Binge and Purge (VHS)

(Frontline) http://pacificcoast.net/~frontline/index.html
Directed by Brian Clement
Starring Tanya Barnard, Fiona Eden-Walker, Moira Thomas, Amy Emel, and a whole butchershop's worth of innards

Brian Clement, the low budget tyrant of the New Zombie Cinema (Meat Market 1&2) returns for the third and final entry in his kill-them-and-eat-them series, "Binge and Purge". If the title immediately brings supermodels to mind, well, you're on the right track, sort of. This one flies off in a lot of directions, so pay attention. The title sequence cleverly mixes stock Spanish civil war footage with authentic looking costumed zombie hijinks for a chilling prequel, before slamming you right into a post-terrorism episode of COPS. There's riots in the streets, a white hot madness gripping the populace, too many "high alert" warnings and no relief in sight. From within this powderkeg, a whole new breed of surreal sadists emerge from the shadows. 

A pack of vicious zombie punk fashion models, constantly loaded on some kind of high-octane undead cocaine, lure unsuspecting homeless guys back to their lair with the usual promises. Once in their evil clutches, the unluckier than usual winos are treated to a bubblebath and a few beers before the cannibal girls chop their dicks off and eat them. And then, of course, the girls have bloody bubblebaths together. Hot on trail of these twisted sisters is a group of rogue cops turned private dicks led by the punk vampire chick from Meat Market 2 (who sounds just like Sporty Spice, by the way), who calls herself "Number 11" and does her best to explain all the high weirdness on display. 

There are more than a few attempts at "the Big Gross Out" throughout Binge and Purge, like when a tabloid reporter returns to his office, fresh from spending some quality time with the mayhem models, and tears out a janitor's throat. Then he vomits acid on the guy's face until it melts, and then he licks the bloody skull, popping an eyeball into his mouth in classick Nekromantikal fashion. If you edited together all the flesh ripping and entrail eating in this video, you'd have a 20 minute orgy of non-stop gore. Binge and Purge approaches that mythical negative-nirvana known as Splatterporn, and it's a hell of a thing. But Clement's real strongpoint- besides whatever it takes to get pretty girls to eat sheep guts for you- is in creating dread-filled tableaus of mass panic and bloodshed, engulfing the screen with large scale chaos. He does a terrific job of it here. I'm not exactly sure who the stormtroopers are that bust into the detectives' base with laser-guided guns and smoke grenades, but they sure look like they mean business. 

Binge and Purge climaxes with a suitably messy battle between zombie cops and terrorists and hot girls that eat people and maybe a few nazis, as well. Although I admit to being a little lost along the way, B&P's intent is clear. It's a high concept spoof addressing the issue of privacy in the post 9/11 world, as well as the media-driven standards of unattainable beauty foisted on the public by anorexic fashion models and their keepers. All under the guise of a non-stop gore-a-thon, no less. It's definitely a little over-ambitious, but that sure beats not being ambitious enough, and the splatterheads among us will absolutely love it. 

Did I mention that Brian pulled this micro-epic together for only $2,000? The last time I had 2 grand to spare, I only made it about 7 blocks before passing out in a convulsive heap after 36 straight hours of God know what- it just goes to show you what you ca accomplish with a little discipline, a lot of work, and a vision. I salute the cat, and look forward to his next messy showstopper. A vicious young talent, this Clement.  - Sleazegrinder