Feast III: The Happy Finish

Introduction

The first Feast was a film made for Project Greenlight and because it was extremely successful John Gulager was able to follow it up with a 2-part sequel (think Matrix: Reloaded and Revolutions). This third instalment kicks off where the second finished, in a small town where a group of survivors (including the bartender from the first film) are trying to defend themselves against monsters.

Using the same style of captions to introduce characters, this motley bunch includes a woman who wears nothing but a studded belt and boots for the first part of the film, a Mexican dwarf and a bloke with a piece of pipe through his head! During their quest for survival they come across a young martial arts expert called Jean-Claude Segal, s***kicker (a muscular hero type) and a strange guy in a hooded cloak who can produce a high pitched whine that repels the creatures.

This prophet, Shot Bus Gus, leads them on a journey through the sewers where they intend to destroy the monsters once and for all.

Video

A clear transfer with some odd filming styles, such as the use of night vision, but these add to the experience and tension. The makeup effects on the monsters are excellent and there are some very effective uses of visual and special effects. Sadly, some of the exterior shots were obviously shot against green screen or in a studio so you lose some of the (little) sense of realism that it had to begin with.

One sequence is shot entirely with strobe lighting, which did my eyes no favours at all and is probably something to bear in mind if you have photosensitive epilepsy.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is suitably loud and full of great sound effects which complement the gory visuals. Some of the dialogue is in Spanish or hard to make out and forced subtitles appear when this happens.

Extra Features

The commentary is a jovial affair with the principal crew (director, writers, producer) talking about this film and the others in the series, saying how they came up with the story and reminisce about the shoot.

A Look Back at John Gulager is a brief featurette where he explains what happened in Project Greenlight and how it's changed his life.

Conclusion

None of the Feast movies will ever be considered masterpieces in the horror canon - they are what they are: gory, silly, action-packed splatter films. Feast III: The Happy Finish isn't as effective a horror film as the first in the series, going more for action over atmosphere and suffering a little as a result. The acting is reasonable, but you're not endeared to the characters and don't care when one dies. The humour is a little hit and miss, but there are some good laughs to be had - even one that's also the most wince-inducing moment in the film!

It is sad to see what began with such a refreshing and enjoyable movie end with such an incoherent mess as this. Characters come and go, defy normal human biology (walking around and even fighting with both arms missing) and, by the end, it is as if they didn't know how to finish the film properly so you get one of the most ridiculous endings I've seen in years. Maybe they ran out of time and/or money. Maybe they just didn't care that much. Feast III works as a silly gross-out horror movie but not as anything else.

It's slightly puzzling that neither of the sequels made it to the UK, but if you like the first one, importing wouldn't be such a bad idea.