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I recently watched Animal Soup, a JAK and David V G Davies’ independent shocker. It is a gore fest homage to the Italian exploitation movies of the 70s and 80s. Animal Soup follows the story of two groups of walkers going into the countryside and very nasty things happening to them. Within the first five minutes, a man brutally has his nipple torn out by a hook and that is just for starters… nothing is held back in the way of gore. If you are squeamish about dead animals, disembowelled limbs, bodily fluids, human mutilation, people eating faeces or masturbating men; this is perhaps not the movie you should be watching. Despite the lack of a plot, there are some standout performances from the ensemble cast which include Sophia Disgrace and David Pliskin. There is also a cameo appearance from Troma supremo Lloyd Kaufman, which is sure to upset any diehard royalists. Although this is a film of a-low budget, it still provides shocks and surprises that put bigger budget horrors to shame. Visual compositions were well executed, and the cinematography was pleasing. There was a good pace to the edit, which thankfully did not rely on gimmicks. My only slight disappointment was in the quality of the audio which did not live up to the standards set by the visuals. Animal Soup is a film that demands to be watched. People will either love it, hate it, but they won’t forget it! MW



ANIMAL SOUP (2009)

Before James Wan gave us the cancerous killer that is Jigsaw, before Eli Roth started hacking up holidaying teens for rich peoples entertainment, a very odd young man called David V.G. Davies and his friend only credited as 'Jak' came up with a shocking little film called 'Animal Soup'.
The story follows various groups of young adults as they get picked off a horribly tortured by a bunch of highly unpleasant mental patients who are left to roam the countryside because the home they lived in shut down.
Social commentary I hear you ask, well if it is there it's purely coincidental as the directors mentioned in an interview their intention was purely to shock, and shock it did.
This film is overflowing with indi spirit which makes the graphic scenes of sexual, faecal and blood thirsty torture all the more disturbing. I have not shown this film to anyone who has managed to sit the whole way through without gagging, looking away or just plain leaving the room with the words "let me know when it's over" leaving their slack jawed lips.
This film isn't for everyone but for those who crave the weird or just want to test your stomach this is a must watch.

7/10
Review by Dan Brownlie

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Animal Soup
Dir - JAK & David V G Davies
Run time 67 mins
Independently distributed until 2009 by FilmMA
Professional presses by Cryptkeeper Extreme USA in 2009
Released as a censored version by GoreZone New Media in January 2010
Full Uncut version available ONLY from FilmMA


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I came across this film via face book, every week I would see in my feed, an image of a masked madman with various slogans of terror in accompaniment. Being an avid collector of independent film I kept track of The Orphan Killer, eagerly awaiting further sneak peeks. The film ticks every box for a fan of hack n slash movies right down to the teetering on cliché drug abusing teens and gratuitous shower scene.

Unlike Jason or Michael and the majority of masked maniacs that have belched their way from the underworld to grace our screens for the last 30 years, The Orphan Killer gives us a monster with a fresh motive. Through a well structured series of flashbacks we learn everything about Marcus Miller from an early traumatic house invasion stopping off as a distraught orphan wanting to protect his sister right up to an anger fuelled adult with sever sibling rivalry and abandonment issues. It is a rare treat to witness such an in-depth look at the psycho, its normally not until an inferior sequel where we are allowed in to the characters history.

Marcus takes a perverse pleasure in tormenting his sister in a number of scenes one of which caused a cringe worthy moment instigating a 'eurgh! What's he doing?' moment. The gore is amazing, right from the get go this film isn't afraid to rip open your chest and show you your own heart before the 84 minute run time leaves your jaw firmly at your feet

I quickly forgot this was an independent and was convinced this had studio backing. A glorious high production value look to the scenes, great performances from the majority of cast (one nun stuck in my mind as being bad but she was promptly chopped up so all is good)

The genre of slasher has its firm staples and this film does stick to the safety zone for the majority but excels in brutality allowing it to push marginally above the barrage of slashers recently churned out of the grinder. There are moments that bring it back to almost homage material of John Carpenters Halloween, especially when the killer is left for dead only to get up in the final reel for one last scare, a great scene but somewhat expected within the slasher film. I must say that Marcus Miller is a demented incarnation expertly portrayed by David Backus and is a character and an actor we shall no doubt hear from again.

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