Slime City Massacre (2010)

It has only been recently that I discovered the movies of director/writer Greg Lamberson.  My introduction was with the Slime City box set, recommended to me by my good friend and site contributor Ed Demko.  I have to say that I’ve yet to meet a Lamberson flick that I haven’t liked, and Slime City Massacre is no exception. 

This movie continues the story from the first Slime City with a new cast, but with a couple of familiar faces as well.  The story is broken into 3 parts.  One set in the past that fills in some of the gaps and gives us an idea where the wine and yogurt that plays such a big part in the story came from.  The second is a brief bit that shows a dirty bomb going off and killing everyone (including Lloyd Kauffman in a brilliant little cameo), which of course sets up the creation of Slime City, which is really just an irradiated neighborhood of a larger city.  Finally we have the main story set in the future with our characters hiding out in Slime City.  The first and last are edited together nicely to tell the story with just enough information given out to understand the mayhem as the main characters start to slime out and kill people! 

And really this is another example of how great Greg Lamberson is at this.  Seriously between the story, direction, and editing the movie manages to walk that very thin line of keeping things interesting without giving too much away too soon.  As a viewer I like it when a director can keep me guessing a bit at what will happen next, without keeping me so in the dark I get bored and confused.  This movie is definitely never boring with something fun/twisted/sticky happening on screen for the duration.  Oh and if you are a fan of the original Slime City keep your eyes open for all of the references, both obvious and not so obvious.  Heck Roy Frumkes of Street Trash fame makes an appearance in the movie as the evil because he can be Ronald Crump.  If that weren’t enough there is another Street Trash cameo that had me smiling, but I won’t spoil it.  I have a feeling this is going to be one of those killer movies that I’ll notice something new each time I watch it.  To me that is an example of a well-written movie.

One of my favorite things about Slime City were the special effects.  They weren’t always stellar, but what they lacked in expertise they made up for with volume and good old fashioned over the top fun.  Slime City Massacre is very similar.  The kills are a blast and most of them happen on screen.  Heads get smashed, feet gnawed off, creative things are done with bottles, and one of the characters literally melts into a bathtub.  All this and I’m not even mentioning ½ the effects!  Some of the “creature” effects used as the characters change are very simple, but really effective.  In spite of being a new movie that this bad boy feels like it was made in the 80s and I love it.  One final thing to toss at you, just in case you aren’t excited like I am about Slime City Massacre.  Killer Brains…  Hell yeah!

This is an awesome sequel to one of the coolest movies that I’ve seen in a long time.  My only hope is that Lamberson is successful enough with this movie to give us more.  Right now I think that Slime City Massacre is playing some festivals and limited engagements around the country.  Do yourself a favor and catch one if you can.  You won’t be disappointed.  I highly recommend Slime City Massacre.

4 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer