Starring - John Wells (Overtime), Meghan Chadeayne (Naked Zombie Girl), and Dale Miller (Kill, Granny Kill!)
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Bringing fear home"
Format - Streaming (Online screener)
Rating (out of 5):
The world of indie horror is a huge community full of so many amazing directors that never get the recognition they truly deserve. One such director is Michael S. Rodriguez. A few years back I came across his short Night of the Sea Monkey. Several horror sites had released reviews for it so I thought I would check it out. I reached out to him and he was kind enough to let me see it. A year or so later he reached out to me with yet another short. This time the short was titled Lamb Feed. Both shorts were great so when he announced another short I was all about it. The new short Homewrecked, stars Meghan Chadeayne and indie icon Jim Van Bebber. I was excited to check it out and Rodriguez hit me up with a private link for short before anyone else could get a look at it. Thanks Michael for allowing myself and Horror Society the opportunity to check this one out before the competition!
The film follows a young couple who just prepared a nice dinner at home to reveal they are expecting a bundle of joy to the young lady's father. However, a group of thugs have different plans. They have been casing the place for sometime and picked tonight to strike. They trick the family into opening the door by using a female member of their group to knock while pretending to be in distress. Once they open the door the other members jump them and take over. They tie the soon-to-be grandfather to a chair while forcing the younger man into the room with a safe leaving his pregnant wife alone with the other two. Things turn bloody when the two male captives refuse to role over and die quietly. They fight back and blood starts to flow.
I really enjoy Rodriguez's style. His films are short in stature, have a slight build up, and then goes fucking crazy with the bloodshed. Homewrecked is no different. The acting in this one is fucking fantastic. The cast is perfect in this one. The biggest shock in regards to performance comes from the lovely Meghan Chadeayne. When I see Meghan in a film she is usually the eye candy of the film and I mean that with respect. This woman is one hell of an actress that has delivered some pretty intense performances but her roles were usually written for her due to her sex appeal. However, that was not the case for Homewrecked. Instead, her character was rough around the edges who can take a lick and keep on ticking. Though she is beautiful, as always, her character is tough and not meant to be sexy or provocative. We also get a great performance from the man himself, Jim Van Bebber. His character flips from a soon-to-be family man to a cold blooded killer at the drop of a hat. He was brilliant and brought about some real intensity that sold the scenes. It was a stroke of pure genius to cast him in the role. The remainder of the cast did a great job as well but these two really shocked me. The story for this one is, honestly, nothing that original. We have seen several invasion flicks in the past that followed a family at home, usually eating dinner, when they are assaulted and forced to fight back. This is the story for almost all of them but this one takes it up the notch with bloodshed and brutality. If you can't reinvent the wheel you can still make it look good. Finally, the kills in this one are fucking fantastic. We have several different kills that bring about the bloodshed. We have an old school knife to the head gag that worked brilliantly and reminded me a lot of the slashers from yesteryear. We also get a hack and slash death before some amazing gunshot kills. These kills all have great practical effects that made the them really pop. Overall, Homewrecked is one hell of a bloodbath. It has some great kills and an amazing cast. Rodriguez is a powerhouse of a filmmaker and this film is living proof. Check it out and prepare for the carnage that is Homewrecked!
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