My Bloody Banjo (2015)

A Masterpiece!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

MY BLOODY BANJO is a trashy, gruesome little tribute to Troma, made in the UK but managing to slip a Lloyd Kaufman cameo in there just for the sake of it. The best thing I can say about this is that it's better than the films made by Chris Seaver, such as FILTHY MCNASTY, but only just. The story is about a bored office worker whose abusive girlfriend drives him over the edge and into some very dark places. THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE's Laurence R. Harvey plays an abused co-worker and there's a stand-out gore scene on a toilet of all places, which will have any male viewer wincing in empathy with the main character's plight. The rest is dumb, trashy, and lowbrow.

Picture the scene. 2015 and the very first Horror Convention in the UK, a group of people fill a room with guests to premiere their Trailer for Banjo.Loosely based on real life events; I shall let you think about that, Liam Regan talked us through his ideas that came to be one of the most original nods to the Troma Universe mixed with pure British Grit that makes our movies so fantastic.The best way to explain this film?It's Drop Dead Fred on Acid.Enjoy

Banjo is a feature length twisted comedy feature from Liam Regan. It was originally a short film and has now gained a cult following in the last 18 months of festival showings running 82 minutes.What made me laugh about Banjo is that it was based on a personal experience by Regan which plays as a running joke.The lead charter is named after Billy in Gremlins (1984) surname with other in jokes to boot.I felt that I got the references to Regan's film and that was an enjoyable thing to see. Ronnie (The Imaginary Friend) was kinda based on Funny Man (1994) and has hints of Drop Dead Fred (1991).People I saw the film with, also praised the sound and music to Banjo. I have to agree with them credit due to all that worked on the film!Watch out, you might even see Liam Regan's mentor and hero, Lloyd Kaufman in there as a Cameo. It must have been a child-hood dream for Regan.Like I said, the whole film is twisted and should appeal to a cult horror crowd.

Liam Regan's debut film - which screened to a highly appreciative audience at Frightfest 2015 - is a love letter to Troma and the early films of Frank Henenlotter. A low-budget exercise in adoration that often plumbs the depths of bad taste to amusing effect, it's an energetic and gleeful tale that also often reveals a surprising sense of self-discipline and maturity for a first effort. This is clearly a filmmaker whose love for the genre and his film shines through and should hopefully be the start of a promising career. Oh, and if you don't know what the title refers to - or what the film is about - I'm not going to tell you; apart from the fact that the film is about a worm that turns. And what happens to one particular 'worm' made me cross my legs - and may have the same effect on many other male viewers! British exploitation cinema is clearly alive and well and, for that, many thanks Liam Regan!