“Everyone calm the fuck down, it‘s Easter--not fucking Halloween!”
Holidays have always been well represented in the horror genre. The most appropriate and infamous is of course Halloween, but you might be surprised to know that Christmas has more often been a black, deadly, and bloody night. New Year’s Eve has proven to be fairly terrifying day for a train ride, and if Eli Roth ever gets his way, the turkey won’t be the only thing being stuffed on Thanksgiving. Even April Fool’s Day has turned its tricks more than once, and Uncle Sam has put the “red” in “red, white, and blue” on July 4th. One holiday that’s been seemingly ignored, however, is Easter; with the exception of Critters 2, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any Resurrection Day horror (even though a zombie romp would be especially appropriate). Stepping into the void is Chad Ferrin’s Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!, a throwback to the violent exploitation films of yesteryear that literally replaces the comfort of chocolate covered bunnies for blood-soaked ones instead.
Appropriately enough, the film opens with a man, Remington, perpetuating some convenience store carnage while wearing an Easter Bunny mask. After his work his done, he decides to evade the heat by hanging out at his girlfriend Mindy’s house. He’s shocked to find her mentally handicapped sixteen year old son, Nicholas, answer the door instead; Nicholas is of course very special and hasn’t quite gotten over the death of his father on Easter Sunday ten years ago. Mindy is called into work a night shift at the hospital, which gives Remington and Nicholas plenty of time to get to know each other. This is when things get weird: a mysterious hobo gives Nicholas a real bunny (who he thinks is the Easter Bunny), Remington calls in a weird pedophile friend to play with Nicholas while he roams the city for strippers and cocaine, and, most importantly, a psychopath wearing an Easter Bunny costume begins killing everyone involved! Is it Nicholas, who has finally snapped under years of pressure, or is it his father who has returned from the dead…not after three days, but after ten years?!
It seems like these sort of grindhouse throwbacks have been the topic du jour more than a few times here recently. As such, you should pretty much know what to expect from Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!: a lot of blood, gore, and nudity wrapped up in one big, tasteless package. In this respect, it’s hard to say the film disappoints because it’s exactly what you expect. This is not to say that the film is great, or even good, even by exploitation standards. Instead, it’s a rather dull and disjointed experience that doesn’t do a whole lot to separate itself from other films of its type outside of the Easter setting.
This isn’t necessarily due to the film’s technical merits; while the direction and acting don’t set the world on fire, they are generally competent given their low budget origins. Like most films in this mode, it reflects its shoestring budget, but this is also appropriate given its gritty and grimy nature. Unfortunately, no amount of competent or even good direction could lift this one above the script, which is about as mundane as it gets. Dialogue is of the usual trashy nature (and features a skullfucking threat that one ups the one seen in Zombie’s Halloween), and the threadbare plot features a lot of filler. This is one film that feels too long at 90 minutes and could have benefited from tighter editing: so many scenes linger for far too long and aren’t that interesting in the first place.
The film is at its best when it’s just an exercise in brutal violence. When the masked antagonist is carving up victims using various sharp and dangerous implements, it’s at least interesting because something is actually happening. The violence itself is of the usual nature: plenty of impalements, stabbings, and hackings are to be found here that should moderately satisfy the gorehounds. It won’t shock the most seasoned of vets, but it’s a fairly bloody affair. Besides the violence, there’s a small of assortment of sleaze: there’s a line of cocaine snorted off a pair of breasts, the aforementioned dirty pedophiliac, etc. Despite this, it’s hard to say the film takes itself seriously; it knows what it is, and it’s more of a wacky affair than a scary or disturbing one.
It’s still hard to call this one fun, though--its inanity is mildly amusing at best. It unfolds rather predictably, right down to the big reveal, but that doesn’t stop the film from tacking on another less predictable ending that’s right in line with the film’s goofy tone. That said, it’s hard to say it’s an altogether awful experience. The characters are at least interesting and somewhat memorable, especially Nicholas and Remington, who share some really mean-spirited moments along the way. I suppose there’s also the appeal of seeing an Easter-themed slasher, though there’s admittedly not much done with the concept. It’s basically a film you feel like you’ve seen before, only it was done much better (and in some cases, even worse). Though the film was completed in 2006 and has attained some notoriety since then, Breaking Glass Pictures has only recently given the film a release on DVD. As usual, the film’s audio and visual presentation is more than adequate, as it boasts a nice anamorphic transfer and a clear, crisp stereo track. The disc also features a making-of featurette and a commentary from Ferrin. This is one film that you wouldn’t exactly be upset to find in your Easter basket, but I’m not quite sure it’s a treat that you’d ever ask for either. Instead, stick with the Cadbury eggs and Rent it!
