A gory slice of star spangled hell oozing with grungy 70s atmosphere, Marcel Walz has returned with his most assured feature yet. In what has clearly been crafted as a tribute to slashers The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, Brute 1976 finds a group of friends out to film a photoshoot deep in the desert. Cue the car trouble, inbred freaks in garish masks, and some seriously gnarly kills—par for the course to be honest for genre maven Marcel Walz. Walz again makes the most of low budget trappings, embracing the cheesy glee and throwback nature with open arms.
The date is August 17th, 1976, not long after that aforementioned legendary chainsaw-movie hit theaters. Two hippie lesbians on the side of the road encounter car trouble, and scramble for a way to find help stranded this far out in the desert. June (Bianca Jade Montalvo) seems more or less preoccupied with finding places to let her freak flag fly with Raquel (Gigi Gustin) rather than getting their car up and running again. The duo stumble deep into the side of a mine. Before long, a Devil’s Rejects-style title card accompanied by the screams of agony leap out to boldly announce that this is Brute 1976.
At the same time, the main group we will primarily follow enters in a grungy-looking van for good measure. Each of these characters have distinct 70s orange and brown color palettes to their costuming, and most are an archetype of the time to make it easier to see them bite the bullet. Aiming to execute an American photoshoot joining black with white, this group at least has a more noble cause than the types who usually bite the bullet in these slashers. The ones most engaging to watch are Afro-sporting ingénue Roxy (Adriane McLean), firecracker Sunshine (Sarah French), and Ray (Mark Justice), whose rippling muscles and short-shorts stand out amongst the male eye candy.
From the very first frame, the love for Texas Chain Saw Massacre feels soaked into the very core of Brute 1976. This even trickles down to the sound design. Walz etches out a twisted, gender-bending family devised by frequent collaborator and screenwriter, Joe Knetter (That’s a Wrap, Pretty Boy, Blind). Move over Slaughters, there’s a whole new crew in town to steal your thunder! The 70s atmosphere even makes room for a clever Scream reference or two. Each member of the diabolical inbreds would be right at home in any of the Chainsaw sequels, a true testament to the power of this creative teaming.
A horror film is nothing without its kills. Though Brute 1976 saves plenty of time for its endgame, the lead up allows for plenty of cannon fodder. Practical effects rain supreme, forcing down the nastiness prevalent in Walz’s other features. The most brutal kill in the movie has to be one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen involving a drill gun, and I mean this in the most sincere way possible. With a theater audience or simply popped in for a party movie night, this crowd-pleaser would truly deliver the goods. Its characters make frustrating choices, and at times evoke the age-old screaming at the screen. However, Brute 1976 truly means business. Horrifying and deliciously over the top, this sickening slasher saws through the competition with ease.
Brute 1976 drills a hole through audience expectations when it comes to Digital on August 26th from Cinephobia Releasing.
