Sometimes I’m in the mood for crap. Sometimes I think, “let me find the most absurd creature feature out there and hold it to impossibly high standards that it’s never going to meet.” This is how my evening began late last night as I surfed Amazon Instant Video for a new movie to watch. And then, like a glimmering used napkin on the horizon, I managed to discover Killer Piñata. Not to be confused with 2002’s Piñata: Survival Island, Killer Piñata is a brand new horror-comedy creature feature that debuted earlier this month. Oh, yes, this was my viewing material last night and here’s my review having managed to sit through the whole thing.
Killer Piñata is written and directed by Stephen Tramontana with co-writer Megan MacManus and producer Nick Weeks. Cast members include Eliza-Jane Morris, Billy Chengary, Lindsay Ashcroft, Nate Bryan, Daniel Hawkes, Joette Waters and Steven James Price. After watching his friends getting beaten to death at a family birthday party, a cursed piñata sets out on bloody revenge once a young girl’s parents leave on vacation. Throwing a party to celebrate her small dose of freedom, the young girl and her friends are laid siege upon by the sinister piñata… who kills them one by one in the most festive of ways.
I think any feature film that starts off with a creepy, religious psychic wearing a purple fedora and sporting a hook for a hand is worth exploring further. Fully expecting to hate this movie, I was actually intrigued by the filmmakers’ decision to shoot Killer Piñata like something straight out of the 80’s, like something you’d find in the back of a VHS shop. Hurdling past the opening credits – which were probably the best produced part of the movie – I found my mind blown in a million different directions as Killer Piñata was quite the cornucopia of contrasted elements. Horror, comedy, festive creature feature, shot like it was in the 80’s and still not too terrible. I breezed through the first twenty minutes without wanting to bean my head in with a baseball bat. What the Hell was going on here?
What perplexed me even more is that, despite being shot as a B movie and making absolutely no sense, Killer Piñata is actually quite good from a production standpoint. Sure, at points it looks like two different cameras were used and the audio levels aren’t too sharp when switching between wide shots and close-ups. Sure, there are some errors like a character being bloody before they’re even attached and a line of dialogue repeating. But, everything else is… quite good. Whoever worked the camera deserved the most praise because the angles used here are genius and the movement of the camera during action sequences or to showcase emotion and suspense is outstanding. The blood used throughout the movie was realistic and the right shade of red and the accompanying special effects were professionally administered. The locations used were fitting for a production of this caliber and the body count was much higher than I expected. The acting was higher quality than I expected, too!
Killer Piñata, when examined as a horror-comedy, has the perfect villain – a killer rainbow donkey. In his quest for bloody vengeance, he uses his powers of super strength, super speed and flight as well as the abilities to possess people and crap poison candy. He loses everything when watching his pinata girlfriend get smashed to pieces in the most over-dramatic and over-emotional way possible… and that is where the movie succeeds on the comedic aspect. When Killer Piñata isn’t trying to be funny and relies on dry humor and dialogue, that’s when I found it humorous. When it was trying to be over the top and raunchy, it failed. I think I would have much rather this title been attempted as a serious creature feature because it wasn’t horrific and at times it was barely funny. At least it was well worth the price of a stream due to its silly plot, high production value, great gore and decent acting. Killer Piñata is the cutest villain you’ll ever see and an outstanding throwback feature that’ll delight the macabre kid in you. Final Score: 7 out of 10.
