By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I have always had a certain fondness of Italian horror. They have brought us so many of the greats: Demons (1985), Suspiria (1977), Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974), Tenebrae (1982), the list is never-ending. The style and tension of a Dario Argento or Mario Bava classic is unsurpassed. It goes without saying that so many of America’s filmmakers “borrowed” the styles and sometimes actual scenes from Italian horror. For example, Friday the 13th Part 2 notoriously stole from A Bay of Blood (1971).
I had never heard of Il Vangelo Secondo Taddeo or the writer Lorenzo Lepori until a little less than a month ago. Now that I’ve seen his work, there is no doubt in my mind he will certainly make waves in the horror world and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
The movie opens with an extremely graphic rape scene where a female prostitute is raped to death and a male prostitute is not only forced to watch but violated as well. In the distance a disgusted priest watches.
The entire world has seemingly gone to hell as rival gangs are murdering their own people to set the other gang up.
The priest, Don Taddeo (Matteo Taddei) prays for god to give him a sign. A man enters who states he is neither from God nor the Devil and tells him if he drinks the juices from his bollocks out of a goblet he will have the power to defeat the evil ones and redeem the ones who have been victims.
Conflicted, Don asks a large wooden cross he’s constructed if it’s the right thing to do. The man advises him to stop asking those who will not answer. Don relents and drinks from the goblet and with his cross in hand goes after the bad guys in Jesus’s name.
The film is very graphic and definitely explores situations that I’ve never seen before. In one scene a man takes a glove and shoves it where the sun doesn’t shine on another man who is wearing a mask. He then takes the glove out and well there’s a literal reason he’s named the shit eater.
Essentially, everyone kills everyone in this movie. It has a very Tarantino vibe to it if Tarantino had any originality.
The acting is absolutely great. Many of the scenes are purposely over-the-top and every actor able to match it with their emotions. The massive amounts of aggression and violent outrage are shown in a very believable and frightening way. On the other side, when the men in suits come around there is an eerie calmness.
The gore is very well done for a movie with such a low-budget. It’s believable and wonderfully grotesque. I’m not typically a gore person, but here it is plot driven and done well.
The only likeable character within the movie is the Don. His drive to do the right thing compels him to do despicable things. At one point he brings back a dead by slitting his wrist and having the zombie drink his blood. He then instructs the zombie to tear the penis off another guy. Instead, the zombie gives him oral sex. The whole scene has a very comedic feel. In fact, much of the movie is comedic. Despite, the horrific actions there is real humor here.
Years ago, George Carlin made a statement claiming anything can be funny – even rape. He then went on to tell a hilarious joke about Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd. I love the joke and agree with the sentiment. Anything can be funny when done right and Lepori does a lot right. After the zombie portrayed by Lepori himself forces a guy to ejaculate, the guy responds by saying the great old joke, “what has two thumbs and loves blow jobs ….me”
The movie is shot really well, has great direction, and a great pace. The characters are fascinating and surprisingly differentiate enough from one another that they all are memorable. Typically in a film especially a low budget movie there are a lot of throwaway characters that all act and talk the same way. Here that just didn’t happen. Each person was distinct. Even though most were just plain evil, they were evil in their own way.
This is most certainly a movie for those not faint at heart. It’s extremely well done and I can’t wait to see more of Lepori’s work.
On a side note, I would most certainly recommend viewers watch the end credits. Not only do they go through each character but when the actual credits role, those who died in the film are crossed out. I thought it was an awesome touch. Little things like that show how much heart was put into this project and there’s nothing better than seeing someone who has both the heart and the talent put together something great.
You can purchase the film and have it shipped internationally here: http://www.thrauma.it/dettaglio.php?dettaglio=dvd&id=21446&fb_source=message
Scared Stiff Review: 7.5/10
