Hectic Knife
HECTIC KNIFE (2016)
Directed by Greg DeLiso
Review by Mario Dominick
Recently released by Troma, Hectic Knife is an oddball, goofy, outlandish effort from a very ambitious filmmaker named Greg DeLiso. Hectic Knife is one of those movies that essentially creates its own genre. You get a little comedy, you get a little horror, you get a little sci-fi, you get a little film noir, you get a little vigilante film, and you get a little super hero movie. Whatever you decide to class the film as, there’s no denying it is one hell of a trip!
Hectic Knife stars Peter Litvin as “Hectic Knife.” Hectic is a vigilante taking on the job of ridding the city of gangsters, drug dealers, and other sleaze with the help of his trusty kitchen knives. Hectic’s new villain supreme he must take on is Piggly Doctor, a madman cooking up nefarious methods to bring about society’s destruction. One of those methods includes blowing up children. Hectic’s mission to save the world is a wild ride. Hard boiled eggs, fried guns, kung fu, self-inflicted knife wounds, sliced and diced bad guys, and bagels (yes, bagels) are among the insanity that ensues on Hectic’s adventure. A little Cronenbergian body horror is thrown in for good measure.
Hectic Knife is one of those movies that will leave you asking afterward, “What the hell did I just watch?” While it delivers much of the outrageous gore and goofball humor you expect from a lot of Troma releases, it has elements to it that really set it high above a lot of indie movies being released today. With its grainy black and white cinematography, it has the look and feel of early Kevin Smith. It also features some touches of the gritty underground Cinema of Transgression style of filmmaking, the experimental vibe of Damon Packard’s Reflections of Evil, and the comic book style humor of some iconic Troma movies like Poultrygeist and the Toxic Avenger series. DeLiso is an inspired filmmaker to be certain. How he pulled off this work of cinematic acid tripping insanity on such a small budget is something to be commended. If you want something that messes with your head and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but leaves you laughing till you cry all at the same time, Hectic Knife is probably for you! It will be interesting to see what other insanity DeLiso has up his sleeve with his next picture.
Hectic Knife is available on Blu-Ray from Troma at www.troma.com
This review is based on a special VHS release handmade by DeLiso and limited to 100 copies. The tape includes special features like Troma trailers at the beginning and outtakes, short films, and music videos after the movie.
Visit the Hectic Knife website at www.hecticknife.com
Order a copy of the flick and have a bagel while watching!
