I can safely say that this film has the most vomit gags I’ve ever witnessed in a movie. Most of them fall flat, but you have to give the film some respect for trying. Luckily, the rest of this horror comedy is pretty damn clever and caused more than a few chuckles along the way.
“PlayHouse” is essentially a murder mystery set in the Pittsburgh Theatre. It involves ghosts, theatre students, bumbling police and a Scottish janitor (Ross Donaldson), though the plot seems like filler material for the gore scenes and countless gags. This all works for the film, however, despite the stereotypical characters and obvious jokes. That’s a sign of good writing and acting. Face it, you have to have skill to pull off a film like this, and this cast and crew are nothing but skilled.
George Romero’s zombie trilogy came out of Pittsburgh, PA, and now we get this, which definitely lives up to the tradition of imaginative, fun films from that area. It may not be right for everyone, but those of us who enjoy the movies from Low Budget Pictures and Troma will definitely appreciate what is being done here. Next time, though, do us all a favor and go lighter on the vomit.
