Coons!  Night of the Bandits of the Night (2005)

Ranger Danger is trying to get the park ready for a big festival/party that brings all sorts of college age kids around for a weekend of illegal drinking.  Drinking which the locals can make a killing on by writing tickets!  But if the thought of a park full of drunken college kids isn’t scary enough, a band of super intelligent raccoons have returned to lay claim to it as well.  Raccoons that can turn people into zombie like creatures by pooping in their mouth.  And after the raccoons break into the liquor/fireworks/gun store and arm themselves even the hunters are unable to stop the terror.  It comes down to the last college student standing, an old hippy, and an Arab with a lighter to stop the raccoons before they take over the park and perhaps the world.     

This one had me at killer raccoons.  It wouldn’t matter how poorly made or boring the movie was.  I was determined to bask in the killer raccoon goodness.  The fact that the movie is actually entertaining was a huge bonus.  The story is surprisingly witty and doesn’t degenerate to fart and poop jokes as far too many low budget independent movies do.  I mean there are poop jokes, but they are cleverly written poop jokes.  Really though the movie has a wicked sense of humor and isn’t afraid to go wherever the joke takes them.  Whether it is an Arab with a lighter, or a guy having sex with a headless corpse, this one isn’t afraid of what is funny.  Just let me leave you with this one final image.  The Scatapult, the raccoon antiaircraft weapon.  The acting is decent for a low budget picture and there aren’t too many scenes where the actors are tripping over their lines.  I don’t know if they just kept shooting until they got it right, or if the cast of friends just had the timing down.  But the end result is one of the funnier, better-acted independent flicks you’ll see.  Now don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t a serious movie and neither is the acting.  But there is something to be said for comedic timing and these guys have it.  

When you special effects consist of really bad beard/mustache combinations to hide the fact that your actors are playing more than one part.  And when your creatures appear to be entirely made up of frozen or stuffed raccoons you sort of have to admit things are going to look goofy and dumb.  But then this is the movie that has characters named Ranger Danger and Dick Wiener, so it works.  Plus there is just something about frozen/stuffed raccoons with guns that terrify me!  Well not really, but I was laughing my ass off.  Which I think was the point. 

If you are looking for the next serious hardcore horror film then you will want to skip Coons!  Night of the Bandits of the Night.  But if on the other hand you are looking for some goofy fun then rent this bad boy and have some fun. 

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer