Feast

Feast

An Enjoyable Creature Flick

The Bear Tavern is a roadside bar that’s located in the middle of nowhere. A seemingly ordinary night for the bar’s patrons is about to take a turn for the worst when creatures arrive intending to make a meal of the people inside.

From the start we’re introduced to the fifteen characters who will be battling these creatures. These include: Bozo (Balthazar Getty), a slightly egotistical pool shark who just might have the guts to make it through the night; Harley Mom (Diane Goldner), a tough as nails woman who packs a pistol and, as it’s revealed on screen, is planning to rob the joint; Hot Wheels (Josh Zuckerman), Bozo’s nicer younger brother who is confined to a wheelchair; Coach (Henry Rollins), a motivational speaker who happens to be at the bar that night; Grandma (Eileen Ryan), an older woman and drinker who seems to have been there since the bar first opened; Jason Mewes (played by Jason Mewes), a fast talker who’s Bozo’s opponent in a game of pool; Beer Guy (Judah Friedlander), the loveable loser who delivers beer to the joint; Bartender (Clu Gulager), the crusty old barkeep who doesn’t take anything off of anyone; Tuffy (Krista Allen), a waitress at the bar who happens to be one tough cookie; Vet (Anthony Criss), a patron at the bar who can’t wait to get back to the front line; Boss Man (Duane Whitaker), the wily owner and operator of the Bear Tavern; Honey Pie (Jenny Wade), the nicer waitress at the bar; Cody (Tyler Patrick Jones), Tuffy’s young son who happens to be upstairs when trouble begins; Hero (Eric Dane) and Heroine (Navi Rawat), the couple who make it to the bar after accidentally killing one of the creatures with their car.

All rules for horror films are thrown out of the window as some of the people inside the bar are picked off one by one before the remaining patrons devise a plan to fight back. Will their plan work? Who will survive the night?

“Feast” was the highly anticipated movie that was the result of Ben Affleck’s and Matt Damon’s (in collaboration with Wes Craven) “Project Greenlight # 3”. The series, which picked the script written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and director John Gulager (whose father and wife appeared in the film as the Bartender and Harley Mom, respectively), followed the sometimes controversial making of the film from beginning to end.

At 85 minutes, “Feast” gets to the point and never slows down. It’s similar to a thrill ride with plenty of twists and turns where we don’t know if anything is lurking around the corner or what’s going to happen next.

Besides the continuous threat of the creatures outside, there are also the personality conflicts of the people inside. “Feast” provides a few comedic points in the film between characters which does help to break the tension of the moment. Beer Guy and a few scenes with Bozo were good for a few laughs.

I especially liked the introductions of the characters. We’re treated to a freeze frame with the characters name, job, fun fact or reputation, and, most importantly, their life expectancy. We soon find out that a character’s life expectancy may not be as long as they anticipated!

I also liked the fact that less is more. While we see plenty of gore in the film (I think Honey Pie ended up getting splattered with blood every time someone was killed), there were instances where we know what happened to the person but never actually see it.

While the film was entertaining, there were a couple of things that I questioned. What exactly were the creatures? It’s never explained whether they’re aliens, mutated desert muskrats or a science experiment gone bad. They just happen to show up at the Bear Tavern in the middle of the night. Also we never get to know some of the characters in depth. This made it hard to care if anything actually happened to them or not. But, I think these were just minor things. It didn’t really take away from the movie but could have added a little something extra.

Considering the tight budget constraints and other difficulties in making the film, “Feast” is a fun horror romp. It’s a shame the film was never wide released into theaters (except for one or two late night showings). However, the movie is now available on DVD.

Runtime: 85 minutes

This film is rated “R” by the MPAA for pervasive strong creature violence, gore, language, some sexuality and drug content.

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