Trailer Park of Terror

By Buzz McClain -- Video Business, 10/27/2008

SUMMIT/UNIVERSAL
Available now
> Dirtball denizens of Hell’s trailer park scare up a grimly funny film.

Imperium’s anthology comic finally makes it to the home screen in this gory, ghastly yet oddly appealing adaptation. Shapely Nichole Hiltz brings Norma, the Queen of the Trailer Park, to life—well, afterlife—as she sets up the various tortures and slaughters of a half-dozen misfits from a Christian ministry, whose van unfortunately crashes near the titular haunted trailer park. The first reel sets up the mistreatment of Norma at the hands of her cruel neighbors and the deal she makes with the devil (country star Trace Atkins) to turn them all into hideously deformed demons with a sense of humor. The ghouls rule the final half as the greasy Southern-fried music blasts away.

Shelf Talk: There’s potential for Trailer Park to break out beyond the realm of freaks and geeks who are already waiting for this release. The morbid humor recalls the best of Freddy Krueger and the production values—particularly one demon’s process for making fried jerky—are ghoulishly over the top. Hiltz is a known quantity from recently canceled cult TV show The Riches and, with a push, the film will have legs beyond Halloween. A hit at Slamdance, San Diego’s Comic-Con, Fantasia and Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, the usual audience is already primed. The disc contains both the R and unrated versions.

Horror, color, NR/R (violence, gore, sexual situations, language, drug use, torture), 96 min., DVD $22.99
Extras: cast interviews
Director: Steven Goldmann
First Run: DVD premiere