Deathgasm

Deathgasm
Directed by Jason Lei Howden
New Zealand 2015

PLOT

Brodie and Zakk are two outcasts united by their passion for heavy metal music. The two students form a band together, but an evil musical score will forever change their lives. Anyone who plays it will gain great power but will also awaken “Aeloth The Blind One,” an ancient malevolent entity that will turn humans into psychotic demons. Of course, they play it….

THOUGHTS

A brilliant film that quickly and deservedly achieved cult status thanks to an explosive mix of metal music, splatter, and a lot of irony. This is in the realm of cinema that immortalized Peter Jackson with *Bad Taste* and *Braindead*, or Sam Raimi with the *Evil Dead* trilogy. But we are not merely dealing with a work of homage: sure, *Deathgasm* pulses with that irreverent 80s horror cinema, where idiotic jokes, over-the-top characters, and rivers of blood reign supreme.
The film has its own identity, and that identity is deeply rooted in heavy metal. Here, music plays a fundamental role (as in the 80s cult Trick or Treat), not only being omnipresent and pacing the film, but also serving as the “cause” of the carnage that erupts in the second half of the film.
When our protagonists discover the evocative power of the cursed score, it’s a triumph of demons, zombies, and the possessed, fought and torn apart by the young metalheads with axes, chainsaws, and…dildos!

Between absurd moments and others of pure exhilaration, the film flows at a frantic pace, with constant jokes and truly successful special effects (the director has a long background as a visual effects technician).
A musical horror film, sprinkled with comedy but ultra-violent, it’s a film about a powerful passion made in a powerful way, drawing you in and keeping you glued to the screen.
The first part is full of music, young love, adolescent problems, and often silly jokes, while the second half is more distinctly horror, especially in the last 40 minutes, where it becomes a true gore and splatter hell filled with delirious moments, hideous creatures, and grotesque monsters.

Deathgasm can be watched for free, dubbed in Italian, on YouTube.