are a local hooker with a heart of gold named Claudette (Sarah Nicklin, Nun of That) and two donut loving local cops, played by Rich Tretheway and Andrew Andrade from Future Justice. I would be remiss not to mention Aaron Andrade (the upcoming Seven Dorms of Death) ion a scene stealing performance as the big cheese of evil, The Devil, played with a menacingly smooth charm that is truly befitting of the unholy one.
Special Features:
- Commentary Track with director, writer, producer and assistant director.
- Commentary Track with Cast .
- Trailer (1 Min)
Flesh for the Inferno (2015) is a hugely entertaining horror movie that manages to be funny, eerie and gruesome in equal measure. Griffin always does a lot with a little, the production is helped by a good script from writer Michael Varrati (The Sins of Dracula) and strong performances from a cast Griffin has worked with for the past few years. If you love indie horror comedies and are not familiar with director Richard Griffin do yourself a favor and marathon a handful of his movies, this guy is a low budget wonder of fun horror movies, you won't regret it. 3/5
The movie opens in 1999 when a group of nuns confront a naughty priest about his penchant for molesting the young boys at the Catholic school. In response to the accusations Father Renault (The Sins of Dracula) pulls out a gun and shoots one of the nuns in the head and forcing the remaining three into basement below, where he bricks them up inside a wall, adding a touch of Edgar Allen Poe's Black Cat, or maybe Luci Fulci's The Psychic (1977) to the movie. While bricking them up behind the wall the nuns renounce a God who would allow such awfulness, they make a pact with the Devil, swearing their souls to the dark Lord. 
The group arrives and begin cleaning-up around the old school with varying degrees of commitment, some are there to do good in the neighborhood while others are clearly there to get laid. Of course the goody-goody Meredith begins judging the other teens right from the start, but she doesn't have too much time for judgement, for when two horny teens accidentally unleash the trio demonic nuns they all find themselves on the run for their lives. 
Like most of Richard Griffin's best movies this one features some great teen characters who throw off witty and fun dialogue, both of the straight and campy variety, blended to perfection with just the right amount of wit and snappy line delivery. t makes me think that part of his process must be rehearsal time, honing each line to perfection before committing it to film. I love that the annoying Meredith is set-up as a character that is a bit too easy to hate, but she does not necessarily hold that distinction for the duration of the movie. Early on I was hoping she would die off quick and painfully, but Griffin gives her some heroic moments and a very slight character arc, which is played for laughs, of course. 
