Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker! / Filthy McNasty

In 2003, Splatter Rampage (a division of Tempe Video) released a Low Budget Pictures double feature containing Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker! and Filthy McNasty along with a very misleading cover photo featuring Lilith Stabs, who is neither in the movie nor represents anything about the lead character, Mulva, in the photo. Anyone expecting something along the lines of Tempe's usual low-budget-but-professional quality may want to back away now. Both short films found here, directed by Chris Seaver, were apparently filmed with a home video camera and cheaply edited. Ripe with technical flaws (i.e. the cameraman catching himself in the mirror, occasionally hearing the director say "go" before a scene), the films show both a knowledge of movie composition, direction, and general filming techniques and, occasionally, a complete lack thereof. For instance, there's no excuse for not re-shooting the actor-less opening sequence of Mulva, a panorama of her room in which the cameraman is visible in the mirror right in front of him the whole time. You may also even find yourself wondering if they actually bothered to license the uncredited musical pieces they "borrowed", including a selection from the Fright Night soundtrack and "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Yes, even though the DVD is inexplicably smattered with bonus materials including 3 commentary tracks and intros from the actors, this is pretty lo-fi, amateur stuff.

Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker!, the more ambitious of the two movies, is the tale of the nerdy chocolate-obsessed Mulva's first Halloween outing since being scared by a couple of bullies some time ago (including something of a quirky villain sidekick who is ridiculously dubbed to resemble something of a character from an overdubbed martial arts film). However, this Halloween, the bullies are the least of her worries as the walking dead have come to wreak havoc. Featuring peculiar characters like Mulva's Bill Cosby obsessed neighbor, Mr. Bonejack, and a couple side-characters who specialize in obscure horror trivia, as well as scenes that even go as far as parodying Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, the film is occasionally well-written and quirky. Unfortunately, as the movie goes on, it relies more and more on low brow sexual humor for laughs, and its endearing quirky qualities are often left in the dust for stupid gags (i.e. "The Naked Cowboy" singing about the story).

While Mulva is ruined by low brow sexual humor, Filthy McNasty is constructed from it. The story of two nerdy girls that wish to become attractive in order to impress a group of their lowlife peers, this one's certainly not for the easily (or even moderately) offended. While the story gets off to a decent and even humorous start, things quickly deteriorate as the plot is sacrificed for immature dialogue and crude (not to mention somewhat graphic) sexual gross-out humor. Perhaps the film's worst moment comes in the form of its infamous "fecal masturbation" scene, a tasteless bit of immature drivel that has nothing to do with the story. In fact, the film overall basically dissolves into a series of meandering low brow sexually oriented sketches loosely tied together by what little plot remains after the first 15 minutes as demon Phil sets out to get a piece from the girls he turned from nerds to beauties. A nice ironic plot twist develops as Phil sets out to kill those that the girls originally wanted to impress as payment for his services, but it's not enough to save the film. Debbie Rochon and Miss Kitty do, however, do a good job in their starring roles as the only moral characters in the film. Overall, like Mulva, Filthy McNasty is a good idea ruined by immature low brow content.

If you're a fan of homemade independent horror or companies like Troma (apparently Seaver's main influence), by all means check out the DVD. Just be ready for some truly entertaining and funny moments to be overshadowed by a smattering of immature penis jokes and an unfortunate reliance on offensive characters and low brow humor. Fans of more commercial horror films or anyone expecting professionally filmed and assembled low-budget movies along the lines of other Tempe offerings will want to back away slowly and steer clear of this one. While both films have already developed very strong cult followings, there are also many horror fans out there who will likely wonder how this double feature got such a wide DVD release when many far better independent horror films can't find distribution at all.