A futuristic drilling machine sent by aliens goes on a killing spree taking out a band of stoners, some rednecks, and 2 cute couples shacking up in a cabin in the woods.
That plot line is all you really need to know about the film as not much else was explained anyway. The opening credits are played to rocking music and the original artwork from the soon-to-be released comic book this was based on gets you in the mood for alien mayhem.
The alien abduction scenes are incredibly inventive and original. The spaceship seems to be created by computer graphics. The penetration/possession scene features what appears to be stop motion animation, gore galore, sacks of skin, bloodied eyeballs, and tentacles. Other ways the mind control is presented later in the film- a plastic brain flashing all the colors of the rainbow, a shaky alien head with a clit for a nose, upside down frames, and giant fish heads. Seriously. The SFX was provided by Joe Castro (UNCLE SAM, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP). But I had wished there was more gore in the end. What I had seen was extremely well done for a low budget film; it just left me wanting more during the killing spree.
While the film does have some clichés like the dumb stoner band stuck on the side of the road or 2 couples in a cabin trying to get laid; the film does offer something refreshing. The cute compulsive liar does NOT get to bed the innocent girl (ahem, SCREAM anyone?). Instead, the nerdy virgin guy lands a hot babe because he is “not aggressive or mean spirited” to her. And in a nice twist, the player gets so annoyed that he cannot bang Miss Goodie Two Shoes that he tries to convince the nerd to swap partners!
One cool scene that is representative of the spoofery going on here is when a girl is entering a shower and hears a drill. You think she is about to die, but it turns out to be a geek working on her apartment. She takes the shower and said geek has really drilled a hole to peep on her ala PORKYS. When you see his head bobbing, you assume he is masturbating, but it is revealed that his head is shaking from getting drilled by the killer.
There were a few faults with the production though. One part in particular has a “dead” guy that is clearly smiling and trying not to laugh, so not all the acting was fantastic. But Tanya Dempsey (DEATHBED, WITCHHOUSE 3) gives a great turn as good girl Jennifer. And not everything made sense, like the guy that gets drilled through the stomach, runs for 24 hours, then tells complete strangers that they are next to die. How did he survive that long and how does he know who is going to die? And I was cracking up when the couples call the police and the sheriff says, “I’ll be right there” before even getting their address and then suddenly pops up on the property 30 seconds later. What? Also, it is never explained who the Driller is, why he was chosen, or why aliens want him to kill other humans. He just does and it just happens. If you are okay with this, you will be happy with the film. Jed Rowen (BLACK DAHLIA, TERROR TOONS 2) plays the futuristic driller.
And while some of the pacing of the film was off, the dialogue was well written. From the nice couple bonding in a believable manner to the prickish player trying to convince a girl to have sex with him after she just said her dad died, it made the film work.
Here is a sample of the most genius conversation coming from the film from two hicks that refused to help the ladies in distress:
Hick #1, “Fucking women. Just because we’re from the country doesn’t mean we’re gonna rape them.”
Hick #2, “But we were gonna rape them.”
Hick #1, “That’s besides the point. When did bitches get so aggressive and such? That pisses me off. You know what we should do? Go back and rape them.”
Despite some goofiness in timing, I was impressed by how Kartalian was able to avoid some of the pitfalls that happen in today’s horror films, like the ubiquitous shower scenes and nearly obligatory rape scenes in every “hardcore” horror film. Instead, Kartalian skewers the clichés by killing the naughty shower peeping tom and murders the would be rapists before they can commit a crime. And the nice guy does finish last…sort of. Without giving too much away, I will say this was a nice change to the typical [HYB Banned Term Used] solution or the “girl that got away” endings.
Hopefully, DRILLER will be distributed soon and with minimal cuts. The version I watched clocked in at 76 minutes.
Bottom Line: Overall, this was a pretty entertaining alien slasher flick.
Rating: 8/10
Check out the World Premiere of DRILLER at the 2007 SF Hole in the Head Film Festival
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