If you like grindhouse from pink in the guts or raw on the slab, then writer/director Ken Brewer and co-writer Meri Gyetvay’s Return to Death Park. The film drags us kicking and screaming until we wind up headless. The horror film is the ninth entry in Brewer’s undying franchise. The world and the characters really play second fiddle to Brewers’ verité staging. But the picture plays fast and furious and seemed like a lot of fun to make.
A killer (Robert Allen Mukes), resurrected and given the tools of his former trade, flees the morgue for the wilds and paths of Death Park. Once on site, he blends in with the landscape, then lies in wait for warm blood to shed. Fortunately for the villain, a veritable army of bounty hunters (Bridget Powers, Sammy Morningstar, Mary Kate, Alana Dro, Ronnie Angel, and Nicole Sixx, among others) descends upon the park. The group, led by Chloe (Josi Kat), is looking to bring down, or at least cripple, a murderous psychopath for the tidy sum of 50,000 pieces of paper featuring dead presidents’ faces. Some complain and lament their decision to take part, whilst others are busy spending cash that isn’t theirs yet.
“…the killer is bobbing and weaving, waiting to strike. He jumps out without warning, taking steel to skin, hacking, slashing, and stabbing, as is his wont.”
The whole time, the killer is bobbing and weaving, waiting to strike. He jumps out without warning, taking steel to skin, hacking, slashing, and stabbing, as is his wont. The hunters cross paths with the survivors of the original murders, Hunter (Doug Waugh), Willie (Joe D’Aguanno), and Shady (Linnea Swanson), who are out to stop more slayings from happening. Will anyone make it out alive? Or is the resurrected killer going to have more macabre fun than expected?
Brutality, insanity, comedy, and exploitation clash for the 75-minute runtime. Retrun to Death Park is for those who appreciate gritty, grainy horror shot in high resolution. There’s some casually clever banter among the characters. It’s extra enjoyable due to the nonchalant delivery of some actors, which adds a layer of unintentional hilarity to certain moments. There is a lot of gore present, while Brewer waves his indie horror flag high and proud. This is a fun entry into an independent cinematic legacy with an unstoppable force at its center
Return to Death Park shows Brewer has lost none of the drive and devotion to the cinematic arts, his stride undiminished among the turbulent clouds of change in the industry. The filmmaker and his core cadre of collaborators continue making mighty massacres for all adoring fans of the macabre. So, if you dig blood, guts, and gore, don’t worry, there’s plenty in store.
"…if you dig blood, guts, and gore, don't worry, there's plenty in store."
