Straight Edge Kegger

Director - Jason Zink (Night Terrors, When I Die)

Starring - Cory Kays (Prodigy, Victim), Evey Reidy (Jules and Monty, Pantheon University), and Julio Alexander (The Dragonfly, The Pleasure Matrix)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "This is not just a minor threat"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) 

Rating (out of 5):

     Sometime ago I was browsing social media when horror artist Marc Schoenbach shared his poster for the then new horror film Straight Edge Kegger.  If you want me to watch your movie the quickest way is to have Marc design your poster.  I absolutely love his work and when I saw that SEK was getting a blu release from Scream Team Releasing with Marc's artwork on the cover I had to have it.  As soon as it was available I ordered it.  I've wanted to spin it for some time but never could come up with the time but decided to work it into my schedule this Halloween season.  

     The film follows Brad (Kays) who is becoming bored with his straight edge lifestyle.  He meets up with a man that liked to enjoy life and party.  The two start drinking and hanging out and soon Brad forgets about his straight edge friends.  One night he goes to a house party where he meets the beautiful Maybe (Reidy).  Everyone there is getting stoned and drinking but outside the straight edge crew is preparing for an all out war with their sights on killing Brad for turning his back on them.  

      I was so fucking pumped to watch SEK.  All day at work I couldn't stop about tossing this one in and finally seeing it.  My mind raced with the possibilities about how awesome it was.  Sadly, I was ready to turn it off at the 20 minutes mark but suffered through until the end.  The movie really could have been something truly unique but failed to pull it off.  The acting in this one is my favorite aspect of the film.  The cast really gets into their roles and the characters are all very entertaining.  I know several straight edge members and they all pretty much act just like that while the stoners and metal drinkers were spot on.  I really liked the characters and how the cast incorporated them into the story.  The story for this one was not what I was expecting.  I'm notorious for not watching trailers so I went into this one thinking it was a slasher flick.  Granted, it wasn't, but the story we were given is still amazing.  Straight edge punkers killing stoners and drunks is fucking solid for a horror flick.  Sadly, the pacing in this one is all wrong and the scenes once the film picks up are so watered down that the viewer will struggle to finish it.  Honestly, even the action forward scenes are dull.  Finally, the film has several kills but they are pretty lackluster and unoriginal.  The practical effects were solid for these kills but they are easily forgettable.  Overall, Straight Edge Kegger could have been the perfect pairing for films like Death to Metal or Hair Metal Shotgun Zombie Massacre.  Instead, it struggles with it's pacing and the real horror of the film is how this storyline was not incorporated into a slasher.