RAZOR DAYS (2012)
Razor Days (2012)
Director: Mike Watt
Cast: Amy Lynn Best, Debbie Rochon, Bette Cassatt, Jeff Monahan, David Marancik, Alyssa Herron, Alan Rowe Kelly, Michael Varrati.
Happy Cloud Pictures, a Pittsburgh-based independent production company, for the last 15+ years has been known for their snazzy, witty, and original B-movie filmmaking styles giving the world films such as their 16mm zombie epic The Resurrection Game, the slasher spoof Severe Injuries, and many others. Primarily known for doing films with a lighthearted, humorous tone and occasionally throwing in a few over-the-top gore effects and other essential horror elements, their newest feature film Razor Days takes them in a much different direction. Razor Days is Happy Cloud’s first venture into the darker “extreme cinema” side of horror.
Taking a cue from classic rape-revenge films, Razor Days tells the story of three women joined together by a set of horrific circumstances they encountered in their pasts. Two of them were left with unsightly physical scars as a result of these experiences. One of them decides revenge is the only way to rid herself of the ongoing emotional and psychological pain which will not go away despite extensive psychiatric treatment. The two left with scars decide to take to tracking down their abusers to exact brutal retribution upon them. Turns out the perpetrators are a family of cannibals living out in the sticks. Brief glimpses of their horrific deeds are shown throughout in flashback leading up to the revenge scenario. We slowly get a picture of the victims’ gruesome ordeals leading up to the disturbing conclusion.
As mentioned earlier, Razor Days is a major departure from Happy Cloud’s previous films. While their earlier works are in the style of humorous ’80s horror flicks like Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare Sisters, Return to Horror High, and Fright Night, Razor Days takes its cues from the darkest realm of the genre featuring echoes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I Spit on Your Grave, and Mother’s Day along with elements of classic exploitation flicks like Ms. 45, Rape Squad, and The Exterminator. For their first effort in the genre of extreme/disturbing cinema, they’ve done a hell of a job! Debbie Rochon gives one of the absolute finest performances of her career and Amy Lynn Best and Bette Cassatt both give moving and convincing performances as well. The film has its share of gore and brutality and the mine shaft setting during the revenge sequences and the cannibalism flashbacks is very creepy and works effectively. Director Mike Watt’s effort at a serious, unsettling picture is a success. The film keeps an ongoing mood of dread and despair that lingers on and stays with you long after the end credits have rolled. My hat goes off to Watt, Best and the Happy Cloud crew for this loving tribute to classic nihilistic grindhouse horror and exploitation cinema. Gino Crognale (Frankenhooker, Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage, The Walking Dead, etc.) provided some special effects make-up and filmmaker Scooter McCrae (Shatter Dead, Sixteen Tongues) was the film’s composer.
Visit Happy Cloud at www.happycloudpictures.com for more info on this and their other flicks. Here’s hoping this one gets the recognition it deserves on the festival circuit and that a DVD release is not too far off.
