American Freakshow

Director - Tommy Slama (Alabama Sasquatch, Bumper Hardwood's Thanks Giving Day Special)

Starring - Tommy Slama, Elizabeth Knight, and Robbie Cox

Release Date - 2015

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "See how the other half lives"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several years ago I reviewed the two no budget horror comedies Weedwolf and Alabama Sasquatch.  They were cheap, funny, and completely off the wall.  I really enjoyed myself and told several friends about them after reviewing them.  Jump forward a few years and both films would get an official release from my friends over at Wild Eye.  Around that same time Wild Eye released another film of theirs that I had not seen prior.  Back in 2015 Tommy Slama and company made the film American Freakshow and recently Wild Eye released it under the new title Bloody Scum.  I decided my October Horror Binge would be the perfect time to finally check it out.  Thanks Wild Eye for sending this one over!

     The film follows a group of backwoods hillbillies who have a knack for kidnapping women and killing men.  When several groups make their way into their woods they find themselves deep in abducting and killing but will they have their hands full when they come across boy scout legend Bumper?

     It has been almost 10 years since I reviewed Alabama Sasquatch and Weedwolf so I couldn't remember a lot about them.  I do remember bits and pieces and some of the scenes still makes me laugh but overall I couldn't remember the overall story.  Lucky for me this film is not really a sequel in a typical sense to those other films and flows as it's own film.  I enjoyed it for the most part and it reminded me a lot of the mid 00's Troma releases.  The acting in this one is over the top and extremely goofy.  The cast, though mostly lacking on screen experience, had a lot of fun with their roles which showed in each scene.  The characters are very enjoyable and made the slower scenes very entertaining.  The story for this one is nothing we haven't seen before but the addition of heavy humor and some slapstick makes it an easy watch.  I can't see myself tossing this one in again but it's hard to tell what kind of mood I will be in 5 or so years from now.  Finally, the film has a lot of fake blood and cheap practical effects which only adds to the tone of the film.  Some of the kills were unintentional funny while others were very intentionally funny.  Regardless, the film has blood but not the amazing practical effects that most of you are looking for.  Overall, American Freakshow, aka Bloody Scum, is a fun watch for those of you that live on cheap beer and Troma flicks.  It has some laughs, cheap effects, and fun characters.  Check it out if you are looking for something different to watch but don't let the cover art for this one paint the picture for the film because you will be very disappointed.