Jerkbeast The Movie (2005)

5th Dec 06





Plot
After performing as a punk band on their public access show, normally an outlet for prepubescent callers to phone in and be as vulgar on air as they like, eight-foot tall Jerkbeast (co-director / writer Brady Hall) and the two humans who he starts the show and band with - Sweet Benny (co-director/writer Calvin Reeder) and Marty (producer Brian Wendorf) - are signed up and out on the road as their single ‘Looks Like Chocolate, Tastes Like Shit’ becomes a smash.

However the road to fame is a tricky one as Jerkbeast and his friends find out along the way.

Review
Jerkbeast the Movie is an extension of the makers’ Seattle-based public-access show that aired for two seasons in 2001. The program consisted of people calling in after a dial-an-insult fix from its hosts Marty, Benny and Jerkbeast, and was considered a success if only by its creators who went on to start filming this movie version in 2002. Funding the movie with their own cash they roped in friends and local actors (although on the acting stakes they’re all so bad it is hard to differentiate them) to fill out the rest of the roles.

Budgeted at between just $5-6,000 it was inevitable that the sound and picture quality would end up variable. Some of the night scenes are grainy and much of the time your viewing is jarred by each scene playing at an inconsistent quality to the last. The sound also altered dramatically - sometimes barely audible before launching into guitar ripping loud. For a short while you will be frustratedly fiddling with the volume until you slump into a heap and think ‘Bugger it’ and just let the variable standard roll over you. And in fact even though the movie takes a good few minutes to get into its stride, but when it does you can overlook its budget shortcomings and enjoy the ride.