Deathgasm [Blu-Ray] 
Director: Jason Lei Howden
Cast: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-ray & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
Synopsis:
High school is truly hell in DEATHGASM. Metal-thrashing Brodie (Milo Cawthorne, Blood Punch) is an outcast in a sea of jocks and cheerleaders in a suburban wasteland until he meets a kindred spirit in fellow metalhead Zakk (James Blake). After starting their own band, Brodie and Zakk’s come upon a mysterious piece of sheet music said to grant ultimate power to whoever plays it. But the music also summons an ancient evil entity known as Aeloth The Blind One, which threatens to tear apart existence itself.
The boys’ classmates and family become inhabited by demonic forces, tearing out their own eyes and turning into psychotic murderers … and that’s only the beginning! It’s up to Brodie, Zakk and their group of friends to stop a force of pure evil from devouring all of mankind.
‘Deathgasm’ follows young outcast and metalhead Brodie (Cawthorne) who accompanied by his recent acquaintance and fellow metal enthusiast Zakk (Blake) discover an ancient LP and sheet music for an eerie hymn which they naturally decide to claim as their own and subsequently form a new metal band simply in order to do so. Unfortunately in doing so they also inadvertently awaken an evil that begins transforming the town into blood spewing monsters and also initiates the arrival of a terrifying entity; now the friends and the gorgeous girl Brodie has been drooling over must band together and destroy some evil metal style before it takes their entire town, just for starters.
Written and directed by Jason Lei Howden which also marks his feature film debut as a writer and director, he does a fantastic job at the helm of ‘Deathgasm’ guiding his own script with a perfectly set pace as fast as the metal music fueling it. The film also benefits from the cast who while I can’t say I’m previously familiar with, don’t disappoint in the slightest; cast members Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman and more all delivering more than competent performances in each of their respective roles.
Get ready for the horror-comedy you’ve been waiting for, ‘Deathgasm’ is a blood-drenched and hilarious good time very reminiscent of Peter Jackson’s earlier work such as ‘Dead Alive’ and ‘Bad Taste’, not to mention one truly notable filmmaking debut (also out of New Zealand) from Jason Lei Howden. Howden’s decision to enter a horror filmmaking contest definitely resulted in a true treat for us all and ‘Deathgasm’ is one bloody and incredibly fun horror comedy that delivers some truly impressive practical gore effects that are sure to impress even the more hardened horror junkies, while keeping you simultaneously rolling with laughter throughout, and complimented with one killer heavy metal soundtrack to perfectly round it all out.
Overall, ‘Deathgasm’ is an absolute must see for fellow genre fans and anyone who appreciates a well made, unique and notably bloody horror-comedy that will leave you constantly grinning throughout. You definitely won’t want to miss out on this gem and therefore find yourself unprepared for Howden’s intended sequel ‘Deathgasm 2: Goremaggedon’ which I’m personally already anxiously anticipating.
VIDEO:
The Blu-ray release of ‘Deathgasm’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks great, delivering a consistently sharp, detailed presentation with no notable faults to be found within, holding up impressively even during the darkly lit and fast moving sequences which are quite the common occurrence in the film, never resulting in anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that should easily satisfy the masses.
AUDIO:
The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds fantastic and perfectly complements the overall viewing experience of the film, providing a sharp, clean and aggressive audio presentation from start to finish. Utilizing all five available channels to surround the viewer with the perfectly fitting metal soundtrack in addition to any number of fitting auditory effects zooming throughout the various channels during the more violent moments, and never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a top notch 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-ray release of ‘Deathgasm’ includes a number of solid extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Jason Lei Howden’. Also included on the release are a few Behind the Scenes Featurettes exploring different aspects of the film and including interviews/comments with the cast and crew plus behind the scenes footage, the included Featurettes are: ‘Brotherhood of Steel: The Cast of Deathgasm’ (running approximately 5 minutes in length), ‘Demon Seed: An Interview with Jason Lei Howden’ (approximately 5 minutes), and ‘Gorgegasm: The FX of Deathgasm’ (5 minutes). Also included is the ‘Music Video: “Deathgasm” by Bulletbelt’ (4 minutes), in addition to the Teaser (1 minute) and Trailer (2 minutes) for the film.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
‘Deathgasm’: Own it Today on Blu-ray & DVD from MPI Media Group & Dark Sky Films.
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