Occasionally, I'll end up watching movies in chunks. As much as I'd like to take in all of these films in one sitting, it's sometimes just not possible. (Damned work and sleep.) In the case of Night of the Flesh Eaters, I started it just after midnight on Thursday 5/21, watched about 50 minutes, and then went to bed. I watched the last half-hour after work that evening. Normally, I don't think splitting a movie does all that much - I can usually get back into the flow of things relatively easily. It's not the best way to do it, but you do what you gotta do.
That being said, I think it may be the best way to watch something like Night of the Flesh Eaters. It's a mostly fun but really dumb and poorly acted low-budget indie that has a good sense of humor about itself. But it also has kind of a one-joke feel to it, so splitting it in two chunks made it go down a little easier. Even though I liked the one-joke, it probably would have been difficult to sit through 80-minutes of it.
It's about a mob boss type (there are no names in the film I don't think?) who is meeting a hitman out in the woods. The boss has had the hitman kidnap his adulterous wife and business partner, and the boss wants to check in and make sure that they know why they are getting killed. But the hitman is kind of a weird dude, and doesn't seem particularly concerned about disposing of the bodies. Apparently, these woods are haunted one night a year by these (vaguely) Native American spirits, who also happen to be cannibals. And guess what night it is! So easy body disposal, right? But... SWERVE! The hitman is actually the dude that the wife (called "The Blonde Woman" in the credits) was sleeping with... and he also happens to be an anthropology professor who knows all about the haunted mythology of the woods. The two fake her death and wait for the cannibal monsters to take care of the mob boss. But they didn't plan their escape (and apparently can't leave the same way they got there), so when mob boss's car won't start they need to walk through the haunted woods. Will hitman/anthropology professor's magic talismans be be enough to protect them?
Meanwhile, the mob boss just *might* be the legendary mixed-blood man (Night of the Flesh Eaters has no problem just making up its mythology as it goes) who fights the haunted spirits, becoming more and more powerful as he defeats them. His battles will culminate in a fight with the all-powerful medicine man, and the victor will be the most powerful being in the universe (or something). This obviously does not bode well for hitman/anthropologist and The Blonde Woman.
Night of the Flesh Eaters is obviously cheap and is filled with really bad acting (it's hard to tell who is the worst). But, it's the kind of indie film where I ended up finding these shortcomings rather charming. Writer-director J.R. McGarrity sticks to a pretty good tone - it's a goofy film for sure, but the characters play it mostly straight. There aren't many outright jokes, and most of the humor comes from the actors just saying ridiculous things with a completely straight face. I mean, it's the kind of movie where they just make up funny sounding names for the spirits, and when we are in need of a plot point our hero says "I just remembered another legend I forgot about until now." I sometimes have a hard time getting on board with the humor in these ultra-indies, but I dug it here - no matter how ridiculous things get, the characters are playing things straight. (Note: Don't get me wrong, the characters are often ridiculous too - but they stay true to that and play it straight through the lens of that character... if that makes any sense.)
The setting is decent. At first, you kind of assume that just the opening scene is going to take place in the woods, but after about a half-hour you realize this entire production is woods-bound. The film is too cheap to try to do anything too creative with creating a creepy atmosphere and never tries anything artsy - but hey, there's always something effective about a dude in a creepy mask peering out from behind a tree in the dark woods. And the all woods setting mostly works, because (1) they actually shot the whole thing at night (no day for night funny business here), and (2) the lighting is actually pretty good for a film of this type. There are a few muffled lines of audio here and there, but other than that the audio and visual quality of Night of the Flesh Eaters is all right. I mean, it's still undoubtedly cheap looking and has generic camera work, but at least it shows signs of effort and care from the cast and crew. Which goes a long way in these sorts of things.
Horror-wise? There's not much by way of gore or actual tension, and the costumes on the spirits are probably most akin to a very polished local haunted house attraction. Really, it's just the overall concept of evil cannibal spirits (and scary makeup) that puts it in the horror genre, but it's far more of a comedy than anything else.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with Night of the Flesh Eaters. (Which, incidentally, was an alternate title for Night of the Living Dead. I'm surprised it took someone 40 years to take it.) You have to get past the low, low budget and the pretty bad acting, but if you can stomach that and can get on board with the film's unique sense of humor and tone, it's a pretty good time. Two things to note: (1) You'll know about 10 minutes in if it's for you - if hitman's line delivery doesn't at least make you smirk you're in for a rough ride, and (2) it may go down easier with a break. But still, if goofy indies are your bag:
I would recommend this film.
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