My quick rating – 6.1/10. I enjoyed the first Deathgasm quite a bit, so naturally, I was ready for another helping of heavy metal, practical gore effects, and people making all kinds of bad decisions. Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon wastes no time reminding us what kind of party we have signed up for. The credits kick things off with heavy metal music and a barrage of images preparing us for another wonderfully disgusting journey. After hearing all about Brodie during the intro song, we finally meet the man himself, waking up on the floor covered in his own vomit. Classy! Even better, Giles (Daniel Cresswell) wakes up naked at his place. Ladies, try to contain yourselves. LOL.
Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) is now washed-up, broke, and seemingly destined for small-town purgatory. However, the arrival of NoizeQuest, a battle-of-the-bands competition, gives him a chance at redemption and possibly another shot with Medina (Kimberley Crossman). There’s just one tiny problem: his drummer is missing an arm, and the rest of his band is dead. Fortunately, Brodie still has the pages of The Black Hymn, because apparently, finding replacement musicians is much easier when you have access to the afterlife.
The dialogue is quick-witted, and the humor fits right in with the New Zealand horror comedies I enjoy. I suspect writer/director Jason Lei Howden has studied one or all of Peter Jackson‘s films, particularly Bad Taste and Braindead. When somebody delivers the line “You ate my fucking dog,” it’s hard not to appreciate the influence and the cheeky nod to us fans. The cemetery resurrection scene arrives quickly, mixing physical comedy with undead antics and a generous supply of inventive, practical gore. Nothing says friendship quite like dragging your dead bandmates back to life for a gig.
Naturally, we get a metal montage featuring the newly resurrected crew frolicking in a park while ripping out intestines. It’s practically a music video for people who think flower picking is overrated. There’s also an amusing cameo from Matt K. Heafy of Trivium, who handles the original music.
The zombie mayhem eventually reaches a place called Glory Holes, which sounds like a terrible destination even before the undead arrive. The resulting antics are every bit as disgusting as you’d imagine. And while a necklace of ears might be unsettling, Dion (Sam Berkley) takes things considerably further with his necklace of penises. Yes, really. There’s also a good Dungeons & Dragons joke and a fun WWE cameo from Adam Scherr, better known as Braun Strowman, playing a NoizeQuest security guard.
Ultimately, Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon lands in much the same territory as its predecessor. Ridiculous, gory, funny, and thoroughly committed to its heavy metal madness. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it knows exactly what its audience wants and delivers the goods. If you enjoyed the first movie, this is another enjoyable blast of splatter-metal insanity. Just don’t wear your best clothes.
