Given that this film is considered the 'B' feature on Scream factories double disc bluray release of this film...and that, their 'A' feature was 'Munchies' which was horrible. I really didnt have a whole lot of faith when it came to 'Munchie'...but y'know what? its not half bad! It's not good! it's CERTAINLY not GOOD. But it's ABSOLUTELY not BAD.
The plot? A kid who's life sucks (he's a transfer student who has no friends, is constantly bullied, is failing at school, has a crush on a girl who doesnt know he exists and his mums dating a total weirdo loser who's set to become his new stepdad) finds a mysterious trunk while out exploring the backwoods. and on opening it releases 'Munchie' a HELLSCAPE of a puppet voiced by Dom Delouise who has ancient magical powers and has existed since the dinosaur days.
Together the pair will have many adventures that'll slowly turn the boys life around, and maybe teach him the true value of friendship along the way.
And...honestly? I didnt have a strong feeling either way on this one, the script is fine...it's of the same ilk as 'Howard the Duck' or 'Robot in the Family'. I thought it was a little slower than i'd have liked on the pacing and the humour was VERY hit or miss. I did quite like the self aware 'dream' flashes that happen periodically in which we see the kid being dead or attending a student couincil meeting thats pitched like 'Miss world' but some of the one liners are awful, and the physical comdy is hit and miss (no pun intended).
The tones actually not too bad, its a self aware family movie comedy, and thats basically what you get, i'd argue that it's maybe aimed a little more at families with younger children rather than your older child/teen 'family'. But given some of the utter dross that sits inside this genre of film making. This is a VERY strange, but ultimately harmless picture.
The directions a little madcap, and at times incoherent, but that only really adds to the sense of chaos that this thing brings to the table, I didnt really have any strong issues with it. I will say the creative decision behind the 'Munchie' design will haunt my every waking hour from now until the heat death of the planet. Quite why they went for 'Fanged Baked Potato in a wig' is beyond me...as was the decision to make his mouth flap about worse than the animatronic 'Ninja Turtles'. It barely matches ANY of his dialogue and for the most part, they cut away from Munchie when he's talking.
Cast direction however DID seem like it was fairly well communicated, everyone seemingly knows what kind of film this is, and delivers an intentionally overly corney and campy performance from start to finish, which I thought was a nice touch.
The cine, much like the direction is chaotic, inconsistent, but just about holds it together for a good chunk of the runtime. I wasnt totally won over by it, I feel like there wasnt much in the way of variations on tyhe compositional choices and the lack of a distinct colour and lighting style was a tad problematic for me. But again, i've seen worse...but this was a tad dissapointing.
The performances are all fairly lively, there are a few genuinely strange delivery choices that I thought were fun, and everyone feels animate, engaged in doing whatever they can to keep the thing holding peoples attention. Its fine.
The soundtracks hideous.
I think this is a fine enough family film to have on while the family is doing other things, but i'll admit, by the 3rd act, my mind was beginning to wander a bit. had it been another 10 minutes shorter, it'd have lost 'feature length' runtime...but would have been better for it. An almost delerious watch in places...I'd say it might be worth catching 'Munchie' once...but your milage DEFINITELY may vary.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/munchie/
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