CHAINSAW SALLY

Directed and written by Jimmy O
Music by James M. Taylor
Cast: April Monique Burril, Mark Redfield, Alec Joseph, David Caloun, Kristen Hudson, Gunnar Hansen, and Herschell Gordon Lewis

2007/90 mins/Color/Dolby Digital Surround Sound
1.78:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 0

Review from Shock-O-Rama/ EI Cinema DVD

Sally (April Monique Burril) seems like a quite, timid librarian, but in reality, she is a psychotic killer. One who kills those who do wrong in her eyes, like those who are sexist pigs, sluts, or don’t return library books on time. You see ten year ago she saw her parents die, and she had to care for her brother. Now, that there is interest in the land where her childhood house is by a scumbag developer; she is ready for more bloody revenge.

This film has had quite a buzz (pun not intended) around the net since even before the film was made. As time progressed that buzz grew, but it took a long time to be finally released on DVD. Now, in the year 2007, we can finally see it. Is it worth all the buzz? Well, not really, but it is still an entertaining flick.

The movie’s biggest asset is its lovely lead, April Monique Burril. She has a lot of charisma and shines in the role. That and she is gorgeous. She adds a real level of fun to the film, but sadly most of the supporting cast is just terrible. In fact, some of them are offensively and painfully bad. They really hurt the film, and make for uninvolving antagonists (or in the case of her brother, partner) to Sally.

Despite the chainsaw motif, the film is sort of low on actual gore. Sure, there is lots of spraying, splattering, and splashing blood, but much of the gore happens off screen. The grue that is seen is left to cheese FX level splatter.

From an eye candy perspective Sally is not the only hottie in the movie. Kristen Hudson (who is actually not too bad in her actual role) has some really hot legs and beautiful eyes. But to me, the most beautiful babe in the film is Jennifer Rouse, as the slutty Ice Cream Girl, who has a hot little lesbo moment with Sally. This is quite an “inspiring” moment during the movie, if I do say myself! Sadly, there is little in form of nudity, as neither of these three babes show actual skin, but one nameless victim does bare a nice rack.

The movie is done with a definite reverence and love to the horror genre, with lots of neat homages. Plus, both Gunnar (the original Leatherface) Hansen and “The Godfather of Gore” Hershel Gordon Lewis have entertaining, cool roles in the film. There is also a cool rock/ metal soundtrack, including the Piss Ants and Chiller Theater convention mainstays, the Dead Elvi. In all, despite the movie’s flaws it is a likable and enjoyable ride.

Cutting its way into DVD courtesy of Shock-O-Rama/ EI Cinema, CHAINSAW SALLY is presented in anamorphic widescreen. The picture is, at times, over-exposed and soft, but for the most part looks nice and clear. The sound is really good and has some cool effects.

I enjoyed the features, quite a bit. “Sawdust: The Making of Sally” is a great documentary, that chronicles the history of the character and the film. It also has some wonderful interviews and cool behind-the-scenes footage. “Gunnar Hansen: Making the Cut” is a nice laid back with the legendary cult horror star. I loved the stuff with him and Lilly Burril during rehearsals. Of note, the back of the DVD states that there are Hansen and Lewis interviews, but Lewis’ is part of the documentary. Not it’s own feature like the Hansen interview.

Meanwhile, “Storyboard vs. Final Cut” may have some crudely drawn storyboards, but the closeness to how the shots came out is quite cool. Sadly, it set to some really shitty music. “Silence: The Music Video” by Piss Ant is a fucking cool song. That the signer is hot and the bass player, also easy on the eyes, is an added bonus.

The running commentary has writer/ director Jimmy O, April Monique Burril, and editor Sean Paul Murphy. It is really fun and interesting, with some good stories. Though, the metal music soundtrack sometimes over powers the commentary. Still, there are lots of fun bits, and they are clearly having fun talking about the film. I loved the Lars from Metallica joke, in the commentary, cause well Lars sucks ass. And, learning of the measurements of the lovely Kristen Hudson’s body (35/23/35, FYI) and the fact that she was real trooper and did the film very sick, makes me admire her quite a bit. Props to her!

The disc comes in a keep-case with no inlet card. Though, the film is broken up into 11 chapters, they are not accessible, from the static, boring menu. But there is a shitload of trailers of various EI stuff, including CHAINSAW SALLY, itself.

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Review by Giovanni Deldio. All Right Reserved. 2007. ©

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