Fresh Meat (2012) Reviews

• Fun, blood-dripping and dismembering entertainment...

  paul_haakonsen2013-11-11

  "Fresh Meat" is a tasty and lovely different dark comedy, pardon the pun. The story is about the Crane family, who become captives by a group of criminals on the run. However, the Crane family has a secret of their own, and the lid is about to come off, and the soup in the pot is filled with various parts of meat, tasty meat, human meat... What makes this movie entertaining is that it has just the right of dark comedy, action, thrills and satire to keep a great twist to the movie, and just when you think you got it all figured out, the movie takes another turn, thus leaving you baffled and in awe. The characters in the movie were colorful, well thought through and executed - again, no pun intended - on the screen by the various talented actors and actresses on the cast list. And the characters were so wonderfully absurd that you can't help but get immersed into the story and it is as if you are right there in the midst of all the cannibalistic chaos. If you enjoy movies such as "Black Sheep", then chances are very likely that you will enjoy "Fresh Meat" as well. The ending of the movie was really the only thing about the movie that wasn't in tune with the rest of the movie. Personally I found that ending to be downright ridiculous and insulting to people in the audience who were otherwise thoroughly entertained by the movie right up to the very end, when it all crashed like glass falling on the floor. That ending was just idiotic. "Fresh Meat" is a fun movie that will prove appealing to anyone that enjoys dark comedy and satire. And the whole part about the prophet Solomon Smith, was that a subtle sarcastic caricature on the Joseph Smith prophet from the Mormon religion? Well, I can't claim to be very traversed in neither Mormon religion or Maori religion. Regardless, for a fun and different comedy about a very dysfunctional family, then "Fresh Meat" is a great choice.

• Unashamedly entertaining!

  wallacerichard252012-10-25

  Fresh Meat is that rare beast that you never find elsewhere in New Zealand cinema: a film that unashamedly knows its purpose is to entertain, and thus spends 90 some minutes trying to blow our heads off doing that with a heady genre mix of action, horror, black comedy, pink hot pants and even lesbian school girls. From the opening frames- seeing a young Maori girl 'discovering' herself (and a female friend) in the shower you realise you're not in for your normal NZL film (you know… plodding… artsy… bleak… BORING AS HELL). The filmmakers seem to have their tongues firmly in cheek and want us to have a great ride. And we really do. The pacing is excellent: it's ferocious, and doesn't let up. It reminded me of a cross between Tarantino genre homages, Bound (the Waschowski brothers' lesbian crime romp), Wes Craven's Scream, and Once Were Warriors (but only if it was remade as a zombie film). It's a heist caper crossed with a black comedy crossed with a cannibal thriller, but to pin it down to any one genre feels limiting. The performances generally all work. However, Kate Elliott is amazing as the tough-as-nails bi- sexual co-leader of the Tan Gang, Gigi. She's hard, sexy, and talented enough to bring a great deal of heart and depth to a role in which a lesser actress would be at risk of being upstaged by those (admittedly, amazing) pink hot pants. Watching her kick ass for 90 straight minutes is worth the price of admission alone. Hanna Tevita is great also as Rina- the female protagonist at the heart of the film. Coming home from college, she discovers that her family are actually cannibals, yet before she has a moment to process this, she has to deal with a hostage drama in which she falls in love with her captor. Great stuff, and Tevita certainly provides the necessary eye candy. But it's Temuera Morrison that (almost) steals this film. Poking fun at his previous hard ass characters, Morrison finds the right line between deadpan comedy and all-out psychopathic rage. The scene where he interrogates Rina's love struck vegan suitor by making him eat testicles at the dinner table is seriously good, and funny as hell. Good to see Tem nailing it. Mulheron's grounding in comedy is on constant display. (The scene where the two girls are stuck in harnesses and try to 'eat' their way out is daftly brilliant.) Mulheron seems hell-bent on touching every overly PC nerve in our collective national consciousness (to have the words Maori and cannibalism in the same sentence is risqué enough, let alone making a film about it!) and it's this sense of manic, provocative energy that sets the tone throughout. Great to see a film that achieves exactly what it sets out to. It's an unashamedly fun popcorn movie which gave me a great night out at the cinema. Go and see this on the big screen with a beer and a big audience. Anyone who doesn't like this film should go home and watch the Piano on DVD and have a good cry instead.

• A mildly entertaining comedy

  peter072013-07-27

  I saw this at Pifan 2013 in South Korea, and well, I wasn't expecting a horror comedy but got one. There were funny moments in the movie but well, the gore wasn't necessary. I also wanted to see the actor T. Morrison but this was far from his finest hour. This film is basically a mix of gore, sex and a series of one-liners and while I didn't regret seeing this, I'm not sure I can recommend it. I gave it seven out of ten points because there were entertaining moments, but I sure hope Morrison gets better roles to befit his acting talents.

• You Once Were a Warrior, Temuera Morrison ...

  Coventry2013-04-14

  …But now you're seemingly nothing more than a pitiful caricature of the Maori culture and inheritance you once so proudly represented. Are you really that desperate for work that you have to star in this dumb, dull, tasteless and unfunny horror comedy?? "Fresh Meat" desperately aims to come across as fresh, inventive and light-headed but instead of all this it's just downright embarrassing. Bunch of mishap criminals invade the home of a seemingly model suburbia family during an amateurish prison break. The Cranes aren't the defenseless victims that they appear to be, since they just decided to switch to cannibal cuisine! The basic premise definitely shows some potential, but absolutely nothing in this production is handled the way it should. The characters are loathsome stereotypes, the jokes and gimmicks entirely miss their effect, the plot twists are idiotic and far-fetched (even for a comedy about cannibals) and the overload of blood and gore isn't the least bit exhilarating. New Zealand already proved in the past that it can come up with ingenious and high entertaining horror comedies, like "Black Sheep" and the early Peter Jackson triumphs "Bad Taste", "Meet the Feebles" and "Braindead" (besides, writer/director Danny Mulheron is one of the creative minds behind the concept of "Meet the Feebles), but this is a total misfire.

• A train wreck with few redeeming features...

  SmokeyTee2012-10-28

  Racing away to a 8.3/10 you can tell that reviewers are unbiased and informed in their opinion of films. I mean what a fantastic addition to New Zealand cinema. Not. Firstly respect to the filmmakers for the ballsiness of casting a slightly-too-old, definitely-not-hot-enough, white girl with a mousy mustache as the to-die-for, lesbian and, most significantly, Asian hit woman. WTF..? Clearly they wanted the kind of clichéd Anime femme fatale that runs around in ridiculous outfits designed for over-sexed 14 year old Japanese girls. You know like the hench-woman with the ball and chain in Kill Bill... You know, like a Tarantino film... Trouble is Tarantino is derivative pap anyway, so copying him recycling someone or something else is just lame. The film has about two good lines of dialogue which will probably (sadly, only) resonate with New Zealanders... Its a crass, clumsy film with lots of awful, clunky, sexual sight-gags and voyeurism that seem a little out of date for today. Confessions of a Window Washer or Alvin Purple era stuff... Two captive women having to untie each other by undoing each other's ropes with their mouths, while in a top-and-tail position - i.e 69ing. Obvious and cringe-worthy... there are many such moments where the intended audience reveals itself to be 14 year old males. There were some small charms but the characters, excepting the heroine (who was quite good), were all dull as hell. Morrison had a bit of fun in his role but it would have been nice if they had given him the chance to earn the alignment of the audience before revealing himself a crazy cannibal (who happens to be Maori). Instead he was a boring villain. There were no surprises and the film plodded along, apeing Tarantino as it went. The film IS clearly trying hard to do 'Tarantino': for example Mariachi music scores a gunfight during a prison escape (actual police, never mind the prison guards, don't carry firearms in this country. The son of Mr.Cannibal is probably the worst character in the film, there is no acting involved and he is just freaking dull. Apeing Mr.Blonde in Reservoir Dogs before he butchers people he puts his headphones on and has a boogie for the camera. This might have been 'cool' if he could dance or this wasn't done in Reservoir Dogs which these filmmakers really wish they had made. the actor is a flash in the pan with one music video out so this was clearly his music to film career cross over. It's shame he has no talent for music, dance, or acting... otherwise he'd be the total package. Missed opportunities abound. The dialogue is lazy. See it on $1 Tuesdays on DVD. Choice.