Week 5 (July 19 – 25) – Sub Rosa Studio
Ron Bonk’s SRS Cinema has been providing the underground with TOP QUALITY GRIME since the 90s. Not only does he release a deluge of Sharksploitation, Amityville ripoffs, and Cocaine-addicted critter flicks, he also distributes auteurist masterpieces like Tim Ritter’s Truth or Dare? – A Critical Madness, Hugh Gallagher’s Gore Trilogy and the Polonia Brothers’ Hallucinations, plus he’s moved into the world of Japanese kaiju cinema with Howl From Beyond the Fog and The Whale God.
John and Mark Polonia made a slasher with giallo POV moments in which Def Jam comedians are being killed and they’re all friends of Hollaback (Mike Troy Smith), whose career has been ruined by his act and now is getting threatening phone calls. Just read that sentence again. That’s all you need to know. The idea that this even exists is why I have this website.
The film follows Smith, a comedian whose career has been left in tatters after a catastrophic act. As he tries to navigate the fallout, his life descends into a nightmare of threatening phone calls and stalker-like pressure. The film utilizes man-on-the-street style interviews to establish a world where the audience is an antagonist, a collective force ready to destroy a performer’s spirit—and apparently, their life—if they fail to bring the laughs.
Comedians Brooklyn Mike, Kenny Williams, Rob Stapleton, F.O.B, Harris, Mike Yard, Wil Sylvince, Arnold Acevedo, Brad Lowery, Jay Phillips, Kareem, Jerry Ford are all in this. What elevates everything beyond a mere novelty is the way it treats its influences. The Polonia brothers—ever the students of genre cinema—inject Giallo-inspired POV shots into the slasher framework. You get that creeping, unseen killer perspective, stalking through the shadows.
This has some solid gore despite how basement level the budget was but you know, I kind of love that someone decided to make a Def Comedy slasher. Who would have come up with that?
You can watch this on Tubi.
