Director – Victor Bonacore (Diary of a Deadbeat: The Story of Jim Vanbebber, Back to the Lake)
Starring – Erin Brown (Dickshark, Splatter Beach), Allison Egan (Her Name Was Torment, Spookie Dookie), and Michael Shershenovich (I Spill Your Guts, Trap)
Release Date – 2022
Rating – 4/5
A few years ago I befriended filmmaker Victor Bonacore on Facebook while he was promoting his film Diary of a Dead Beat which was a documentary about exploitation filmmaker Jim Vanbebber. Since then I’ve shared his projects on the site like the Duderus music video he directed and the crowd funding campaign for his newest film Thrust!. I was very interested in this new film when I saw that he had cast some of my favorite actresses including Allison Egan, Linnea Quigley, and Erin Brown.
I contributed to the crowd funding campaign and a few days back my copy of the film arrived. I knew I wouldn’t have time to watch it as part of my October horror binge, so I decided to hold off until the month ended. As I got caught up on reviews, I decided it was a perfect time to finally watch this madness.
**Spoiler alert** The film takes place in a world where men are inferior to women and most men are forced into a life of servitude. Lovers Aloe and Vera are part of a female gang and live the good life of partying, drugs, visiting wrestling shows, and concerts. However, their awesome life is put on hold when rumors that the murderous Dirtbag Mike has escaped confinement and is tearing a bloody hole through town. Thrust! Was not what I was expecting at all and I fucking loved it. **Spoiler Alert**
This year has been one of the best years in recent memory regarding quality films with Thrust! Being one of the best indie productions so far. It was a fantastic movie with one hell of a story and a fantastic cast. Honestly, any film released in the last few years that feature Erin Brown or Allison Egan has my full attention and Thrust! did not disappoint.
The acting in this is great. I was hoping Linnea Quigley would have a bigger role than she did but she was great in what we did get. Her character was a lot of fun and you could tell she was enjoying herself on set. We also have great performances from other names popular in indie horror. We see Jason Crowe, Sadie Tate, Roni Jonah, Ellie Church, Dixie Gers, and Megan Beck (Do you still go by Beck?) deliver some fun performances. With that being said, Erin Brown and Allison Egan are the stars of the show. They are great as the leads in the film and carry the film with Victor Bonacore and Michael Shershenovich delivering notable performances as well.
The story for this one is a punk adventure through a female lead society where professional wrestling and drug use is common while men are forced into slavery or killed for fun. I don’t know what Victor was smoking when he wrote this but god damn is it wild. The movie has great pacing and you never know what the next scene is going to bring you. It’s a film that does not have the same impact after the first viewing but that first viewing is something that will stick with you for days after.
Finally, the film has plenty of bloody moments. The effects work for the gag and the film doesn’t shy away from the red stuff but the kills are not as memorable as the rest of the film. Some genre fans will be a bit disappointed in this but the story has so much going on that the lack of memorable deaths didn’t ruin the experience for me.
Seen two live screenings with the cast present and had a blast. It’s just such a different movie. Upon first finding out about it and watching the trailer, my thought was this could be fun. It’s a strange fun time and not for the easy to offend.