Admit it cin-ee-ma snobs, you love low-end genre filmmaking too. You know how the adoption of high-concept Hollywood trash by the proletariat tends to open up fertile rifts in the monoform. And when things go well and the energy doesn’t flag, the simple struggle to get it made can compel the viewer. In spite or because of the technical swamp it trudges–it’s unlit, the soundtrack is camera-mike top to bottom, arbitrary diamondwipes infest the middle of scenes– Hamtragic is a lot of fun. A mulleted lout from the working-class part of Hamtramck, MI, eats a sandwich laced with voodoo narcotics, causing him to turn into this OTHER mulleted lout who lumbers around killing people so he can take more drugs etc. The supporting cast is made up entirely of whoever was hanging around the block that day, and some of them are extremely endearing (best supporting actor goes to Jerry Dombrowski as the grinning ex-con who yells). The scribbled-on-a-math-book feel of the movie as a whole is only underlined by the classic movie monster doodles that some idiot has plastered all over the screen during key scenes. There’s a special guest appearance by the president of Hamtramck City Council, and a performance by local barband sensations the Polish Muslims. Good triumphs over evil. And as an attempted draw for gore fans, it ends with five minutes of spaghetti coming out of a melting lump of dough. (Jonathan Culp)
Dir. Aaron Trudgeon and Janet Hyson, PO Box 24894, Detroit MI 48224, www.nofunfilms.com