Zombeak!

Busy playing tonsil hockey with her boyfriend, Bobby Ray, around the back of the branch of Cooters where she works, Melissa is interrupted by her boss who she basically tells to go forth and multiply and then she is accosted by a group of Satanists who inform her that she has been chosen to bring forth the Antichrist.  They too get short shrift from out foul mouthed waitress.  Unlike her boss, they don't take no for an answer and kidnap her, taking her to the site of their ritual. 
 
 Bobby Ray enlists the help of his short tempered brother Fasmagger, a State Trooper, who finds out where the Satanists took Melissa and tags along to help his younger brother out.  The assistant manager of Cooters, Max, also comes along, not to help Melissa, but because he has a strong dislike of Satanists. 
 

When the ritual is in full progress, the motley band burst in, causing something to go wrong with the incantation and Satan ends up possessing the sacrificial chicken.  This rooster now has the power of the Prince of Darkness and begins a murderous rampage, pecking out eyes and sucking souls.  It's about this point that you wonder how exactly you got from A to B, what writer/director Sam Drog was smoking when he penned this and where you could get some.
 
After this, Zombeak! goes into full blood and guts territory with the tied up Melissa, Billy Ray and co. all breaking free and getting into a fight with a demonic chicken and the Satanists.  An odder bunch of Devil worshippers you are not likely to find, led by flamboyant egotist Leviathan, queen goth Vascara, camp 'Crow' wannabe Gideon and the enormous pink-shirted Samuel, who occasionally dons a Halloween devil mask and becomes a babyish freak.
 
One by one, they succumb to the Devil Chicken which can survive being beheaded and thrown against walls - unsurprisingly as it is just a puppet! - but Melissa, Billy Ray and Fasmagger take up arms against the chicken as the Satanists try and escape.  Things then go from silly to unbelievably silly when the chicken somehow accosts Vascara in her car and impregnates her, causing the moon to display a pentagram and the dead to come back to life in a full zombie apocalypse.
 
There is nothing big or clever about Zombeak!, it is stupid, tasteless and vulgar but oddly enjoyable.  You'll find yourself getting to the end and thinking 'that was crap' but then thinking back and laughing at the chicken puppet pecking at Melissa's cleavage or Samuel putting the mask on and calling her Mommy.  As no- to low-budget films go, this is clearly working from pocket change at times and has that weird charm that some of these films elicit.  The performances are generally unconvincing and effects pretty woeful, especially the CGI, but there is something fun here.
 

The Disc

 
Extra Features
You get the trailer for this and other upcoming releases from MVM (including the previously reviewed Dr. Chopper and Mr. Halloween).
 
The Picture
A pretty low quality full frame affair with dodgy effects and nothing that would make you take this at all seriously. Some of the low light scenes, of which there are many, are grainier than the rest of the picture but not to the extent that you can't see what's going on or miss out on any important plot development!
 
The Sound
A particularly badly mixed mono affair occasionally has you straining for words but, though the quality is low, it isn't bad enough to completely drown out the dialogue which sometimes finds itself competing for airtime against the music and sound effects.
 
Final Thoughts
As low-budget horror goes, Zombeak! is about par with some of the Brain Damage releases and would be perfect in a double pack with Poultrygeist - if you already have that then add this for a chicken themed double bill.  It's a far from great film with a far from great package but it is appropriately priced (with an RRP of £5.99) and has enough charm and wit to get by so is perhaps worth a punt if you like this kind of thing.