Citizens of the future, get ready for the next level of cult movie madness with the hilarious horror oddity The Haunting of Prince Dom Pedro, written by Joe Fishel and directed by Don Swanson. The movie opens with three previews of coming attractions, including a Christmas rom-com, a Bigfoot sequel, and the latest installment of a movie franchise about professional poker players. Then it is off to Mors High, where all the students are eagerly awaiting the moment they will be allowed to look at their phones again.
The Latin American history teacher, Mr. D’Ath (Christopher Kai), is teaching his class about the great liberator of Brazil, Prince Dom Pedro, as there will be a test on this. His class is less than interested, including best friends Kayden (Madeline Schlichter) and Jayden (Rachel O’Day) as well as Payden (Angela Kuzel) and her boyfriend Hayden (Jaden Wesley Brown). Mr. D’Ath warns the kids that those who pass the test on Prince Dom Pedro will have fortune smile upon them, while those who fail to appreciate the great liberator will eat misfortune with a spoon.
A haunting painting of Prince Dom Pedro looms over the mystery at Mors High.
“As none of the students speak Portuguese, no one heeds the warning, and kids start showing up dead.”
The kids laugh this off, as they do not really believe that a vengeful historical spirit will rise from the grave to hunt them down and kill them. But then they start hearing a strange voice (Andre Santana) speaking out of thin air to them in Portuguese, telling them that all who mock Prince Dom Pedro will meet their death. As none of the students speak Portuguese, no one heeds the warning, and kids start showing up dead. As none of the bodies have so much of a scratch on them, everyone treats it as a sudden teenage death by natural causes. The surviving kids need to solve the mystery of Prince Dom Pedro before time runs out.
The Haunting of Prince Dom Pedro is one of the most devious and devastating satires on PG horror ever made. Every aspect of watered-down fright flicks is skewered magnificently, including the film’s takedown of the kill scenes. The concept of splatter-free kill scenes is taken to the most hilarious extreme with the blandest murders ever. Each bloodless slaughter is designed to be even more frustratingly minimal than the last, and it’s freaking hilarious. The film also joins a very exclusive club of brilliant PG-rated slasher parodies, putting it in the same company as the 80s classics Hysterical and Pandemonium. While blood and boobs became omnipresent in the video store era, this PG fare was able to get to the core elements of the horror genre to satirize for all ages.
"…breaks cult movie frontiers by showing how to be bizarre without being inappropriate."
