Sometimes when I watch a film on home video, I imagine what sort of theater should I have seen it inside. Classic movies cry out to be seen at restored movie palace. A few would have been so much better at the Rialto art house. Most films are just normal cineplex by the mall. Abruptio is a movie that begs to be seen at a midnight screening at scungiest movie theater in America. The stickier the floors; the better. Abruptio is so disturbing and brilliant. This truly takes you into an alternate world which might be real. This movie is what would happen if Franz Kafka was hired to direct a Saw movie. The big thing that makes it truly unique is instead of normal actors, Abruptio features life-size human puppets.
Les Hackel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s James Marsters) is a guy stuck in going nowhere life. His job at the office is getting into a rut. He’s stopped drinking, but that doesn’t help his girlfriend from dumping him. He lives at home with his overbearing mother (Agent Carter‘s Carole Ruggier). He does have his friend Danny (Get Out‘s Jordan Peele) who is working on his music career. Otherwise everyday just seems the same to Les. One night he gets a panicked instant message from Danny to check the back of his head for stitches. They are there. When he visits Danny, Les learns that somehow bombs have been planted in the back of their heads. Danny has received messages from a mysterious someone. If he fails to fulfil the tasks, the bomb will be sent off. Turns out Danny’s next mission is to take out Les. But he can’t. When Les gets his first mission, he has to take out his entire office. He gets another assignment immediately. He meets his partner on a mission Sal Cheek (The Devil’s Rejects‘ Sid Haig), a hack standup comic. They arrive at a strange house and get a text that they’re supposed to dispose of everyone inside. Les does what he has to do to keep his head from exploding. How many more missions will he be forced to accomplish to get back his freedom? Who is sending him the missions? Why has the world just gone so weird?
Director Evan Marlowe has been obsessed with making this film for a decade. He wrote, executive produced, shot and edited the film. He originally recorded the actors’ audio in 2015. When Jordan Peele was in the sound booth; he was not the Oscar winner of horror films or rebooting The Twilight Zone. The voice cast is all-star level. Along with Marsters, Peele and Haig are Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Rich Fulcher (Might Boosh and Snuff Box). This is the final movie from Sid Haig since he passed away in 2019. Jeff Farley created the creepy life-like puppets. Farley came up with the frozen life-like figure of Sylvester Stallone for Demolition Man. The use of the life-like puppets adds so much to the film since things aren’t quite as gross as they could be. There’s a scene where Les disposes of bodies that would have been even more stomach churning if this was a pile of actors on the floor. The puppets make this crazy story careen out of control in such a vibrant manner. You want to see where the madness is going and luckily it pays off in the end. Abruptio is a glorious flaming ball of weirdness hurtling straight into your eyes. You’ll want to have on the Blu-ray on hand to freak out your friends and family after dark. Abruptio is in my Top 5 of movies that came out in 2024.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p brings out the details in the puppets. The Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. You’ll hear all the golden voices cleanly along with gasping and gagging. The movie is subtitled in English.
Abruptio: A New Kind of Horror (4:34) has James Marsters explain he felt the script was filth, but couldn’t stop reading. The end made him want to sign up to be the voice of Les. We get to see the late Sid Haig in the audio booth. Robert Englund talks about the puppets being in the middle of horror film. Jordan Peele admits he went to college to major in puppeteering. Rich Fulcher must be stopped.
Audio Commentary with Evan Marlowe and producer Kerry Marlowe lets the husband and wife explain what they did over the course of 10 years to make the movie happen. Besides producing the film, Kerry had two kids. We learn how what slowed down the process was getting the giant puppets made. They shot out of sequence so once a puppet was ready, they could get their footage taken.
Audio Commentary with Danny Montooth, puppeteer has him talk about doing most of the puppet performers. He didn’t get the full script during the production. He didn’t experience the entire film until after it was shot. He enjoyed using the Les puppet. He talks of getting a good performance while his hand is in Les’ head. He credits the other puppeteer. He talks about the fun of finding squatters on one location.
Anchor Bay Entertainment presents Abruptio. Directed by Evan Marlowe. Screenplay by Evan Marlowe. Starring James Marsters, Christopher McDonald, Hana Mae Lee, Jordan Peele, Sid Haig, Robert Englund, Ross King, Rich Fulcher and Carole Ruggier. Running Time: 95 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 10, 2024.
