PRETTY SCARY / GONZORIFFIC
The Buzz Begins For Chainsaw Sally
Posted on Sunday, October 31 by Andrew Shearer
Written and Directed by JimmyO Burrill
Featuring April Monique Burrill, Mark Redfield,
Gunnar Hansen, Herchell Gordon Lewis,
Kristen Hudson and Alec Joseph
2004 Planet X Entertainment/Redfield Arts
After years of watching low-budget horror films, I've gotten a pretty good sense of what I like and what I
don't. I can tell when someone's trying to really entertain and when they're just trying to make a buck. I can tell
when someone has true love for the genre and when they're just using it as a commercial stepping-stone to
get to a higher, more “respectable” level. Now that digital filmmmaking technology is readily available to the public,
I've seen plenty of inspired, fun movies. But more often than not, I see shameful attempts at ripping off the bigger
-budget stufff that's already proven to be successful. I see gratuitous nudity and poorly-done gore effects. Overall,
I see a general ignorance of what it means to be an independent film, and what it means to be an artist.
But every once in a while, a movie comes my way that reminds me why I adore this medium so much, and that there are filmmakers out there who truly understand and appreciate the history of indie horror. Every once in a while, I am floored and entertained by what someone has but before the camera. Thank God for writer/director JimmyO Burrill, and for a volatile little woman with a big, loud power tool...
April Monique Burrill plays the title character in CHAINSAW SALLY, who is a soft-spoken librarian by day and a rip-roaring horror vigilante by night! When bigwig real estate developer Harvey Benton (David Calhoun) comes to town, it spells trouble for Sally and her gender-confused brother Ruby (Alec Joseph), who have been living on their own in a run-down farmhouse ever since witnessing their parents' brutal murder several years before. Benton and his ice-cold sleazoid partner Cynthia (SILVER SCREAM's Kristen Hudson) will do anything to convince wealthy land-owner Steve Kellerman (Mark Redfield) to sell his property, which happens to be the very same stretch of nothing that Sally and Ruby's home stands on. While doing research at the local library, Kellerman begins to unearth the grisly story of the murders that took place in the old house, not realizing that the quiet girl who's assisting him with the microfiche happens to be proficient with a certain gas-powered implement of destruction...and a taste for human flesh.
Ever since Freddy and Jason became box-office champs in the 1980's, there have been several misguided attempts at creating the “next” horror movie icon. What the studios and filmakers didn't grasp is the reason why horror audiences latched onto these murderers as heroes, cheering them on as they cut throats and batted severed heads around like hockey pucks. The stories and characters were so weak and stupid, the murderers became the stars by default, being the only interesting thing left about the films. With CHAINSAW SALLY, it's clear that JimmyO Burrill understands what horror audences want, and man does he give it to us. You get the blood and gore, the sexy girls, and the cheesy jokes. You also get appearances by genre legends Gunnar Hansen (as Sally's father) and Herscell Gordon Lewis (as a hardware store owner who makes sure Sally's gear stays in working order).
But the greatest thing we get from CHAINSAW SALLY is a film that doesn't insult our intelligence, a film with actual characters and a story to go along with the carnage. Not to mention, finally, a horror movie hero (or heroine, I should say) of some real substance! April Monique Burrill's whisper-to-scream performance as Sally is truly something to behold, definitely a horror junkie's wet dream. She lives her life by the code of conduct taught to her by late-night b-movies on TV, she's got a great sense of style, and she's not afraid to get messy. Watching Sally dispense justice with her chainsaw, I knew I was looking at an honest-to-goodness horror movie icon.
CHAINSAW SALLY is revenge for all the poor unfortunate lingerie-clad women who have perished in splatter movies past, and hands-down one of the coolest indie features I have ever seen. It's the kind of movie I wish would get made more often, but is that much more special and original because it has no peers. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch it for the 18th time....
The Buzz Begins For Chainsaw Sally
Posted on Sunday, October 31 by Andrew Shearer
Written and Directed by JimmyO Burrill
Featuring April Monique Burrill, Mark Redfield,
Gunnar Hansen, Herchell Gordon Lewis,
Kristen Hudson and Alec Joseph
2004 Planet X Entertainment/Redfield Arts
After years of watching low-budget horror films, I've gotten a pretty good sense of what I like and what I
don't. I can tell when someone's trying to really entertain and when they're just trying to make a buck. I can tell
when someone has true love for the genre and when they're just using it as a commercial stepping-stone to
get to a higher, more “respectable” level. Now that digital filmmmaking technology is readily available to the public,
I've seen plenty of inspired, fun movies. But more often than not, I see shameful attempts at ripping off the bigger
-budget stufff that's already proven to be successful. I see gratuitous nudity and poorly-done gore effects. Overall,
I see a general ignorance of what it means to be an independent film, and what it means to be an artist.
But every once in a while, a movie comes my way that reminds me why I adore this medium so much, and that there are filmmakers out there who truly understand and appreciate the history of indie horror. Every once in a while, I am floored and entertained by what someone has but before the camera. Thank God for writer/director JimmyO Burrill, and for a volatile little woman with a big, loud power tool...
April Monique Burrill plays the title character in CHAINSAW SALLY, who is a soft-spoken librarian by day and a rip-roaring horror vigilante by night! When bigwig real estate developer Harvey Benton (David Calhoun) comes to town, it spells trouble for Sally and her gender-confused brother Ruby (Alec Joseph), who have been living on their own in a run-down farmhouse ever since witnessing their parents' brutal murder several years before. Benton and his ice-cold sleazoid partner Cynthia (SILVER SCREAM's Kristen Hudson) will do anything to convince wealthy land-owner Steve Kellerman (Mark Redfield) to sell his property, which happens to be the very same stretch of nothing that Sally and Ruby's home stands on. While doing research at the local library, Kellerman begins to unearth the grisly story of the murders that took place in the old house, not realizing that the quiet girl who's assisting him with the microfiche happens to be proficient with a certain gas-powered implement of destruction...and a taste for human flesh.
Ever since Freddy and Jason became box-office champs in the 1980's, there have been several misguided attempts at creating the “next” horror movie icon. What the studios and filmakers didn't grasp is the reason why horror audiences latched onto these murderers as heroes, cheering them on as they cut throats and batted severed heads around like hockey pucks. The stories and characters were so weak and stupid, the murderers became the stars by default, being the only interesting thing left about the films. With CHAINSAW SALLY, it's clear that JimmyO Burrill understands what horror audences want, and man does he give it to us. You get the blood and gore, the sexy girls, and the cheesy jokes. You also get appearances by genre legends Gunnar Hansen (as Sally's father) and Herscell Gordon Lewis (as a hardware store owner who makes sure Sally's gear stays in working order).
But the greatest thing we get from CHAINSAW SALLY is a film that doesn't insult our intelligence, a film with actual characters and a story to go along with the carnage. Not to mention, finally, a horror movie hero (or heroine, I should say) of some real substance! April Monique Burrill's whisper-to-scream performance as Sally is truly something to behold, definitely a horror junkie's wet dream. She lives her life by the code of conduct taught to her by late-night b-movies on TV, she's got a great sense of style, and she's not afraid to get messy. Watching Sally dispense justice with her chainsaw, I knew I was looking at an honest-to-goodness horror movie icon.
CHAINSAW SALLY is revenge for all the poor unfortunate lingerie-clad women who have perished in splatter movies past, and hands-down one of the coolest indie features I have ever seen. It's the kind of movie I wish would get made more often, but is that much more special and original because it has no peers. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch it for the 18th time....
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