Chaos A.D. DVD Review from The Sleaze Box!
The Sleaze Box are one of those colourful independent underground film making groups who survive year-by-year doing things their way. Headed by Chris Woods, they are similar, I suppose, to Troma and are just waiting to hit on an explosive iconic character as they did. So far, The Sleaze Box specialize in gory films in which nude women die. Very American women at that.
Back on the ol’ Severed Cinema version one, I used to report on their upcoming releases, but I personally only reviewed one of their flicks, Amerikan Holokaust (see review here) and their infamous slasher call girls hit, Death-Scort Service had it’s showing on Severed courtesy of Richard Taylor (see review here) afterwards but otherwise they’ve been a bit neglected.
I chose Chaos A.D. because it’s something different, and unlike the Death-Scort Service flicks, isn’t a one trick pony (I’m going to review part 2 and 3 one day of that series), it’s concept is solid, as are the characters within. I’m not tearing at the Death-Scort Service movies, I enjoyed them, they are fun and have well created FX but I found them frustrating with glaring errors and just wall to wall nude girls – is that a bad thing? If they are there only to be naked for hours then die a moment later over and over, fuck it!!!!
Chaos A.D. (I wonder if Max Cavelera had any idea this would happen back in 1993?) opens to cries and sobs We see chains being drawn and a gun being inserted into the tender soft lower regions of a lady then we hear the gunshot and a shriek. Synth music hits, oh my god, what a tune! This reminded me of the Maniac remake from 2012 (see review here) parts of The Guest soundtrack, John Carpenter (of course) ,and any dark synth pop thing you can think of. It’s basic but suckered me straight in.
It’s Halloween, and as a radio reports on a group who release videos of people being tortured, a housewife, Janet Loomis (hmm, the surname thing again) wraps an electrical cord ‘round the throat of her hubby. When that doesn’t have the desired effect, it’s the classic meat cleaver to the skull — yep, he’s dead now. Somewhere across the city, brother and sister, Sarah and Vinnie Russo (who are watching Night of the Living Dead on TV) discuss their plans for a party and stealing a bottle of liquor off their dad who is basing his image on Ron Meal of Sparks and Tom Neyman of Manos: The Hands of Fate (see review here) then they bugger off to play pranks on their neighbours.
The introduction to another character, Jack Foley, is whilst he is fucking a prostitute as a political party broadcast for him shows on the box. He’s a politician with a leery smile. Back to Janet, she’s busy chopping up a body, cutting sections of her husband away in the bath. Cleaning up, she curls in said bath and shakes as shock and reality overcomes her.
Jack hooks up with who he believes to be another hooker, and the Russo’s are still planning their night until their dad goes absolutely nuts over Sarah’s revealing costume, then the stolen bottle. After booting the hell out of Vinnie, he chucks her on the bed getting ready to give her a beating too. As Vinnie jumps him and drops him to the floor, Jack is tasered by a hooded figure in the hotel room. Janet meanwhile stops off at a lake, all intentions being to dump bits of hubby, and she’s jumped by a grinning old guy. It’s Bob Glazier, he’s dyed his beard and looks like a cross between every member of the Firefly family – including Baby, in The Devil’s Rejects! Bob is a mainstay of The Sleaze Box. Every time I watch one of their films, up pops Bob at one point, sometimes in a central role, others in a small appearance. He’s mid-way cast in Chaos A.D. Bob is awesome. This movie is alright with me if Bob is in it.
The Russo’s turn up at the party, wondering what they’re going to do about home life, the gathering is as you would imagine – masks, chats, and such. Sarah has her mind on other things, so she sits alone until she catches the eyes of the lady who jammed a taser into Jack’s neck. This woman seems intense and comes over to join her. Her name is Bytch and she’s played by Cayt (Clownado, Death-Scort Service) Feinics. Sarah moves off when Bytch states she’d basically like to stick her head into her pussy. Vinnie is across the room getting off with the girl who straddled Jack before his capture. They leave the premises and Sarah goes searching. Wandering in the night for quite some time, she chances into an old warehouse where our man Bob is stalking her making noises. When Sarah finds blood-splattered dolls and other bits ‘n’ pieces, she starts to lose her nerve a little. She isn’t eased much when she spies Bytch going old school on one of her gang who has betrayed them by drilling into the unfortunate girl’s eyeball.
On her way out, Sarah is pounced on by the deranged Lilith who mauls and bites her. The gang surround her. “Oh look,” says Bytch, “It’s that sweet little pussy from the party.” Her partner, the lady who trapped Jack, Vixen stands by her side whilst Uncle Lester (Bob) masturbates nearby. Sarah is at least re-united with her brother, plus finds herself among a load of captive men and women in a cage.
Bytch starts filming when they’re all sat in a circle until one is chosen at random to meet the other member, of the gang who are called F.R.E.A.K (Fuckin’ Reckness Extreme Asshole Killers), Misery. She is a six-foot whatever beast of a female who wears a Leatherface style mask and rips the guys balls off, no thrills, just done and dusted. After this show, Bytch takes Sarah away bringing Vixen and Lester along. Lester rapes her, Lilith drops by to gnaw on a breast then bites one of Sarah’s fingers off, oh and finally Bytch pisses in her mouth just for giggles and banter.
Two other captives in separate cages happen to be Jack and Janet. Bytch has retrieved the bag of cadaver parts and is quite impressed by Janet’s work. “You might be one of us.” The next bit of filming for release on the web has a game where someone gets stabbed in the dark, and once again Janet kills. Then we get various captives trying to escape and failing until finally Janet puts her big girl boots on and goes all the way, getting all the survivors together to fight…
Stabbings, penis and vagina violence, dismemberment, chunks of flesh being bitten, bodies being eaten, it’s all here in Chaos A.D. and in glorious bright gory scenes.
Awash with old school green and red colours plus the before mentioned flamboyant gore, Chaos A.D. is packing a lot of style and trash for lovers of quirky horror films that are fun and way over the top. A few of The Sleaze Box movies have that one scene however where you’re annoyed screaming “Why the fuck don’t you…???!!” In this one it’s Jack making his escape and deciding to hang around and watch a woman die. Just fucking run!!! In Death-Scort Service it was the girl fleeing down the road and running into the woods instead of knocking at any of the houses that are clearly in view. If you watch it, you’ll understand my rage. The Sleaze Box films get you involved in them so much!!!
The cast are a point at the screen scenario and say “Hey I know him/her from….” Aside from Bob, Lisa, Cayt, etcetera, whom are all regulars to The Sleaze Box and many underground horrors, there’s Cayt’s fella, Eric Danger Dionne of Clownado, Wrestlemassacre, and a few SB titles. Then you have long term veteran Joel D. Wynkoop, again of Clownado but also Rot, Killing Spree, Hi-8 – this guy has made a career out of straight to video/DVD titles since the ‘80s. The acting talents are up and down but I don’t care because the whole mob of misfits are having so much fun in this one.
Top high-flying blood spurts to Ashley Lynn Caputo (American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore) as Janet, this actress (she’s also a hypnotherapist and yoga tutor) captures her characters motivations perfectly, the kill, the fall, then the rise against adversary. In fact a majority of the cast put in work, now and then coming over a bit strained though, but I and Severed Cinema don’t exist to muse over potential Oscar winners — we’re around to rake in the drudgy sewers filled with blood-caked faeces and hold up a diamond. Chaos A.D. is such a proud valuable stone.
The conclusion is sensible if very much like Rob Zombie’s 31 (see review for 31 here) in concept which is interesting since they both emerged the same year, and if we check the release dates, Chaos A.D. plopped out two months prior. So, a coincidence because I doubt Rob Zombie saw this and decided to tag a similar ending to his flick… or did he????…
Directed by: Chris Woods | Written by: Chris Woods | Produced by: Sean Donohue, Chris Woods | Cinematography by: Chris Woods | Editing by: Chris Woods | Music by: Haniel Adhar, Toshiyuki Hiraoka | Special Effects by: Amanda Welsh, Picardo Limbo, Sean Donohue, Shelly McIntyre | Cast: Lisa Marie Kart, Amanda Welsh, Cayt Feinics, Bob Glazier, Ashley Lynn Caputo, David A Jackson, Eric Danger Dionne, Paula Tsurara, Saharra Huxly. Joel D Wynkoop. | Year: 2016 | Country: USA | Language: English | Colour: Color | Runtime: 1h 39min
Studio: Icon Film Studios
Distributor: The Sleaze Box
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Region: NTSC R1
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– Trailers
– Deleted scenes