Chainsaw Sally

USA 2004
produced by
Mark Redfield, Stuart Voytilla, Kit Bateman (executive), David Calhoun (executive), John Hutchinson (executive), Rick Kelton (executive), John Krokidas (executive), Roland Mazzone (executive) for Redfield Arts, It Came from Planet X
directed by Jimmyo Burril
starring April Monique Burril, Mark Redfield, Alec Joseph, David Calhoun, Kristen Hudson, Brad Smoley, Jennifer Rouse, Lesley Vernot, Gunnar Hansen, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Suzi Lorraine, Shawn Jones, Melissa Griffith, Andy Wentsel, Jennifer Hessler, Angela Eraulth, Chuck Richard, Archie Williams, Bill Pangeotou, George Stover, Deborah L.Murphy, Curt Boushel, J.R.Lyston, Rock Savage, Fran Lane, Lilly Burril, Jessie Hutchinson, Aaron Martinek, Michael A.Kinauer, Ted Carroll, Waymara Adomo-Diaz, Jamie Taylor, Alexxus Young, Heather Verdui, Jessica Haley, Jennifer Haley, Kit Batman, Beth Hillyard, D.J.Summitt, Joe Anastaso, Count Gore DeVol (= Richard Dyszel), Katie Taylor
written by Jimmyo Burril, music by Jamie Taylor, special effects by Eric Supensky

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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By day, Sally (April Monique Burril) is a wallflower-type librarian, but by night, she relishes in dressing rather outrageously and killing people and taking them apart with various tools she gets from the local hardware store (which is run by Herschell Gordon Lewis himself), but mainly people who deserved it (like those who are noisy in the library or forget to bring back their library books).

With this set up the action shifts to Porterville, one of these small and sleepy American towns that you wind scattered across the country a dime a dozen - but which city developer Harvey Benton (David Calhoun) wants to turn into a booming center of commerce - but for doing this, he has to buy the land of Steve Kellerman (Mark Redfield). Thing is, Steve is already a rich man, so he doesn't really need Benton's money (even if he offers thrice the amount the land is worth), instead he decides to go to the local library to make some investigations about his property, with the help of Sally. Soon, he stumbles upon a tale about a family that has been murdered in a farmhouse on the land 15 years ago, but neither the killers nor the kids of the family were ever found - but of course, we the audience know that the kids are really Sally and her effeminate and crossdressing brother Ruby (Alec Joseph), while the killers were killed by daddy (Gunnar Hansen of Texas Chainsaw Massacre-fame) himself using his chainsaw (what else) just before breathing his last. And the bodies of the killers were hidden by Sally and Ruby (their young versions played by Lilly Burril and Jessie Hutchinson), who since then have developed a rather weird relationship towards corpses and killing in general.

Soon, a sort-of relationship develops between Steve and Sally, but Harvey Benton is so hell-bent on getting Steve's property that he tells his Barbie doll assistant Cynthia (Kristen Hudson) to do everything (and you know what I mean with everything) to make him sell - which is a double blow for Sally, not only does she really like Steve, also the hideout of her and her brother is on Steve's land, and if the land is sold for urbanisation ...

So Sally makes up a diabolical plan: she lures Benton, Cynthia and the mayor (Chuck Richard) all to her parents' old farmhouse where she brutally kills and dismembers them, then she lures Steve there to, to make him call the police - bad decision since Sally has already placed multiple bodyparts in Steve's hotelroom just to make sure tht the police will believe him to be the murderer ...

And while Steve ends up in an asylum wearing a strait jacket, Sally and Ruby go on living their lives and doing their killings as if nothing had happened ...

The character Chainsaw Sally first saw the light of day as a character on a popular horror website, but as her popularity grew and grew, it was decided to turn her character into a (made-for-video-)film.

The film without a doubt has its moments of greatness (in a trash-cult sort of way), but by and large, it's uneven. What's great about the film is Chainsaw Sally herself, as played by April Monique Burril, who is capable of portraying the wallflower aspect of the character as well as her outrageous outbursts of violence and who is capable of handling the silliest (and funniest) pieces of dialogue. The problem of the film is that it wants to be way too much all at the same time: all-out gore movie, black comedy, social satire, post-modern slasher, wannabe-cult, ...  and somehow, all these seperate elements just don't click right, which is not at all helped by a not too strong script and occasionally uninspired direction.

This is not to say that Chainsaw Sally is a bad movie, it's still wicked fun from time to time - it just could have been much better.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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