Rotgut

Director - Billy Gaberina (Necroville, I Heart U)

Starring - Jeremy Owen (Feeding the Masses, The Stink of Flesh), Paul Alsing (Defective Man, Black), and Megan Pribyl (The Lone Ranger, Killer Women)

Release Date - 2012

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Happy hour is over"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

    Writing reviews is something I absolutely love.  I love watching and reviewing horror films and you never know what you are going to get next.  A few weeks ago my friends over at Alternative Cinema sent over two of their newest releases to check out.  The first was an Ivan Cardoso collection which was a let down.  I reviewed all four films and was severely let down by what I saw.  The second film was Rotgut from director Billy Gaberina.  Gaberina is one of my favorite actors in the indie game but his directorial efforts are always funny.  Necroville made college for me so when I saw he starred and directed Rotgut I knew there was fun to be had.  Thanks Alternative Cinema for sending it my way.
     The film begins with two junkies stealing a bottle of alcohol from a dumpster.  The bottle has a worm in the bottom and the two decide to drink it up and chase the worm.  One of them actually drinks the worm and becomes ill.  After a few minutes his eye popped out of his head sending the other into a panic.  He goes to the local bar and tries to warn them but no one listens.  The manager of the bar buys some alcohol from a back door vendor and just happens to buy several bottles like the guy just tried to warn them about.  Several people buys shots from the cheap booze and before they know it they are fighting for their lives when those that drink it have their heads exploding and killer worms come out.
     I was looking forward to Rotgut when I first discovered it was directed by Gaberina.  I knew it would have a solid mix of horror and humor.  Which it did, but there was several missed opportunities.  The film was still fun and better than most indie horror comedies but there was several flaws.  The acting in this one is solid but I was expecting a little more considering.  The films lead, Jeremy Owen, is great in his role.  This is my first film of his but I can see why Gaberina cast him.  He is strong, wise cracking, and could be the film's bad ass when it called for it.  We also get a solid performance from Paul Alsing as the professor.  He was very well spoken, intelligent, and made every scene he was in feel bigger than it was.  Sadly, that was it in regards for cast.  The rest of the performances fell flat and did not offer up anything for the viewer to latch on to.  The story for this one is fun and reminded me a lot of Zombie Town meets Night of the Creeps.  Both of which are great films.  In both films, just like this one, we follow zombie like creatures who have worms/slugs busting from their heads to infect someone else.  I absolutely loved that angle.  The story makes good use of the location to help with the film's budget and cast.  Sadly, the film does move painfully slow at times but more than makes up for it with the ending and action sequences.  Finally, the film does have some kills and lots of blood but there is several missed opportunities that were skipped either by effect's limitations or budget.  The effects we do get are decent which makes me wonder why we didn't get better kills.  The effects and skill are there.  Overall, Rotgut is a hit from Alternative Cinema and once again shows why I mention Gaberina as much as I do when I talk about indie horror.  It has a fun story and some decent effects but the cast misses their mark.  Check it out.