Fester

Fester comes from the mind of Buffalo, New York, filmmaker Emir Skalonja. Emir originally hailed from Sarajevo, Bosnia. It is in his native country where he started on his road in a role for the film Psalm (1992). His debut as an actual filmmaker begun in short film (61 min) Veronica (2014). From their he made a couple of short films and two episodes of The Undead before creating the experience that is Fester. Emir has also directed segments for upcoming anthologies Virus of the Dead (2016) and Grindsploitation (2016). Along with all of this there are three features to keep an eye on as well!

 

Young Tommy Fester only escape from a life of being a victim is by reading his book, a child’s book on surviving a zombie out break. In this case the zombies are rabbits. He even has a toy rabbit zombie.

 

But still, he has to go out into reality and that’s when the constant bullying starts. If not at school at home from Randy, an alcoholic not much of a father figure. His mother June seems to be the only one who cares.

 

After Randy threatens to beat up Tommy June steps up to defend him. Randy being drunk again starts to beat on her instead. Unfortunately for Randy this is the last straw and Tommy repeatedly stabs him in the back before running away. 

 

15 years later and the urban legend of the maniac rabbit who hunts people, and eats them, is about to be proven true!

 

Masked killer with a past of being a victim of bullying. From the outset with the opening scene and narration we are opened up to filmmaker Emir Skalonja passion for horror. In this case a nod towards the original Halloween (1978). Along the way there are cues to other films and cultural icons as well. But in the end Fester is it’s own horror experience. 

 

Fester plays in three acts after the opening describing the urban legend that is Fester.

 

Of a young Tommy Fester and the torment he goes through with bullying. His only kindred being his mother. Everyone else seems to just beat him down. Alas his reasoning for becoming Fester the Zombie Rabbit, his book he escapes into and his toy zombie rabbit. Felt actors Gabriel Brown (Tommy), Sheri Fairchild (June / Mother) and Frank Nicosia (Randy / Father) were perfectly cast as a downtrodden family ruined by the alcoholism of Randy and whatever that isn’t shared in the tale. I suspect Randy is actually Tommy’s stepfather or June’s boy friend and thus a major portion of the negativity within the home.

 

A young couple, Rebecca (Airy Nikohl) and Jesse (Rich Ruiz), head off into the countryside for a spot of camping. Unfortunately for them they are interrupted by Jeffery (Robert Bozek) and Patty (Brenda Rickert). After some small talk we find out these new arrivals are thrill killers. Here there are hints of a figure watching from the woods. Interactions between the couples were believable. Rebecca and Jesse just a young couple out for some quiet time. As for Jeff and Patty, a couple of trailer trash thrill killers. These two are played a little over the top and sometimes Jeffery’s sniggering got a little too much, but, it is part of the character. I did like his narration on killing, it fit the whole storyline to a T!

 

Then boom; death, torture and rape arrives in the form of a zombie rabbit named Fester! Who becomes meat for Fester’s appetite for human flesh and who survives? Go watch Fester!

 

Fester is a fairly low budget affair and thus some of the gore effects mirror this. But in stating this I really liked it and felt right for the entire experience. Dismemberment, beheadings and cannibalism is represented here. Not a huge amount of blood. In the end I would prefer this way over CGI any day. thus marking it way better then movies with way larger budgets. Shows a lot of heart and passion, I dig that! 

 

Special Effects were created by Edward Brown. Edward also created the character Fester and plays him as well. I loved Fester the zombie rabbit. His style in a suit, top hat, flower and bloody zombie rabbit mask. Natural, his choice of weapon of mayhem, a cleaver! For me, awesome stuff!

 

Fester was filmed over three weekends. Hell, maybe as mentioned before, each weekend was marked by the three different acts of the film? I don’t know, I just know I had a great time with this. Not over the top gory to cater for the gore freaks, I am one myself, but for horror fans who love these films coming from the Underground / Indie scene. Upon watching Fester it felt like a Halloween 31 Days of Horror tradition for me. I very much appreciate Emir Skalonja for allowing me to experience Fester, thank you!

 

Farther information, including where to purchase, can be found in Underground Horror Films here http://extremehorrorcinema.com/index.php?topic=3835.msg46741;topicseen#new Don’t forget to visit the Fester Face Book page and hitting the LIKE to show support!