My Review Of "The Bloody Indulgent"

"The Bloody Indulgent" is a rock horror opera directed by Ken Roht. The film stars Kevin Richardson, Diva Zappa, Brian Gaskill, Kenneth Hughes, Dylan Kenin, Brandon Heitkamp, Clay Wilcox, and Sharon Ferguson. The story is postmodern crucible of sorts that brings bloodshed and debauchery to life with catchy tunes. "The Bloody Indulgent" is a drug fueled trail of mayhem as Burt the vampire sets out for a night of feeding and drugging the nightlife in the underground performance scene. 

Synopsis: In an attempt to savagely chew the blood out of a B-rated strip club owner named Sid (Brian Gaskill), a skeezy indulgent vampire, Burt (Kevin Richardson), whose zest for "life" is equaled only by his addiction to really expensive, exotic drugs, hides out (and dopes up) at an upscale drug den, owned by a photographer who seems to have grown a dark whimsy of killing herself. Dori, Sid's girlfriends, and the other rather unique and humorous strippers at the club (Diva Zappa, Tracey Leigh, Laura Martin... ) are hell bent on revenge and declare war on Burt. In the meantime, Burt's sidekick Todd (newcomer Brandon Heitkamp) grapples with his new station as a vampire, turned by Burt in a moment of blood-lust, and also grapples with his ensuing bisexuality, a by-product of being turned into a vampire... he thinks. 

"The Bloody Indulgent" has a fun, entertaining, and offbeat story that really sinks its teeth into the rock opera while fusing in the Trash cinema punk attitude that is notoriously celebrated in ultra indie, LGBT camp theatre. Now this musical isn't going to appeal to the mass majority of horror fans, it may not even meet with the standards for those horror fans that like horror musicals. I can't really say. I liked it a lot. Now I am not a big musical person, I have a few in my collection but for the most part I avoid them like straight porn. However I would say that "The Bloody Indulgent" has a edgy, energetic pulse that fits between "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Scarrie! The Musical".  

The special effects and music are both pretty basic. But there is tons of blood. Buckets of blood. Splatter, blood drool, blood stains. The effects are pretty decent and for the most part practical effects. There is some use of CGI but not an extreme amount. The music is a mix of good and bad. There are some songs on here that I could definitely find on repeat, with punk rock, energy that really amps up the story. There are some scenes where the singing drags the story, or just doesn't have the same energy or "umpf" to keep the film rising to the climax. But the singing and humor thrown in there is organic, honest and fun. 

Overall, I personally loved "The Bloody Indulgent". I understand that I may be in the minority, and the film is far from perfect. However I liked the cast, the blend of Gothic and Worholian characters were some of the best I have seen in horror musical cinema, or Trash cinema. Plus the film mixes subcultures, like the stripper, the female impersonator, the indie avant garde performer, the carnies. It is all just one big mix of underground funkiness and madness. And explicit, exploitative drug use, drug reference, and the situations were entertainingly kitsch. This is just one of those guilty pleasure films that is pure fun and craziness. Again, this is only gonna appeal to a small segment of the indie community that likes, off beat, odd, bizarre theatrical stuff.