Noirmageddon: A Mark Anvil Thriller

Director - Thomas Berdinski (The Italian Zombie Movie, The Giant Rubber Monster Movie)
Starring - Jeffrey S. Bromley (The Italian Zombie Movie), Count Gregula (Count Gregula's Crypt), and Carmela Hayslett (Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead)
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Comedy/Mystery/Crime
Format - DVD (Personal Collection (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Coming off of The Giant Rubber Monster Movie I was feeling pretty damn good about Berdinski and his next film, Noirmageddon: A Mark Anvil Thriller.  I had no idea what the film was about but it looked nothing like the other two films of his.  The artwork for both films looked like pure insanity caught on film and that is what suckered me in.  However, this film looked more serious and made me think that Berdinski had a sudden change of heart and decided to make a more "mature" flick. Either way I am now a follower of the Cult of Moi and anything Berdinski does.  I threw this one in and gave it a go with an open mind.
     The film follows suave private investigator Mark Anvil has he crosses paths with a mysterious young girl in a trench coat.  He picks her up and quickly discovers that she escaped from the local asylum.  While she is trying to explain to him about what is going on the pair run out of gas.  While getting gas Mark is knocked out and the girl is gutted by two men in business suites.  The guys are hired by an evil doctor and is forced by the doctor to track down Mark to see what he knows.  While the two are hunting down Mark, he is also on his own hunt.  Mark is trying to find the young girl's roommate.  He succeeds and she takes him to find a luchador.  The luchador tells Mark about the trinity project that is headed by the evil doctor.  Mark tracks down the evil doctor with the help of the luchador to discover that the girl's roommate is partnered with the evil doctor and the trinity project is revealed.
      I knew this film would be different from the other two films I have seen of Berdinski's...and I was wrong.  The film is in the same vain as the other two films only the main storyline is not strictly horror (though it is horror influenced!).  I enjoyed the film but it the weakest of the Berdinski films I have saw.  It just did not have the same hook as the other two films and I often caught myself looking away or losing interest.  The acting is actually better than the other films with Bromley showing huge improvement since his last film.  The entire cast, all around, did a great job and made the film fun to watch.  The story was written to be a mystery noir film but Berdinski's love for horror and the strange was evident throughout the entire film.  Though the film does stay true at being a mystery film there is still huge homages/parodies of horror throughout.  Hell, the main villain is part of a human centipede.  Finally, the film does offer some special effects and on screen death but they are very weak on both fronts.  We get some decent amounts of gore but it does not look the best.  The same can be said for the CGI but I think that is what Berdinski is going for.  Overall, this is another insane film from an insane man.  I highly recommend it.